F is for Freedom

April 6, 2019April 6, 2019 ~ 2catsandalaptop ~ 4 Comments

Hello! Welcome back! I hope you are ready for the next blog post in the A to Z Blogging Challenge. If you missed the last blog post, definitely go read that one. Click here, or you will be very confused in reading today’s installment.

For this story, I am participating in the A to Z Blogging Challenge. I felt that this was a really good opportunity for me to not only express my creativity, but challenge myself to building a very long story that could be cut up into multiple parts. And for it all to make sense! So if you want to follow along with other blog posts in the challenge, check the hashtag #AtoZchallenge to follow along.

This story would be categorized as Dark. Thank you so much and I will see you tomorrow for the next installment. Enjoy!

F is for Freedom

She kept running. She ran until she couldn’t run any further. Her breath was heavy and her chest moved up and down faster than she thought it could. Aspen collapsed to the ground and started to relax. She couldn’t believe she had actually escaped. She had actually made it out of the prison.

As she sat there in the grass she knew she wasn’t safe. Even though she was free, it wasn’t going to be easy. The police would be looking for her everywhere so she had to be extra careful. She had to leave her jumpsuit behind somewhere in the forest but there wasn’t going to be an easy way to change clothes.

Aspen kept walking through the forest and came to a local campground. It wasn’t a large tourist attraction but it was still popular in the summer. She had already stripped her jumpsuit deep in the forest but she was still wearing her prison shirt, bottoms, and shoes. She carefully walked up to the campground and looked around. There was no one in sight, but she couldn’t be too careful. She would have to borrow some clothes from someone in the campground, but she was sure they wouldn’t mind.

After all, they were helping an innocent person gain freedom.

She watched for some time before she was convinced that no one was around. Aspen snuck up to one of the tents and slowly unzipped the opening flap. No one was inside, but there were two suitcases and a large air mattress. She stepped inside and unzipped one of the suitcases and saw some flannel shirts, tee shirts, and jeans. Her hands quickly grabbed one of each and zipped everything back up. She bolted back into the trees and found some safety.

She changed her outfit and left her prison clothes behind. She put her hands in her pockets and found a $20 bill. She gasped. “This is fantastic! I can go buy some things that I need.”

Aspen walked for what felt like forever before reaching a town. She wandered through the streets before finding a Dollar Tree and stepping inside for a few essentials. She grabbed some deodorant, bottles of water, granola bars, scissors, a beanie, a pair of flip flops, a toothbrush, toothpaste, a brush, a small bag for her belongings, a sharpie, and a small bucket. Even though she didn’t want to sit on a street corner and beg for money, she figured that would be the only way to get anything.

She walked outside and found a cardboard box sitting near a dumpster. She quickly opened her scissors and cut a full side off of the box. Her fingers ripped the sharpie package open and she grabbed the small pen in her hand. Her hand quickly wrote a message on the cardboard.

Homeless. Anything helps. Thank you.

Aspen walked to the street corner and sat down. She wasn’t sure if she was going to make any money, but she was willing to give it a shot. Even if she didn’t make anything, sitting on the corner would be more productive than sitting in the prison cell.

She sat there for 4 hours and made $100. It wasn’t a whole lot, but it was something. It could buy her a couple more pairs of clothes and some food. But it gave her a base to start getting back on her feet. It gave her something to give her a boost to starting her life over.

E is for Escape

April 5, 2019April 5, 2019 ~ 2catsandalaptop ~ 4 Comments

This story would be categorized as Dark. Thank you so much and I will see you tomorrow for the next installment. Enjoy!

E is for Escape

The day went without a hitch. But when it was time for lights out, Aspen still couldn’t figure out if she was going to survive. All she wanted was to get out and go back to her normal life. She laid on the bunk, praying that something will happen to change her life for the better.

A month had passed and Aspen went through the same routine everyday. Wake up, breakfast, work, lunch, class, free time, dinner, counseling, sleep. Everyday. Nothing was different, the routine was always the same.

Aspen was laying on her bunk during free time when an alarm sounded. It was loud and resounding throughout the entire detention facility. She jumped up to see the door from the common area open and some of her jail mates running through the door. Was this an opportunity for her to escape?

