The List 6-10

Break Away, Heaven, Innocence, Drive, Breathe Again

#6 Break Away

          “Get home now!”

          Tricia snapped her phone shut, the tears streaming down her cheeks. She fumbled with her keys before she was able to find the right key and start the ignition. Taking a few deep breaths, she shifted the car into drive and made her way out onto the highway.

          Tricia could tell that he had already downed at least a twelve pack. She looked down at her wedding ring and the tears came stronger. The bruise from their last big argument had just recently healed, and she knew she was about to step into that same thing again.

          But what could she do? Tricia loved her husband. Despite what he did to her, despite the arguments and fights, despite the bruises and black eyes, despite all that she loved him. He was her first love. And in the beginning it was great. But ever since he put that ring on her finger, he changed. She kept telling herself that it wasn’t him, it was the alcohol. He refused help though. So what could she do?

          Tricia loved her husband. She had sworn before friends, family, and God himself that she would love, cherish, honor, and be loyal to him and him alone till death part them. What was she to defy God?

          As she drove from exit to exit, Tricia tried to push the sound of his voice out of her head. How could God have done this to her? She had been a good Christian girl her whole life. How could He let her marriage become this? How could He punish her like this?

          An idea popped into Tricia’s head, but she quickly dismissed it. Exit thirty-two, five more to go. The idea slowly crept back into her head. Why shouldn’t she? She was unhappy. Four more exits. Yes, she loved her husband, but this was not what a marriage was supposed to be. Three more exits. Nothing would ever change until he got help, and he had already made it clear that he had no intentions to get help. Two more exits. She had to want to do it if she had spent this much time thinking about it. So why shouldn’t she? One more exit.

          Tricia took a deep breath. And as she passed her exit, she floored it and smiled.

 

 

#7 Heaven

          Tristan stood leaning over the railing of the ship. She had her eyes closed and hummed softly as the ship rocked gently beneath her. Behind her, Altair locked the helm in place and walked over to the young woman.

          “Captain?” he asked quietly.

          “Mmm.”

          “What are you doing?”

          Tristan opened her eyes and stood up straight. Crossing her arms, she stared out at the sea.

          “You’d laugh if I told you.”

          “Now Captain, what kind of first mate would I be if I went around insulting you like that?”

          “You wouldn’t be first mate for much longer for one thing.” The young captain laughed.

          Altair joined her laughter.

          “Come on Tristan, what’s going through that head of yours?”

          Tristan could talk to Altair about basically anything and everything. He was an old family friend, and apparently had sailed with her father once. He knew never to speak about that though, knowing how the subject of her abandoning father upset her. When he had owned his tavern, he had always kept an eye on her as often as he could. But when Tristan had swindled her way into getting her own ship, he left the tavern to his niece and nephew to join her crew.

          “I was thinking.”

          “About what?”

          “Heaven.”

          Altair paused for a moment, simply looking at Tristan. He had never known the young woman to have such thoughts. Her mother was a prostitute and had raised Tristan in a brothel, so religion never played a part in her life.

          “What about heaven?” he questioned.

          Tristan took a slow, deep breath before answering.

          “I was hoping that heaven is on the sea. Everything moves better on the sea.”

          Altair felt his heart drop into his stomach for a moment, and he smiled. Walking closer to Tristan, he placed a hand on her shoulder.

          “You really think people like us will wind up in heaven?” he asked innocently.

          Tristan sighed.

          “No.” she said. “But it’s nice to dream sometimes.”

          Altair placed a light kiss on the back of Tristan’s head before returning to the helm. Smiling to herself, she slowly turned away from the sea.

          “Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me.” She sung softly.

 

 

#8 Innocence

          Mary is eighteen today. She’s one of my best friends. We’ve known each other since seventh grade. But that’s not the story I want to tell you today. No, today’s story is about how the girl became… well, not the woman, but something along those lines.

          And it all started with a song.

          Mary is a huge fan of Broadway. And when I say huge, that’s an understatement. She’s having her party in her backyard, the same as every year. The parents and relatives are all sitting at the table, the younger kids are splashing around in the pool, and we are all standing by the barbeque. They all know I make the best barbequed fish, so Mary’s father leaves it to me. Mary demands Broadway music, so we play everything she has on her i-Pod on shuffle. I flip the salmon and a song from The Phantom of the Opera comes on called “The Point of No Return.” I smile.

          “Do you know how long it took me to figure out what this song is about?” I laugh.

