Skip to main content

The Mental Ward - Missing Egypt (24)


     Emery was halfway down the hall before she realized Beth hadn't followed her.  The white-clad little girl stood stolidly where Emery had left her.
      "Come on, Beth!" Emery called.
     Beth didn't move.  "They're not going to let me leave."
     A pang hit Emery's heart.  "I know."
     "They're going to come at me with their tubes and their needles."  Beth's voice rose.  "They're going to put me back in the Box."  She grasped her hair with both fists.  "I don't want to go back in the Box!"
      Emery ran back and grabbed Beth's shoulders.  "Don't panic, Beth.  It's going to be okay.  I'll get you out of here.  Don't forget what's already happened -- remember?  You are already freer than you have been in a long time."
      Beth whimpered.  "I need IT.  IT was the only way I was strong enough to fight them."
     Emery shook Beth's shoulders.  "No, you don't need IT.  Look where IT put you.  You need the One who is stronger than it.  Remember?  You are as forgetful as the children of Israel!"
     Beth peeked up at Emery.  "As who?"
     "Never mind.  I'll tell you that story later.  Come on -- let's get out of here."  Emery led the way down the hall and this time Beth followed.
     "But what if we can't get out?" Beth murmured.
     "Hush.  We'll get out.  I have a plan."  Emery hurried into the office, dropped to the floor in front of the desk, and pulled aside the sheet.  Hidden underneath was the control box.  "With this box, we can open and close doors, lock and unlock elevators."
      Beth dropped beside her.  "I know." She pointed at a switch.  "That's the Box."
      Quickly, Emery looked over the control panel box, making a path in her mind as she surveyed the switches and knobs.
      "Okay, Beth, I need you to be very quiet for a minute.  I'm going to make a call..."

Comments

  1. Oh, what's going to happen next! I hope they make it out... I have a lot of sympathy for Emery and Beth.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Countdown: Eight Days

Eight days.  Do you know what that means?  Barely over a week.  Tomorrow will be one week from the announcement date. Are you excited? I am. So, today, I want to talk to those who wrote something for the contest, whether or not you entered it in the end. What made you start writing your story?  What was the first inkling of an idea that tickled your brain?  What was it that you liked about your premise?  As you wrote, did you have a favorite character or a favorite scene?  And are you glad you wrote it down?  Do you feel like you learned and grew in your ability as a writer as you tried out things for this contest? And, if your story isn't included in this year's Rooglewood anthology (either because you didn't submit it or because it didn't fit with the other four stories selected), what will you do with it?  Will you market it elsewhere?  Or will you lock it away in a drawer?

Goodbye and God Be With You

It's rather fitting that some things come to a close on this day -- the last day of the year. I submitted my last entry into the Rooglewood contest this morning.  I can hardly believe it took me until the day of the deadline to send it in because I'm usually earlier than that.  And, even with the extra time I took, I still felt a little bit like maybe I could have done better if I had more time. But there was no feeling of regret when I hit "send."  Mostly it was just a prayer that Rooglewood would hear the heart of the message when they read it and that maybe, if I win, they could help me bring the full potential out of my little story.  And there was also a feeling, after working on these stories for more than six months, that it felt good to close that chapter and move on to the next one. I did it.  I wrote them.  And I'm really proud of them. Last year, the act of hitting "send" on my contest entry catapulted me into an anticipatory state....

Infinity Dreams Award

Rules 1. Thank and follow the blog that nominated you. 2. Tell us eleven facts about yourself. 3. Answer the questions that were set for you to answer. 4. Nominate 11 bloggers and set questions for them. STEP ONE:  Dear Tracey Dyck at http://traceydyck.blogspot.com, thank you for nominating me. STEP TWO:       I am the tallest girl in my family.      My hair is probably the same color as Tracey's.      I love red hair.  Long, rich, wavy, red hair.  Yes.      Death doesn't scare me.      Thunderstorms make me feel safe.  And happy.      I've seen about 170 human babies be born, and I haven't even counted the little animal babies that I've seen.      I think math is fun.      I think school in general is fun.      Im a vairy gud speler.      I am an aunt.    ...