She bolted toward the door and kept with the group of girls. She knew that this was going to be her only opportunity to get out. The girls sprinted through the hallways, turning down every hallway hoping to find an exit. 4 girls ended up running down a different hallway, hoping to get out faster than the big group. The group had run for a while when there was a scream from behind them. Aspen looked behind her to see some of the officers sprinting to catch up. “Stop! That’s an order!”

As they neared a T in the hallway Aspen had to decide if she was going to go with everyone or go alone. She decided to go her own way just in case she could find a way out faster. She turned left when everyone turned right and found a small closet to hide in. Her heart pounded as she watched through the slightly cracked door for the officers.

Two officers walked down the hallway and made their way toward the closet. Aspen quickly hid in the maintenance trash can. She covered the trashcan and prayed that the officers wouldn’t look there. She heard the door open and the two officers spoke to each other. But then they closed the door and left her alone.

She quickly got herself out of the trashcan and slowly opened the door. There were no officers in sight and Aspen quietly crept out of the closet. She made her way toward another hallway and peeked around the corner. Another two officers were walking away from her. She bolted across the hallway and hid in the next closet she found.

Aspen continued to do this through all the hallways. She kept turning down hallways until she finally found a door that led to the outside. She pushed through it and felt the fresh air. It was great.

But she bolted. She ran toward the fence and started to climb. The voices of the officer’s echoed behind her but she didn’t care. A bullet whizzed by her but she kept climbing. She made it all the way to the barbed wire fence and carefully made her way through it before jumping to the ground. Another bullet whizzed by her as she bolted into the forest that surrounded the prison.

D is for Detained

April 4, 2019April 4, 2019 ~ 2catsandalaptop ~ 2 Comments

This story would be categorized as Dark. Thank you so much and I will see you tomorrow for the next installment. Enjoy!

D is for Detained

Tears flowed down her cheeks as she sat on the bench. Her life was going to change forever. All she heard was the jury and the judge repeating over and over. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.

Aspen was marched down a hallway and set in front of a doorway. All was quiet at this late hour. “Open H14.” The officer holding Aspen’s arm yelled into the empty common area and the door in front of them slowly slid open. It was dark inside the small room and Aspen felt her heart start to pound a little faster. The officer turned her around and unlocked her handcuffs. “Goodnight.” The door slammed shut, echoing in the large detention facility.

“Whachu in for?”

Aspen spun around to see a woman laying on the top bunk bed. She wasn’t very visible in the dark cell. Aspen swallowed. “Uh…I was set up and no one believed me.”

“That’s what they all say.” She sat up and got down from the bunk. She reached out her hand. “I’m Lily, but everyone calls me Mami. I’m like a mami to everyone here. I’ve seen many a girl come in and many a girl leave. But it’s all up to you how you decide to use your time here.”

Aspen shook Mami’s hand. “I’m Aspen. And…uh…thank you. I appreciate it.”

Mami led Aspen over to the bed and sat her down. “Listen to me honey. You get to decide your future. I…I wasted mine. I got with all the wrong people and I gave up my chance to get out of here. Don’t be stupid. Now tell me what happened.”

Aspen felt her eyes start to fill with tears. “Uh…my boyfriend was very manipulative. He was not a nice guy. And I bought a gun to scare him, basically to show him that I was serious. But then he lunged toward me and I pulled the trigger but I didn’t even know it was loaded. I ended up killing him. But I only wanted to scare him, not kill him. And now I’m here.”

Mami wrapped her arm around Aspen’s shoulders. “Sweetheart, I want you to know everything happens for a reason. But get some rest before you meet the other girls tomorrow.” She gave Aspen a quick squeeze before climbing onto her bunk.

Aspen laid there trying to drift off to sleep. The metal bunk was difficult to get comfortable on. She tossed and turned on her small mattress hoping to get at least a little sleep before the day started.

Aspen was startled as an alarm sounded throughout the building. Mami helped Aspen out of the cell and into the common area. All of the inmates were lined up for morning roll call before being led to the cafeteria. They were given a small bowl of cereal, a cup of coffee, a cup of milk, and a small cup of fruit. Aspen tried to enjoy the meal, even though she knew it was going to be the same every morning.

