Realization

Jake:

Journal Day Two

It is funny you know, I always thought if anyone held me captive that I would keep quiet no matter how badly they tortured me. Either that or I would find a way to escape from the prison. I had this silly fantasy in my mind that I could find that inner strength to enable me to endure whatever they made me do. It is thoughts like this that make me realize how naive I really was. Now, when I hear stories of people that have been tortured, I realize just how horrible of an experience it is. It’s amazing what first-hand experience can do for you. I didn’t even put up a resistance when they interrogated me…

I awoke to a pounding sensation in my head. It was completely dark, except for the light coming through the door. That was the only way I knew I was awake. My hands were so tightly bound together, I couldn’t move them an inch. My throat was so dry, I felt as if I had spent the better part of a month lost in a desert. I tried calling out to see if there was anyone who was also in a predicament similar to mine. My voice was gone, and I thought to myself: if only I had gone home instead of listening to Paul when he wanted to go to the ice cream warehouse. If only I had listened to Kelly when she said it wasn’t a good idea. If only I listened to my parents. I tried calling out again.

“Hello?” I rasped. “Kelly? Paul? Is anyone there?”

There was no reply, and I soon fell back asleep. I awoke to the sound of a door opening. I opened my eyes and quickly closed them again. The room was filled with light. Whatever was outside of the door was extremely bright. Either that or my eyes had become so accustomed to the darkness that every light was going to seem especially luminous.

“Hello Jake.” someone said to me. “Do you know why you are here?”

“Not the slightest clue.” I responded, “But if you let me go, I promise I won’t tell anyone about this.”

“It is a bit too late for that.”

“Please. I need to get home or my parents will worry about me.” I pleaded with him.

“You don’t need to worry about your parents.” A new voice in the light informed me.

“Can you at least close the door?” I asked them. The bright light was making it hard for me to concentrate on what they were saying, and my head was beginning to throb again.

One of the men closed the door and turned on a light. Fortunately, the light in the room wasn’t as bright. I looked at my capturers and was startled to see that they were not both men. One was a woman.

“Can you untie my hands?” I asked. “I can’t really feel them.”

The man walked behind the chair and untied my hands. I felt so much more comfortable with my hands untied.

“Jake, do you know why you’re here?” The woman asked me.

One hundred thoughts came into my head, but I pushed them out, and said the simplest of them.

“I don’t know”

This was the truth; I had no idea why these people couldn’t have just taken me and my friends home, after which we could have forgotten all about this.

“Well Jake allow me to explain.” She said, “I don’t know how much you saw, but we were moving some valuable things in those crates that you and your friends were hiding in. We could not risk you and your friends telling anyone about that warehouse. Even if you swear not to tell anyone, it is possible that it may slip your mind one day, and our secret will be out.”

“The notebooks? We didn’t look inside of any of them. We have no idea what's going on here so its not to late to let us go.”

The woman stared at me in contempt. I guess it was kind of pointless to keep asking to be let go when its apparent she didn’t plan to let us go. But a person can always change his/her mind.

“What do you have planned for me and my friends?” I asked her.

I was a bit afraid to ask her that question, because if she planned to do something bad to me, I would rather know about it then have her do something to me when I didn’t expect it.

“That is a good question, a good question indeed. Since we cannot let you go home, we must find some use for you. For the time being, I think you and your friends will work for us. It is a simple job; mostly filing information.

 “If you can’t trust us about your warehouse, how can you trust us with this information?” I asked her.

If she was so worried that we saw what was in the notebooks why would she trust us with all this information?

“It’s very simple. If you cannot go anywhere with the information, then you really don’t have the information at all. And just in case you think of escaping, you should know that we have guards surrounding our facility.”

That made some sense. I don’t know why but I had a feeling that she had this conversation with many people before me.

“Well, if you could be kind enough to show me around this facility of yours and reunite me with my friends, I would be much obliged.”

If I was going to try and escape from here, I would need to see the whole place.

“Well then, I shall arrange a tour for you and your friends just as soon as your friends are awake. But in the meantime, I’m afraid your hands will have to be tied up again.”

“Wait, how do you know my name?”

They both left the room after tying my hands back up, leaving my question unanswered. I was left in the dark to think again. I thought back to my early childhood. My parents weren’t the best parents, but they weren’t the worst either. I guess you could say they were average. I was their only child, so I was spoiled. It’s amazing that I’m sitting here in this dark cell, thinking about how much I miss my parents. Back in Santa Fe, I tried my best to avoid going home because of the boring repetitiveness of it all. We ate the same things for breakfast, same things for dinner, I had same conversations with my parents, watched same T.V. shows, same everything, I just wanted to get away from that life. Now that I am away, I realize how comforting my repetitive lifestyle was. Being able to know what was going to happen next saved me quite a lot of worrying and stress in my life. If I had a second chance to do it all over again, I think I would try and be a better son for my parents…

Paul:

I woke up with a dull ache in my head.

“Jake, Kelly, are you guys here?” I called out.

