Two Years

Belle thought it was a perfect day to celebrate a perfect event. But fate seemed to have something else in mind.

Belle awoke with a start. Suddenly realizing what day it was, her lips curved into a wide grin. She grabbed a pillow and covered her face as she let out a high-pitched scream. She sat upright and stretched her arms. The clock on her desk announced 5:33.  The glorious dawn and the clear morning skies seemed to be celebrating with her.

“Good morning, world!” she sang.

She jumped off her bed and proceeded to the kitchen, bouncing on her heels. She prepared coffee and went back to her desk. Sighing, she looked at a dozen pictures plastered on her wall, arranged in order of date, adorned with cute ornaments crafted by her artistic hands. Experiences captured… Immortalized moments of love…

A ring drove her out of her reverie. Curious as to who might be calling at this ungodly hour, she plunged under her bed sheets to search for her phone. She found it just under a life-sized panda bear.

Unregistered number.

“Good morning. Who is this, please?”

“Belle.” The voice sounded urgent, desperate, yet familiar. She felt a sudden wave of alarm at the unexpected caller. “This is Joe.”

“Y-yes.”

“Have you heard?” His voice was calculated but she could sense that something was terribly wrong.

“Heard what?”

He cursed. “I-I thought you knew already.”

Her body stiffened. “Joe… What is it?”

“Oh, Belle. Don’t worry. We’ll soon fix this. Sorry to disturb you--"

“Spit it out. Please!” The suspense was killing her.

There was a pause. Belle listened more intently and she heard a woman’s voice.

“What the hell are you thinking?”

“She has the right to know,” Joe hissed back.

“Tactless! You’re making things worse.”

“He’s just being selfish.”

“He doesn’t want her to worry. You call that selfish?” Belle realized it was Kimberly, Joe’s fiancée.

“She’s his girlfriend.”

“Exactly. Once she finds out what has happened, she’d be reckless enough to put herself in danger.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, softening up.

“Do you think she’d just sit there and wait for him to be back? No. She’d search for him and rescue him.” She sighed. “That’s exactly why she’d better off not knowing.”

Silence. “Sorry. I thought--”

“You’re being a hero. Quit it, Joe.”

“Joe!” she yelled, tears now betraying her. “Tell me what happened!”

“Crap.” He must have not realized he hadn’t hung up yet before the secret was out.

“It’s about Sam, isn’t it?” she choked. “He’s in d-danger?”

“Uh…”

“I heard everything. For heaven’s sake, I need to know!”

It was Kimberly who answered. “Belle. Listen.” There was something in her voice that soothed her somehow. “You don’t have to worry, okay? We promise we’ll fix this as soon as we can. Tim and Eric are…helping. Stay where you are. Promise me.”

“Stay where I am? Do my usual routine and act as if nothing’s wrong?”

She heard Kim give Joe a sarcastic ‘thank you’ before responding. “Trust us. Trust Sam. We’ll keep you posted.”

“But--”

“One more thing. Don’t tell anyone. Not even his parents or the police. Please,” she sounded like she was also fighting back her tears. “He’s going to be safe. Sam’s tough.”

End of call. She tried to call her again but she could no longer contact her.

She glanced at the window that revealed a promising weather. She felt betrayed. How could something go wrong in a perfect day like this?

Please, God… not on our second anniversary.

Author's Note

Nothing serious. Just a practice in writing prose. I'm thinking of writing more about this (succeeding chapters) but I never get anything done in prose form so... this is just it for now.

Reviews

[Zahra]

Interesting, nicely described. keep it up.

[Eddie Davis]

Wow, suspenseful, it leaves you wondering what exactly happened. If this is just practice, I'd be thrilled to see your 'serious' work. One small thing, in the last line, did you mean 'Please God... not ON our second anniversary' instead of 'IN'?