C is for Court

April 3, 2019April 3, 2019 ~ 2catsandalaptop ~ 4 Comments

This story would be categorized as Dark. Thank you so much and I will see you tomorrow for the next installment. Enjoy!

C is for Court

Ross reached his hand across the table. “You are not the one to blame. You were trying to protect yourself. You were hurt by someone and you were trying to be safe. You are not to blame. Trust me.”

Months went by as Ross prepared Aspen’s defense. She was released on bail the next day and lived with her parents. She told them what happened, made amends, and they forgave her. They didn’t blame her for what happened, it was an accident. Now she just hoped the court would believe her.

Aspen sat in her chair and her foot tapped in nervousness. They had been through all the evidence and the jury took their leave. The jury was in deliberation for a full week before the court was called back from their recess for the verdict.

The 12 members of the jury walked back into the courtroom. They were all very serious as they made their way back to their designated chairs. Aspen felt her anxiety starting to rise as she looked at them, trying to decided what they jury had decided her fate would be.

She felt a gentle squeeze on her hand and looked over to see Ross smiling. He leaned over and whispered in her ear. “You will be able to go back to your normal life sooner than you expect.”

Aspen leaned over to whisper back. “I’m glad you’re confident. I’m nervous.”

The judge hit his gavel on the desk. “Order in the court.” Everyone in the courtroom quieted down. The judge cleared his throat. “Has the jury come up with a verdict?”

An older gentleman in a blue suit with a red tie stood up. “Yes sir we have.” He handed the bailiff a piece of paper and sat back down. The bailiff handed the paper to the judge and took his position next to the desk.

The judge opened the paper, read it, and handed it back to the bailiff. The bailiff walked back to the jury foreman and handed him the paper. The judge coughed. “Sir, can I please have you read the verdict?”

The foreman stood up and cleared his throat. “We the people of the jury find the defendant guilty of murder in the first degree.”

Aspen screamed. She wasn’t guilty, the whole thing was an accident. How could these people think she had done this on purpose?

The judge banged his gavel on the desk. “Order order! Counselor calm your client down.” Ross leaned over and consoled Aspen as she cried. He nodded to the judge when Aspen had somewhat composed herself. “I hereby find the defendant guilty of first degree murder and sentence to life in prison. This court is adjourned.”

Aspen let out another wailing scream knowing that her life was over. The bailiff had to yell over Aspen’s wails for the entire court to rise as the judge left the room. The bailiff came over to Aspen and handcuffed her. She was led to the back of the courtroom and placed in a small room.

Tears flowed down her cheeks as she sat on the bench. Her life was going to change forever. All she heard was the jury and the judge repeating over and over. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.

B is for Blame

April 2, 2019April 2, 2019 ~ 2catsandalaptop ~ 4 Comments

This story would be categorized as Dark. Thank you so much and I will see you tomorrow for the next installment. Enjoy!

B is for Blame

“NO! If you take the gun you will use it against me! I don’t think so.” Jacob lunged forward at Aspen and she pulled the trigger out of fear. There was a loud bang and Jacob fell face first onto the floor. A large puddle of blood started to pool around him. Aspen screamed, her brain didn’t register what had happened. Why was the gun loaded? How did she just shoot her boyfriend? She dropped the gun and fell to the floor, crying as she waited for the police to come.

“Jacob! Jacob wake up!” Aspen reached out and shook his shoulder. There was nothing. No life, no breath, no warmth. Tears flowed down Aspen’s cheeks. “JACOB! PLEASE!” She shook his body again hoping for a different result.

The front door flew open. “Police stay on the ground!”

“Please! It was an accident! I just had the gun to scare him! I didn’t know it was loaded!” Aspen wanted to make sure she was heard even though she was blubbering like an idiot through her tears.

One of the officers grabbed her arms and handcuffed her. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you.” He lifted her up and set her feet on the ground. “And I highly suggest that you remain silent.”

Aspen was led outside and put in the cop car. She was taken to the the station where she sat alone for quite some time. An attorney was assigned to her and he sat in the interrogation room with her. He cleared his throat. “Hello. I’m Ross Peterson. I am your attorney. And I have looked at what happened and I want to get your side.”

