It was a warm sunny Sunday morning when she awoke. She could smell the fresh air coming in from the half open window that was also letting in the sunlight onto her bed. The night before was full of fun and follies, singing and dancing with friends. A much needed night out for the busy school teacher. She had fallen onto hard times recently, after having wrecked her car. Fortney she had friends to rely on to get around; and living only a mile from the school where she worked was nice too. This being a wonderful morning after a night of fun; she seemed to be handling it well. The Sunday morning ritual of making chocolate chip pancakes was at hand now.
Chocolate chip pancakes was her favorite breakfast. She jumped out of bed slipped her feet into some a comfy pair of soft slippers. Wearing pajama pants and a t-shirt she made her way down some old wooden stairs that creaked almost every step; and made her way to the kitchen. A furry four legged land mammal greeted her warmly by rubbing up against her calf and purring. Jeeves as he was called kept her company and was a fine companion. He seemed to have a way to keep her blood pressure low. Maybe it was his puffy brown striped fur and white frosted paws, pr maybe just his personality.
Having reached the kitchen at this point, after a quick morning introduction with Mr. Jeeves, she began to collect the ingredients to make the pancakes and put them on the marble island in the middle of the room. Milk and eggs were grabbed from the fridge, the famous Bisquick mix she fetched form the pantry. However, something was missing. The most important ingredient, chocolate chips! What to do? She had checked in the freezer where they were kept. None. Only some empty ice cube trays and an unopened whole turkey. The breakfast would not be complete.
At this point in the mourning it was just after nine. The market is sure to be open, she thought. Perhaps I take a quick trip down to get some chocolate chips. Though the town she lived in was small and rural; the school was close and the marked was only a quarter mile past.
For a predicament such as this fortunately she had a bike for short trips, but were a bit too long to walk. The bike was a red Huffy. A present bought for her that she regretted to use, spending most of its time in the storage unit in the basement collecting dust. However, this was an important mission at hand. The chocolate chips must be retrieved!
Changing quickly, she put on some jeans freshened up and grabbed some socks and sneakers. Saying buy to Mr. Jeeves for a short while she locked the door behind her and headed for the basement from the second floor. Only a few minutes passed as Jeeves jumped up on the window sill to watch his friend pedal down the small main street past the school towards the market place.
The town of Rusticville was small maybe 500 people happy residents lived there. The town was surrounded by tall wheat and timothy grass. Big oak trees broke up the void in the fields. Off in the distance on the skyline was farm equipment and bails of hay ready to be collected. As she rode down the street outlined with small maples toward the marked she was greeted with smiles from the folks she new. Shed probably run into one or two she new at the market. But she wouldn’t stay long; some special pancakes were waiting to be made.
Drip….drip…Throbbing heart beats, pounding on her head. She slowly opened her eyes, the room was fuzzy and out of focus at first. She gathered the drip noise was from her bathroom sink that kept her up some restless nights. The floor tile was cold against her cheek, as she lay on her side. Breathing through her nose she picked her head up to look around, trying to gasp for air but couldn’t, a couple of piece of duct tape were pressed against her lips. Quickly she realized the rest of her predicament as she gather her wits.
Her hands were taped behind her back, and her arms were held to her back with tape around her torso, a foot above her waist. Her knees and ankles were bound together as well.
A sudden panic and cold sweat rushed over her now that she was of full consciousness.
She managed to sit up and push herself backwards over to the tub with her bare feet. Sitting now with her back against the tub she looked around the room. The door was closed, nothing seemed out of order. Still breathing heavy thoughts raced through her head. Trying to figure out how she ended up like this and who could be responsible.
Remembering that she had arrived at the market fifteen minutes or so after leaving her place she left the Huffy leaning against a building in a side alley. On the way to the dairy stand she remembered seeing a face that looked familiar to her. No words were exchanged in passing, but the look said that she knew her. But from where? She was only at the stand for a minute or two after collecting the chocolate chips. Looking for the face as she came out, she was gone, she hoped back on the bike and left.
The ride back to her apartment seemed to take longer; which was strange cause the ride back always seems to go by faster. Trying to remember where she might have seen the girl from, puzzled her as she pedaled briskly cutting through the air. Arriving back at her place, she put the Huffy back down in the storage unit to wait to be used again and headed up the stairs. Walking through the front door Mr. Jeeves was sitting in the middle of the floor like a “dog” waiting for a treat. She greeted him with a smile and took a step toward him to pet his head but froze suddenly. The front door she thought, It wasn’t locked…I know I locked it. She remembered a quick inhale from behind her and…..
Someone was in her apartment. The silence was broken as she scream through the tape over her mouth, doubtful she would be heard. Mmmph! Mmmmph! Was all she could muster. Then, foot steps, form what sounded like big heavy boots, approached the bathroom door. Her screams quelled to a whimper as her eyes widened…… Then, silence again……The foot steps were heard again only they seemed to be moving away. Another door was opened then shut quietly.