No one replied. I sat there, with my hands tied, thinking to myself how I ended up in this mess. I thought about Jake wanting ice cream, me wanting to go and steal some from the warehouse, and Kelly's warning. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I was the one who got Jake and Kelly into trouble. If I could do things over, I would start being more responsible, I reasoned with myself. No more stealing, no more jokes at the teacher. No more ditching class. It was going to be hard, but if I get a second chance, I will change, and I will be a better person. I thought to myself: I wonder if anyone will be looking for me.

I then heard the sound of a door squeaking open. The light was so bright, I had to squint; I could vaguely see two figures. Then, one of them closed the door, and turned on a light. I could see that there was one woman and one man.

“Hello Paul.” The woman said to me, “I guess you will want me to explain why you are being held here.”

“Not really. I think I have it all figured out.” I replied, “Your men were in the middle of moving something you didn’t want anyone to see and we just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I can assure you that my friends and I will not tell anyone about it.”

Maybe if we all promised not to say anything, the lady would just let us leave. I wouldn’t tell anyone about what happened here, but I don’t know if the lady believed me.

“As much as I would love to believe you Paul, I cannot take that risk. I have already spoken to Jake about this. I have decided that you shall work for us until we decide what to do with you.”

“I have one question,” I said. “Is it possible for me to notify my parents that I am alright? I won’t say where I am, I just don’t want my parents getting worried.”

“I’m sorry Paul, but I cannot allow any contact with the outside world while you are here. This facility is secure, and there is no way in or out without me knowing. This includes phone calls.”

“Okay, I understand, but it never hurts to ask, does it?”

“No, I guess it doesn’t.” She responded. “I will see you in about thirty minutes. I have some other business to take care of first, and then I will give you and your friends a tour of our facility.”

She motioned to the other man, and then they both left the room. I was, once again, submerged in darkness. But the darkness was beginning to become comforting; because if I used my imagination, I could be back at home, even though my home isn’t the best place in the world. I could even imagine that I was spending time with my parents. In reality my parents were rarely home and when they were home, they tried to make up for it by spending all their time with me. They wouldn’t leave me alone and they followed me everywhere. It got to be annoying that I tried to avoid them as much as possible. I began to hang out with Jake and Kelly more often. If only I had spent more time with my parents, this might have been avoided, I thought. I wouldn’t have influenced Kelly and Jake to come to the warehouse. I would be at home playing with my dog, or even doing homework. I miss everything that was part of my normal life I even miss school. If only I had a second chance to do it all over again, I would change so many things…

Kelly:

I hate waking up with a headache. It is one of the worst feelings in the world. How did I get into this mess? It’s all Paul's fault. If only Jake and I had listened to the feelings in our gut, we would not be here. Speaking of Jake, I wonder if he is here in the room with me, sleeping.

I called out, “Jake, are you here?”

There was no answer. Man, my parents are really going to kill me if I ever get out of here. I tried to stand up, but I realized my hands and legs were tied up. Why couldn’t Paul just be normal? Why did he always have to try and live on the edge? If he just took things down a notch, we wouldn’t be in this difficult situation. As I continued to delve deep into my thoughts, the door opened, and two figures entered.

“Hello” I called out to them.

One of them went over to a corner and turned on the light switch. Light flooded into the room. I saw that one of them was a woman and the other a man.

“Why do you have me tied up here?” I asked them.

“Because,” The woman said: “You and your friends were snooping around our warehouse. We had some private things in there, and we don’t know how much you saw. But if you’re concerned about being tied up, we can untie you”

The man that came in the door with her walked over and untied me.

“Whatever you think we saw, we didn’t see it. We had just come into the warehouse when your men came in and we hid.”

“My men?” The woman laughed. “They are not my men, I am just an investigator. If I was of any real importance, do you really think I would be down here to see you?”

“Not really, but you never know.”

My parents would be so worried about me if I didn’t contact them soon. Sure, they would be mad at me, and a little worried, but at least they would know that I am still alive. For all they know, I might have gotten kidnapped and killed. Hah, come to think of it, I did kind of get kidnapped…I don’t know why I found that amusing. Getting kidnapped is no laughing matter, but here I am, laughing on the inside like a maniac. On a serious note, it’s is imperative that I call my parents and let them know I'm okay.

“Can you please call my parents and tell them that I’m okay?”

“I'm sorry Kelly, but we cannot allow any contact with the outside world here. Don’t worry though; you will be able to see your friends soon.”

As she said that, she walked out of the room. I sat there in the darkness thinking to myself: What will my parents think when I don’t get home for dinner? Or is it already dinner time? I have no idea what time it is. I'm going to be grounded for so long when I get home. I pondered about that for a while. Why am I so worried about what my parents are thinking? It’s not their problem, its mine. My parents like to do that a lot. Whenever I have a problem, they make it seem like it’s their problem. Any time I have some work to do and I ask for their help, they take over. I feel like a can never ask my parents for help because I'm afraid of their help. I always wondered what I would be like as a parent. I want to say that I will let my children do whatever they want to, but at the same time, I wouldn’t want them running wild with too much freedom. Sometimes I feel bad for my parents; they have to make the hardest choices in life. As I was thinking this, I slowly fell asleep…