She swallowed. “Um…my boyfriend was very manipulative. He tried to change me to be a person that I wasn’t. I pushed all of my family and friends away because of him. I bought a gun from this guy online just to scare Jacob. I didn’t know there was a bullet in it. I know nothing about guns, I just wanted something to scare him into knowing that I was serious. But he lunged toward me and my finger was on the trigger and I was so scared that I pulled the trigger. And then he was suddenly on the ground in a puddle of his own blood. I…I didn’t want him to die. I just wanted things to change.”

Ross leaned forward on the table, getting closer to Aspen. “You know people are going to blame you for this right? They are going to say nasty things about you. Are you ready for that?”

Aspen nodded, tears still trickling down her cheeks. “I know they are going to blame me, and why wouldn’t they? I bought a gun and accidentally killed him. Of course I’m the one to blame.”

A is for Accident

April 1, 2019April 1, 2019 ~ 2catsandalaptop ~ 5 Comments

Hello! It’s April 1st today. Crazy isn’t it? It’s so weird that we are 1/4 of the way through the year already.

This story would be categorized as Dark. Thank you so much and I will see you tomorrow for the next installment. Enjoy!

A is for Accident

“Thank you.” Aspen walked back to her car and slid into the front seat. She placed her new package on the passenger seat and covered it with her jacket. She took a breath and started her car to make the journey home.

Her breath became faster as she got closer to home. She was getting more and more tired of the problems that she was having at home and she was finally going to do something about it. Her boyfriend was making her life more miserable the longer that they stayed together.

Jacob and Aspen had been together for 2 years. It started off like any other relationship, just two people who met and ended up having a relationship. They moved in together after 6 months and their relationship started to decline not long after. Jacob was very manipulative, making Aspen’s life terrible. He made her do things that she had never done before, he made her feel terrible about herself on more than one occasion, and treated her like she was a piece of trash.

She finally decided to do something. Jacob would have to change his ways or she was gone. Aspen was tired of having to conform to what Jacob wanted her to do. She was allowed to have her own life and make her own decisions. This needed to stop.

Aspen parked at their apartment and took her belongings inside. She unlocked the door and walked inside the quiet place. She locked the door behind her and questioned the quietness. “Jacob?”

She sat down on the couch as he came thundering down the hallway. “What!”

“Calm down. I was just curious if you were here. I’m back from my errand.”

“What did you do?”

“Uh…” Aspen took a deep breath. “I went to have lunch with Krista and we did a little shopping. But I didn’t buy anything.”

Jacob walked over to Aspen and grabbed her arm. “Do you think I allowed you to go see Krista? Did you ask my permission?”

Aspen felt her lip starting to quiver. “No…but I’m allowed to see my friends. I’m allowed to have a life outside of you.”

He released her arm and slapped her across the face, causing her to fall on top of her jacket and new purchase. She felt him move closer to her. “You think I care about your relationships with other people? I am the only person you should care about. Not Krista. Not your family. Me. You should only…”

“SHUT UP!” Aspen stood up and pointed her newly purchased gun at Jacob. “I am so tired of you making me push everyone away. I am tired of you making me feel like trash everyday. I want things to change. I want us to be a happy couple. Because I can guarantee that I am not happy right now.”

Jacob’s eyes widened as he stepped closer. “Aspen. We can talk about this. Give me the gun and we can talk about it.”

The Friend

March 25, 2019March 13, 2019 ~ 2catsandalaptop ~ Leave a comment

Good morning! This story is the one that I posted on Book Boro for their Plot Twist Challenge. I unfortunately did not win but I have a good time posting my story for others to read. And congratulations to the winner, they deserved it!

There was a writing prompt for this story, which goes as follows: The sun had finally set. The day was finally over. All was quiet – until that fateful knock at the door. So we had to write a story of less than 1000 words with a plot twist that started with this line. And let me tell you, I LOVE long stories. So trying to keep it to less than 1000 words proved slightly difficult for me.

I’m going to throw a little twist in here and NOT tell you the theme. Basically if I tell you the theme it will ruin the entire story. So…here’s a nondescript themed story! Enjoy!

The Friend

The sun had finally set. The day was finally over. All was quiet – until that fateful knock at the door. There was a clatter of footsteps through the hallway of the quiet house. Mary yelled toward the door. “Stop running down the hallway! I don’t want to tell you again.”

