The One That Got Away

Prologue

I tried hard to concentrate but my mind just couldn't focus or come up with anything at all for that matter. I needed a muse, some type of inspiration to start a new story but I just kept coming up blank. I had officially hit the wall. It had been a while since my last published book and my Agent Rhonda kept nagging me for something new. I didn't want to disappoint her but I had nothing. I'm a scary movie fanatic and most of my best sellers have been from scary novels but I wanted change. I wanted something different this time, something that would surprise my readers but with what?

All I was doing was sitting at my work station, laptop open, staring at an empty computer screen. " No, no!" I heard Julia yell from her room, " It was here, it was here! No!" I heard her yell again. By the sound of her voice I could tell she was very upset. I quickly got up from my chair and rushed down the hall and into my daughters room. " Julia, honey are you ok?" I said as I opened her door. She was laying on her bed, her face buried in her pillow; hands trapped in between.

" No, mom. I lost it. I can't find it!" I could hear her say, muffled by her pillow. " What did you lose?" I asked, confused as I walked up to her bed and sat beside her. She turned her head to look at me, her blond locks stuck to her cheeks from the tears. She looked at me with sad eyes
as I smiled at her and removed her hair from her face, stroking her head. " I lost the picture, mom. I can't sleep without it next to me or I have bad dreams and he's not there to protect me."

-" Oh sweetie, I'm sure we'll find it. There's no reason to worry about it."
" No! It's all I have. I need it, mommy," she yelped, burying her head back into her pillow. I then grabbed her arms, sitting her on my lap. She didn't wanna look up at me so I grabbed her chin and lifted her head up as I smiled at her. I began stroking her hair again. " It's okay, sweetie," I told her while I unhooked my necklace and opened the locket, showing her what's inside. Her eyes widened and a smile lit up her face. " It's him! It's the picture!" she yelled, grabbing the necklace from my hand starring at it.

" Yes. Yes it is," I told her, taking the necklace from her tiny hands and lifting her hair up. I then wrapped the necklace around her and hooked it together, letting her hair back down. She grabbed it again, then looked up at me. " Are you giving this to me, mommy?" she asked with hope in her eyes. I smiled at her as I picked her up in my arms and put her down in her bed. I grabbed her covers and tucked her in then sat beside her again. " Yes, I'm giving it to you. You keep it, and you keep it safe and as long as you have it on. No one can ever hurt you because he'll always be there to protect you. Just like he was there for me," I said to her, I could feel a tear falling down my face.

I quickly, wiped it off and proceeded to kiss her on her forehead. " Sweet dreams, baby," I began walking away and was about to turn off the light, " Mommy?" Julia called. I turned around, " Maybe he can help with your new story " she said, smiling as she turned over and closed her eyes. A huge grin came across my face, " Yeah, maybe he can" I whispered to myself , turning off the light.