Woodbury

Woodbury (currently unfinished)

The wind whistled loudly in Sarah's ear. It whipped her hair back and forth, blocking her view. Her morning walk to school was not pleasant today. It was one of those gloomy spring days. The trees were dead but growing ugly splotches of leaves, like a rabid stray. Her backpack tugged on her body, begging her to go back. The grass was all yellow, but not like an enchanting gold—more like musty urine. The breeze made it hard to breathe through her nose because it was so piercingly cold. Her earrings got tangled in her hair, tugging at her earlobes.

When she approached the mossy brick dump that was her school, she sat down on a curb in the parking lot. She always waited for her best friend, Rita. Today, though, Sarah thought, she was going to make the both of them late.

Rita was pounding at the door. "LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT YOU SICKO!" She screeched with dangerous volume. The closet was dark, except for the light of her watch. She slid her back down the wall, settling into her moping position. He had thought of breaking down the door, but that would have been more trouble. She had also thought about cussing them out (her kidnapper, that is,) but that would have done nothing but anger the lord. Sarah is probably so mad at me right now, she thought. Rita had to think of something. Her parents were at work. Some brawny man had decided to waltz on into her house. And rob it, apparently. No cars were in the drive, so he probably didn't think Rita would be there. And he locked her in the hall closet. Rita guessed he was going to try and get ahold of her parents, a ransom sort of thing, but she remembered that this wasn't a movie. And he would probably shoot her or something. Something gruesome, she bet herself.

Sarah decided to walk around the campus to ensure Rita hadn't gotten hurt or fell off her bike. She walked around for five minutes until she heard the bell ring the first hour inside. She hustled up the stairs and tried the front doors. Locked. The front doors lock after the bell rings and school starts. "Shoot, shoot, shoot, SHOOT!" She was pacing now, her hands in her lengthy, tangled hair. She kicked the pavement. "God-" The door opened. The principal was at the door. He let her in with a sigh. Mr. Woodbury had known Sarah ever since she was in middle school. She got excellent grades, but her only problem was that her best friend, Rita, was a bad influence. He had known this since the two girls were in the sixth grade. He escorted her to her first hour. Sarah thought it was odd that he didn't utter a word during this walk. And how did he know that she was outside?

Rita pounded her head against the door of the closet. She was surprised that her kidnapper, whoever he was- didn't tape her mouth shut. She stopped hitting her head and wondered about this. She thought it weird that he had left the house without taping her mouth. If someone came close to that side of the house- and she screamed loud enough- they might try to save her! After all, the door was unlocked. The man did not have keys to her home. "Wow, that guy is an idiot!" She marveled aloud to herself. It occurred to her that breaking down the door was possible, especially for a girl like her. She was pretty muscly for her age- and gender. She had always been a tomboy, but now, some people couldn't tell if she was a male or a female. She wasn't trans or gay or anything, but she just liked dressing and acting that way. Her hair was curly mullet-type, and she had her ears pierced. Right now, in this dark closet, she was wearing large hoops. She didn't usually wear hoops, but today was picture day.

Sarah couldn't stop thinking about Rita. Rita always had perfect attendance unless she was suspended, which happens quite often nowadays. Sarah accidentally wrote "RITA" on her paper during English class instead of "RINK." They were writing about their local skating rink, which was closing down. Each of the students wrote a letter to them today, to say goodbye to all the employees. It was bought out and torn down. They were going to make it into more storage units. The people here must be natural hoarders, Sarah thought. She went through the day, sat by herself at lunch- because she didn't like Rita's friends-ate a horrible tuna sandwich the school provides, and then walked to her last hour. In her last hour, the intercoms blared their usual tune that plays on picture day. "HEY EVERYONE!!! IT'S TIME FOR PICTURES!!! COME UP TO THE CAFETERIA TO GET YOURS TAKEN!!!" Our teacher sent up all of the tenth-graders, and then the intercoms sang, "SHAKE IT LIKA POLAROID PICTURE!" Sarah scoffed. "There is no way they think that's appropriate," she said under her breath. After her last hour ended, she slung her leather bag over her shoulder and pulled out her phone. Hey girl! Where were you today? She texted Rita. The "read" bubble appeared under her text.

Bing! Rita's watch vibrated. She could receive texts but could not respond to them. She swiped up on the message. "Oh yeah, I've just been locked in my own closet, with nothing to eat!" She angrily yelled to no one. She had been sleeping for a few hours, and had a dream about getting sold for ransom. She had decided to at least try knocking over the closet. First she backed up, and then at full force, she ran into the doors. The closet rocked a bit, but there was no real damage. Rita needed damage though. She used all of her strength this time, and the closet finally crashed to the floor. The doors wouldn't budge, unfortunately for her.  Great, she thought. Now I'm stuck in a closet and I'm stuck with my face smacked onto the wood!  She wondered why her parents weren't home yet.

Sarah was just rounding into her neighborhood when she got a text from Rita. Are you Rita's boyfriend? This is Rita's uncle, it read. "Huh?" Sarah wondered aloud. She responded with: Rita doesn't have any uncles??? Who are u really? She stopped walking and sat down on the curb to think. Rita hadn't answered when Sarah texted earlier, so how long had this person been in possesion of her phone? Rita always guared her phone with her life, and didn't even let her own mother touch it. The sick feeling in Sarah's stomach started to grow. She felt like she was going to pass out and vomit at the same time. She got another text. I am her family freind, ok? She calls me her uncle. I need you to come to the house. It's an emergency. Rita is in danger. Rita turned off her phone. The case on her phone closed like a sandwich, with a thin flap on the side. On the open side, there was a small thumbprint lock, so no one could even touch her phone. Rita had given it to her. She locked her phone in it's case and walked the rest of the way home.

I'm totally going to starve, Rita groaned to herself. She got another text on her watch. It was from her dad. Please unlock the door, it read. Rita decided she was done getting texts on her watch, and silenced it. She didn't want to die sad. Rita knew she was probably not going to die, but she had to be dramatic in every situation. It was just her personality. Just then, someone came through the door. 

"Come on! You just had to knock over the closet! Now nobody will be able to get you!" The man barked. Rita could feel herself freeze up. That was her kidnapper. But it was someone else too. She recognized the voice so well, but she couldn't tell who it actually was. The man then tried to lift the closet back up, but to no avail.