The clattering stopped and the creak of the front door was heard throughout the house. There was a pause before a small voice echoed through the hall. “Hello?”

Mary walked to the hallway to see her son William standing in the doorway. The small boys silhouette stood out in the darkness of the outside world. “Who’s at the door sweetheart?”

Another small boy walked into the house. William’s face lit up. “Hi! I’m William! Do you wanna play?” The little boy sheepishly smiled and nodded. William giggled. “Let’s go upstairs and play!” The two boys ran up the stairs to the bedrooms.

Mary was worried. William had a hard time making friends, maybe it was because he was so outgoing. Some kids were scared of other kids who were too loud, and William was definitely loud. She shook her head, that wasn’t possible. William was a very sweet boy, he just had a hard time meeting new people.

She walked into the kitchen and continued to get dinner ready for the three of them. Mary wasn’t sure if the new little boy wanted to stay or not, but she thought it would be better to be prepared. She cut through her potatoes and put them in the pot with the rest of her stew, bringing the pot down to a simmer rather than a boil. Her hand reached for the loaf of bread that was on the counter and put it in the oven. That should be good. A nice full meal for all of us.

Meanwhile the boys played upstairs. William had a lot of tiny cars that they could play with, zipping and zooming the toys around the room. The little boy was quiet the entire time they were upstairs, almost like he only wanted to watch William play. William frowned. “Don’t you wanna play?” The boy shook his head, his eyes as wide as saucers. “What wrong? Are you hungry?” The boy shrugged, not making eye contact with William. William grabbed the boy’s hand and pulled him toward the door. “Come on! Let’s go get some dinner.”

They made their way down the stairs to see Mary in the kitchen. She seemed to be waiting for the food for dinner to finish cooking. William cleared his throat. “Mama?”

Mary turned around to see the boys. She smiled. “Yes sweetheart. Can I help you?”

“Can he stay for dinner?”

She looked at the boy; his face was very pale, almost white. She frowned. “Are you alright?” The boy nodded quickly but it still made Mary skeptical. “Are you sure? You don’t have to stay for dinner if you don’t want to.” The boy didn’t say anything, but instead walked over to the table and sat down. Mary grabbed William’s arm and dragged him into the living room. “What did you do to him?”

William’s eyes widened. “Nothing! We just played with the cars and drove them around.”

“Are you sure? You didn’t scare him did you?”

William shook his head. “No mama.”

Mary let out a sigh and hugged William. “We just have to be careful, a lot of people don’t like us. But let’s forget about that and have dinner and act like a normal family. Okay?” William nodded and they made their way back to the kitchen where the boy was still sitting at the table. Mary pulled some dishes out of the cabinets and set the table before putting the food on the table. She served the boys before sitting down herself and eating her soup.

She looked up to see the boy sitting at the table, not touching his food. Mary swallowed her food and reached out her hand to touch his shoulder. He flinched. “Don’t touch me.”

This was the first time Mary had him talk. She was a little shocked. “Sweetheart, let’s take you home. You don’t look well.”

“No! I can go home myself. I don’t need you following me.”

Mary tried to calm him down. “We aren’t here to hurt you. We just want to make sure you get home safely.”

The boy stood up and pushed the chair backwards, making it fall on the floor. He looked like he had just seen a ghost. “No! I can’t do this. You have come here to hurt me. My mom warned me about this. She said if I was bad that bad then bad people will come to hurt me. I wasn’t bad. I wasn’t bad. I wasn’t bad.” He kept repeating the last thing he said as he ran out of the kitchen and out the front door.

Mary and William followed him as he raced out of the house. The door slammed, shaking the old rickety house. It became very quiet, almost a little bit eerie. Mary wrapped her arm around William and hugged him. “I’m sorry honey.”

William sighed. “It’s okay mama. I understand that people don’t like us. It just makes me sad that I can’t be friends with them.”

Mary felt saddened knowing that William was never going to have another friend. They floated there in the hallway, listening to the silence of their abandoned house. Mary apparated through the wall to clean up their ghostly dinner before floating up the stairs to William’s room. They played with his toys and read books throughout the night, just like the normally did. It was the same routine every night and it would be the same for every night in the afterlife. They couldn’t leave the house they were murdered in, but it was the house that they called home.