Abduction

(Ch.1)

-One-

♫ Twinkle, twinkle, little star. How I wonder what you are. ♫

That was always my favorite lullaby. Every night before bedtime, Mommy would sing it to help me sleep, since I always had a tough time sleeping. I always found myself singing to it throughout the day. Whether I was eating breakfast, watching TV, or observing the other kids at the park, like then.

I saw Mommy sitting on the bench reading the paper. She crinkled the print in her hand as she read a distasteful article. Her eyes didn't move.

I walked myself over to the swings, which were the furthest from the play set, and the bench Mommy sat at.

I sat by myself. Normally, Mommy would come push me, but she'd been cranky lately, and I just wanted her to relax for a bit.

Suddenly I felt a warm hand touch my back. It was too big to be Mommy's, and Daddy wasn't around. Right when I turned around, I saw a flash of white light, before nothing at all.

Was this what being blind felt like? I tried speaking to this man, but I couldn't talk.

I heard loud shrieks, gasps, and the revving of a engine before I blacked out completely.

~

♫Twinkle, twinkle, little star. How I wonder what you are.♫

The sound of Mommy's voice echoed through my ears, and my eyes shot open. I still could not see.

In the background, I could hear cackling, a kind of laughter my grandpa would have. Is he here? No, I thought. That's impossible. God took him away a year ago. Am I in heaven?

I was in a car, I knew that, especially when we came to an abrupt stop, causing me to be shaken around, hitting the sides of the vehicle and surely getting bruises.

Scratch that, I was in a van.

Breathing through my mouth was hard -something was still covering it- so I inhaled through my nose. The smell of strong chemicals wafted through my nose, and I found myself choking, almost on my own saliva that had been trapped in my mouth.

The cackled laughter continued, along with the sloshing of what smelled to be alcohol.

Mommy always told me drunk driving was bad, so I assumed I wasn't in a good situation. The van came to another halt and I flew forward blindly, kinking my neck against the backseat.

I felt tears in my eyes, and I tried fighting them back. What exactly happened?

I heard the loud honks of car horns behind me, and I thought back to when Daddy had road rage because someone else almost got into an accident. It wouldn't have been bad, maybe a couple scruffs, but it was enough to set him in a fury.

Too bad I hadn't seen my daddy in two years.

~

The van turned quickly, and I heard all the noises from the city become quieter and quieter until I heard nothing but the sound of the vehicle bounce up and down on what seemed to be a secluded road. The movement caused the fabric around my eyes to shift slightly, allowing me only to see through one eye.

Everything was a blur. I couldn't tell what was what anymore. I was good with roads, but now I was completely lost. I couldn't differentiate between the driver's constant cackling or the pounding in my head. The light kept making me squint, since it was so bright.

It was better to shut my eyes, and be in the isolate darkness. I felt myself falling, as if into an abyss. I couldn't get out. I struggled and squirmed, but I couldn't move. I was unable to do anything but feel myself pushed deeper and deeper, until I could no longer feel at all.

I saw clouds, big, puffy ones. They crowded the clear blue sky, and surrounded me with protection. I was afraid of heights, but I couldn't feel anything. No pain, no fear. Nothing.

There were occasional voices in my head, some I had never heard before, and ones I had just been acquainted with, like the old man's laughter. It rang constantly in my head, no matter how hard I tried to push it out and as far away from me as possible.

♫Up above the world so high. Like a diamond in the sky.♫

It was Mommy. It had to be. She was calling me to sleep, and so sleep is what I did, even if I couldn't make sense of my predicament. Now I felt her holding me in her arms, cradling me, until I fell into another deep sleep, not knowing when, or if, I'd wake up.

~

I smelled the sizzling of bacon and immediately ran downstairs. Mommy was toasting bread, along with scrambling eggs. A glass of apple juice sat at the table, next to a plate full of food.

I chowed down, knowing that Mommy was taking me to the park later, and I didn't want to be hungry while I was there. With her food in hand, she sat across from me, smiling.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing. I just love you. So much."