Hakuna Matata (Short Story)

My older sister Elizabeth paces the room back and forth, humming to herself and looking around at my living room with complete concentration. I’m lying on my stomach, with my ankles and wrists tied up in ropes. Not to mention the large blanket that was wrapped around my body to keep me from moving too much. I stare at my sister and wonder what was going through her head. Why would she break into my house and duct tape my mouth shut? What was she pacing around for? And more importantly, how had she gotten out of the mental institution?

"Dani," Liz stops pacing and comes to sit in front of me and crosses her legs. "Don't lie down on your stomach like that. The floor is cold, you know," she gives me a sweet smile but quickly fixes me into a sitting position. I stare back at her with pleading eyes for her to release me. She places her hands on my cheeks and squishes my face. "Don't worry. Your big sister isn't going to let anyone hurt you; especially that stupid James."

She lets go of my face and continues to pace the room. Then she finally turns to me, "Where is he?" she asks, like if the duct tape would let me speak. She walks over to the sofa where she had left her back pack and unzips it. "Daaannniiii," she says my name in a singing voice which makes my skin crawl. "Where's Jem, Dani?" She turns on her heels with her hands behind her back and walks across the room towards me in a one foot first way. "Look what I've got!" she says as she takes her hands from behind her back, revealing a silver revolving handgun. I start to squirm in my tied blanket again. Was she going to kill me? She at once took on the ‘big sister’ comforting tone. "Shh, shh," she touches my cheek with two fingers. "Calm down. I'm not going to hurt you." She moves her hand from my cheek and removes the duct tape from my mouth. I gasp in a mouthful of air. "Now tell me," she says in her usual playful voice, "Where's Jem? When is he coming?"

"I don't know if he's coming," I reply in a wavering voice.She places a thoughtful smile on her face. "Hmm. That's not the answer I wanted to hear," she gets up and walks toward the door. "Where is he?" her voice takes on a bitter sound. "His girlfriend is tied up and he doesn't show up?!"

She turns to face me. Her expression has gone grim. "When he gets here," she speaks slowly, "I'm gonna shoot him," she caresses the gun in her hand.

Panic starts settling in me. "Liz! Wha- Why!?" I find my voice rising.

"Because he's hurt you," she's still playing with the gun. "I'm going to make him pay for all the pain he's caused my precious little sister." She walks over to me. I can bet everything that she sees the terror in my eyes. "When this is all over, we can watch our favorite movie together," her comforting tone has returned. "You know? The Lion King. What's your favorite line from that movie?"

I look at her with sadness in me. "No Worries," I hear myself answer. What had happened to the big sister that always used to protect me and liked to enjoy everything in life?

"Exactly. No worries," she repeats.

At that moment we both hear a car pull up to the house. "He's here," Liz says and replaces the duct tape on my mouth as I start to squirm once again. Why had Jem come?!

As Liz opens the door, you could hear police officers yelling out instructions to surround the house. She swings the door wide open for everyone to see the both of us.

 "The police are here," she says a little late.

I can see Jem standing next to a police officer behind a car with a worried expression on his face. Before my eyes could connect with his Liz blocks my view. "Don't worry," she says, "I'm still going to make sure no one ever hurts you".

A shiver runs up my spine as a wicked grin crosses her face and she raises the gun to point at me. With a mad smile and a soothing voice she quotes, "Hakuna Matata."