          “It’s about going to hell.” Mary says.

          Mike, Chris, and I look at each other and smirk.

          “What?” Mary says, innocently.

          I lower my voice.

          “Mary, this song is about having sex.”

          Mary shakes her head and listens to the words. After a moment, her eyes widen and her mouth drops.

          “And there goes a little piece of Mary’s innocence out the window.”

 

 

#9 Drive

          “Charlie!”

          Charlie turned around to see Piper and Kim running from the hotel room, bags in hand. Raina was off her leash, running beside the two girls. Charlie excused herself from the man she was trying to con and began walking in their direction.

          “Charlie, the jig is up!” Kim yelled.

          “What?”

          “Run!”

          Piper reached the car first and opened the trunk, tossing the bags in. She rushed over to open the door for Raina. The dog jumped in and Kim followed, slamming the door shut.

          “What’s going on?” Charlie shouted.

          “London Bridge has fallen. I repeat, London Bridge has fallen!” Piper yelled, rushing back to close the trunk.

          The realization and panic finally sank in as Charlie heard the sirens. She began running just as Kim opened the door for her. Just as Piper got into the driver’s seat, Charlie dived into the back seat.

          “Drive! Drive!”

          Piper started the ignition, shifted the car into drive, and sped off out of the hotel parking lot.

          “How the hell did they find us?” Charlie asked, leaning over the passenger’s seat to speak to Piper.

          “I’ll tell you how they found us.” Kim said, slamming into the door as Piper made a hard left. “Piper stayed on the phone too long with the detective.”

          Charlie glared over at Piper.

          “Listen, whatever you’re about to say, Kim has already said it. So let’s just skip the whole yelling at me thing and concentrate on getting out of here-“

          “Our next swap isn’t until Thursday. What are we going to do until then?” Kim yelled.

          Piper slammed on the brakes. Three cop cars stood between them and the end of the street. None of them spoke. They were afraid to even move. After a moment or two, Piper slowly shifted the car into reverse. It took a moment for Kim and Charlie to figure out what she was up to. One of the cops stepped out of a car.

          “Drive!” Charlie screamed.

          Piper swerved into the other land and proceeded to floor it down the street, backwards.

 

 

#10 Breathe Again

          Jason, Frankie, Jazz, and Deacon landed on the stone floor hard. Materializing was tricky even for the most well-trained wizard. Even the smallest loss of concentration could move the desired position miles away. In the hurry they were in and the worry he had for the injured Frankie, Deacon had lost concentration and they materialized five feet about the ground.

          “Deacon, take Jazz away.” Jason said quietly.

          Deacon looked over to see that Frankie was not moving. Blood oozed out of a large wound on her stomach and her skin was turning a ghastly pale white. Taking Jazz’s hand, he pulled the young girl away from her sister.

          “What’s wrong with Frankie?” she moaned.

          Deacon did not answer her. He got up and led Jazz away. Jason kneeled beside Frankie, making sure to block Jazz’s line of sight.

          “Come on Frankie.” Jason whispered, checking for a pulse. “Don’t do this. Wake up.”

          Mustering every ounce of magic he had in him, Jason placed his hands over Frankie’s stomach and healed her wound.

          “You’re still not breathing.” He said in defeat. “Why are you still not breathing?”

          “Frankie, are you okay?” Jazz called out. “What’s wrong with my sister?”

          Jason was thinking too quickly about what to do to respond to Jazz’s question. Placing one hand on top of the other, he began pressing down on Frankie’s chest. Every few times he pressed, he bent over and breathed into her mouth. Still nothing.

          “Jason?” Deacon yelled.

          “Just keep her over there!” he shouted back, panic-stricken. “You can’t die.” He said quietly. “Come on.”

          Jason, again, pressed down on Frankie’s chest and breathed into her mouth. He did this again and again and again. He could hear Jazz began to cry as Deacon held the young girl back. Jason placed his lips on Frankie’s and felt her cough.

          Jason sprung up quickly as he realized Frankie had taken a breath. She turned on her side and proceeded to cough up a decent amount of blood that had been blocking her airway. Frankie’s entire body shook fiercely as she took several deep breaths. No more blood came out.

          “Good girl.” Jason said, rubbing Frankie’s back.

          “That… was not… cool.” She said in between gasps.

          Jason laughed, tears filling his eyes.

          “Frankie, are you okay?” Jazz asked after hearing her sister’s voice.

          “Yeah Jazz.” She coughed again. “I’m fine.”