Kidnapped

“Bruce,” April beckoned her Jack Russell terrier. “Come on boy. Come here.” The familiar jiggling of his collar trailed behind him as he ran over and plopped down on his back with his outstretched paws in hopes of getting a rewarding rub on his belly for obeying her so quickly. She bent down to face him and scratched him behind his ear and gave him a hearty pat on the belly before she stretched back up and told him, “Time for a walk.” Bruce wagged his tail and rushed towards the door. April shook her head, a small laugh escaping her as she grabbed her ratty old iPod case along with her Beats by Dr.Dre. “Mom, I’m taking Bruce out for a run! I’ll be back soon!” she yelled before slamming the door.

April jogged out of her driveway and rounded the corner towards the outskirts of her neighborhood. The slack in her legs began to fade away after the fourth and she felt the accustomed burn in her thighs that pushed her to run harder, faster. She led Bruce towards the direction of the looming woods that bordered her neighborhood. They rarely ran down the forest trail because Bruce was easily spooked by the proximity of the trees and the foreign sounds, but she had an uncanny urge to branch off and challenge herself that day. The trail was windy and steep and she always needed at least a day or two’s rest after she ran it because it was that tiring.

She pushed herself further and further into the forest until she’d lost track of her directions, which wasn’t unusual for her. These daily runs for April were a chance for her to escape from all her problems. She would grab her old pair of workout pants and an oversized T-shirt and run as far as she could push herself with Bruce steadily by her side. Her music would blare in her ears and the world would fade away slowly as the first lines of her workout playlist began to play. All the arguments with her parents would disappear; all the stress of school would vanish; all the pain of her condition would cease; she was at peace. She would run until she couldn’t anymore. She would chase her issues away, at least for an hour that is.

“Well, boy, we’re got ourselves in a pickle,” she said, slipping her headphones off. She dropped Bruce’s leash and placed her hands on her hips, looking around for something familiar. All the trees and shrubs had the same earthy look about that which did not help their situation out at all. They had ventured out further than they had ever gone before and she had never seen the mountains so closely. Though a mountainous landscape was not uncommon in Albuquerque, New Mexico, April still loved to marvel at the picturesque scenes it brought.

The sound of police sirens interrupted her admirations. She turned abruptly towards the sirens and snatched Bruce up from his rummaging through the dirt with his leash. Without question, she sprinted towards the fading sirens in hopes of discovering the reason for such a strange occurrence. Nothing extremely exciting ever happened in her neighborhood and her curious nature compelled her to identify the cause. Her feet sank into the damp ground as she branched away from the trail to find a shortcut through a neighbor’s backyard. She barely felt the branches nick into her cheeks and arm as the sirens sank further and further into the distance and her only chance of excitement that summer was gone forever. She pushed herself harder and harder to catch up to the sirens. She hopped over Mrs. Welkin’s fence and hopped over Mr. Wilber’s pond and ducked through Miss Peach’s open background patio and finally reached the main street. The police cars were speeding through her suburb in pursuit of some unknown person or thing. All her neighbors were standing out on their porches watching this happen, so she jogged up to Mrs. Peters.

“Hello Mrs. Peters how are you?” April asked the old pale skin maiden dressed in a long pink polka dotted robe with curlers decorating her hair, trying to catch her breathe. Bruce took this break in running as a chance to take a small nap since he plopped down on her pouch as soon as she loosened her grip on his leash.

Mrs. Peters pulled her eyes away from the speeding police cars to April’s red, sweat ridden face. “Oh hello dear, I’m fine,” she waved her off. “Why you look parched! Should I fetch you a glass of water?”