Good afternoon all my when-is-lunch-arriving-hungry readers!!
So, today I want to share a 1000 word short story that I was working on yesterday. I know this is not like my usual blogs, but I’m really working on my writing and hope you will all give me your feedback!
I would have loved for it to be longer and more detailed, but I wanted to strictly adhere to the word limit and had to edit it a few times.
So, here goes nothing.
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“Please don’t take my baby! Mia!!! Someone help me!!!” Tania frantically ran behind the white car, begging someone to save her daughter. She ran until she could no longer breathe and felt an ache in her chest. She did not know what hurt more; her lungs from running and screaming, or her heart from the agonizing pain of seeing her child being abducted. As she saw the rugged SUV disappear at the turn around the block, Tania fell on the curb and felt loud sobs escape her.
Tania picked herself up from that deserted alley and decided that she needed to get the cops immediately. She searched for her phone in her pockets, and realized that must have dropped it somewhere between having lunch with her daughter and seeing her get taken away by strange men. Immediately, she decided she needed to get to her husband, Sam. And so, she began to run once again because Mia’s life depended on it.
Sam and Tania had been married for 9 years now, and Mia was their greatest treasure. Mia had come into their lives with great difficulty 5 years ago, when Tania had finally conceived after numerous failed fertility treatments. “This is a miracle Tania! You are going to be a mother! We had lost all hope!” When her doctor had announced this news, Tania and Sam had wept in joy and had thanked God for this wonder that He had bestowed upon them.
The sudden honk of the taxi broke her reverie, and she was brought crashing back to her present. Within a few minutes, the taxi dropped her at the Excelsior Hotel and she ran inside straight to the Director’s Office. Without knocking, she entered and alarmed the Director, Sam.
“She’s gone Sam! They took her!! My Mia is gone! Do something, Sam!!!” She sobbed and recounted the entire incident that had transpired.
Sam’s face transformed from annoyance at Tania’s interruption, then surprise of seeing her in that state, and to finally horror from what he had just heard.
Without wasting a single moment, Sam picked up his phone and called someone. There was no doubt or fear on his face; only steely determination.
“Mr. Singh, yes, this is Samuel. Mia’s been kidnapped. I need you to find her immediately.” Sam commanded authoritatively.
“Yes, Tania was there. She was taken from East Rowe St.”
“Maybe. I will have to ask her.”
“Singh, questions later, answers first! I need my daughter, now!” Sam barked into the phone and slammed it on his desk.
He turned around and faced his shaken wife. In three swift steps, he bridged the entire distance of his posh cabin. In the midst of the opulence of this Excelsior Hotels’ Director’s cabin, stood two simple halves of a whole. Finally, Tania saw the businessman’s façade crumble and witnessed the loss of a father. Before she knew it, Sam was on his knees, weeping with his hands around her waist.
“What have we done Tania! How did I let this happen!”
Tania came down to hold him in her arms, and in silence and tears, they shared their sorrow and pain.
Suddenly, there was a sharp knock on his door, and both of them looked up. A sharp lady walked in with an attitude that announced power and authority, and Tania knew instantly that this was Amy, the new Head of Security at the Excelsior.
“Sam, we know how this happened, and we know why. Do you recollect Malik and Bob?” she enquired.
“Yes, of course I remember. I sacked them myself!” Sam replied with curiosity. And then suddenly, realization dawned upon him. As if in defeat, he closed his eyes and sat on his grand Italian leather chair.
“I’m sorry Tania… I know why they took our Mia. A few weeks ago, I had to fire two head managers here as they were caught trading the hotel’s security details. During their unpleasant dismissal, they had threatened me with my life. Of course, I didn’t believe them! But Amy is right… they are behind this.”
Miserably, Sam closed his eyes.
“Ma’am, do you recognize these two men?” Amy showed Tania a picture.
“I am not too sure, but they look familiar. Except they weren’t dressed like this. Even their hair seemed a little longer.” Tania replied uncertainly.
Amy spoke into her collar mike, and barked out instructions. “Suspects confirmed! It’s them! Get in position and get Mia out now!” She excused herself from the office and ran out without another word.
“Stay here!” Sam commanded Tania and ran out behind Amy.
Unsure, Tania waited in the office. Her knees felt weak and her body hurt. She closed her eyes and crumpled against the corner wall. Silently, she whispered her prayers. “You gifted her to me once, don’t take her away from me now, please.” She opened her eyes and looked at her husband’s opulent office. She remembered Mia playing in this vast space with her dolls, and she heard her squeals when Sam would quietly surprise her. He would lie down on this soft carpet with her and tell her stories till she felt asleep. Quietly then, he would pick her up and put her on the couch, and when he looked at Tania after that, they would smile at each other as if sharing an unspoken intimate secret.
When her trance broke, Tania sobbed thinking of her daughter, and begged, “Merciful Lord! Please save my daughter!”
As if on cue, the phone rang. “Ma’am, this is Kay Singh, I’m the Police Commissioner. We have found your daughter, and she is with me! Malik and Bob had taken her to the airport, but your timely information allowed us to alert all the authorities. Congratulations, Ma’am!”
Tania cried once again, and asked to hear her daughter’s voice.
“Mommy, I’m so tired. Can you come take me home?” little Mia whispered on the phone.
And as if the world had been set right again, Tania thanked God and ran out of the hotel to get her family back together.
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Please share your feedback in the comments, and tell me what you think!
Lots of love,
P.
Stardust & Sunlight 