“18”
“Everything is always flickering...always static-y...always quiet..or always too loud! I hate it dad” Malachi took the tattered doll out of this bag and sat quietly in the back of the humvee as it bumped and jostled down the pothole ridden road. Damon could not disagree with his son but continued to look outside the dirty window obscuring his agreement as he tried his best to come up with comforting words to placate his son for what seems like the 1 millionth time since they started their trip. “ 10 hours left tho.”
“ I know Kai, I hate it too, but once we get to Boise things will be much better I promise.” Damon mustered the best smile he could and was glad Kai was looking at his toy and not his eyes because they had long lost their luster, and words only meant so much when kai finally grew old enough to recognize when Damon was lying. “ Your mothers messengers have assured us that boise is much more stable than Bangor was.” That one wasn't a lie. The eastern seaboard was hit hard when the conflict began and was still mostly smolders, so much death in so many populous areas. Thank god Madaleine was on assignment in boise when it happened or they would most likely still be stuck there. Damon had always been against her military job, though he was always going to support his wife, the danger and constant travel had left him exhausted. Luckily he was able to work remotely at his publisher and that never became a problem. The travel took a toll on Kai though. 11 years old and already on his 8th school since 2nd grade. Who knew that'd be a boon in a time like this.
It felt like forever since the war had begun and it was the first time in a long time that it was fought on this soil. War like this was nowhere near what he had imagined..but the age of muskets and guerrilla attacks didn't make much sense when you can cripple missle systems and drain bank accounts turn off pipelines from the comfort of an office chair.
“ DAMMIT!” A loud yell came from the driver on the humvee causing damon to snap to attention and put his left hand to his side. He moved his head from left to right,looking for the origin of the danger. After a second he looked at the driver and noticed he was dabbing his lap with a napkin and he felt his entire body untense. “ DAMN ROADS, MAKING ME SPILL MY SHITTY COFFEE ALL OVER MY LAP. I swear the first thing Im going to do when this is all over is find a starbucks and get a caramel macchiato. My wife used to get me those dumb things and I can believe that's what I miss the most out of all of this” The soldier looked at damon in the mirror...or at least he assumed he had looked at him, he was still wearing sunglasses but he could tell by the head motion that that is what he was doing. “ Oh im sorry sir. I didn't mean to startle you, That coffee was awful hot is all. How are you doing back there?!”
“No problem Pvt. Mahamat, I can't hold that against you now can I?” Damon looked over to kai and noticed that he had reflexively put his had over him to shield him from danger, Kai was curled into a ball, but did not look scared in the least. Had it been so long that what could be life threatening had become just another day at the office for this child. Damon thought to himself. “ Its ok buddy it doesn't look like there's any trouble”
“ That's good , im tired dad. Im going to go to sleep, is that ok?”
“ Yeah buddy, of course, Ill wake you up when we get close.”
“ Thanks dad.” Kai put his head against the arm rest on the other side of the vehicle and dozed off. Hopefully the ride the rest of the way is smooth. As dawn broke he could see the sign approaching on the road and sighed knowing what was coming next.
“ Atlantic city, Wyoming population 45, 10 miles ahead.” Mahamat read off...as he always did, every time they passed a marker on this trip. Damon looked at kai and heard the slight rythmic snoring that let him know that kai was sleeping soundly. He ran his fingers through Kai's curly hair and patted his head before delicately handling the locket that hung around the next of the old ratted doll. He pressed the button on the side and popped it open. Damon always thought the cliché heart shaped locket thing was stupid, but the face Madeline made when he gave it to her in those early days of college made it all worth the 74.95 cents it cost him and the cuts on his clumsy fingers from cutting the picture of them to put inside. That locket has had many pictures in it over the years, But the one of them all, Damon, Kai, Mads, at the fair right before all of this started is special. It may be the last one they are able to take for a long time. They had been driving for so long, he had forgot what it was like to have a family. So much death for us to get to this point. He wasn't even aware that there was an order of succession after the secretary of homeland security..apparently neither did Mads. Ever since that day, shes gotten more gray, more somber, the messages come less and less and he has started to forget her voice.
We will definitely have more pictures to put in this locket, I can swear to that! The crackle of the the radio broke the silence and damon perked up to listen to the voice on the other end.
“ Pvt.Mahamat, this is Home base, do you have a copy?”
“ Yes sir home base, we have a copy, whats the message?”
“ The package has been moved to Sigma location, Rho has been compromised!” The message made Damon's blood run cold The new protocol to keep the president and her family separate made sense at the time, only able to be reunited at the safe houses and then split if the safe house was compromised. It had become faster and faster, what was months went to days...she hadn't been at the safe house in Wyoming for even 2 months and was being moved again.
“ No, we were so close, we were so close. Things are getting worse, Mahamat ask for more information!”
“ Fhotus, we can not provide any information over the air, we are only at liberty to inform you of the change of plans, travel safely. Over and out” The voice over the intercom crackled and fizzled out. After what seemed like an eternity of silence, a small voice asked a painful and increasingly common question.
“ Dad, how much longer now?” the dejected voice squeaked out.
Defeated, Hurt, and holding back tears “ 18 hours if I had to take a guess son. We will be there soon” Damon thumbed the locket between his fingers and tried to force a smile “ The picture we will take at the lake will be even better than the ones at the park, we will definitely have a good one to choose from. I promise.”
About the Creator
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More stories from D.L Haustinwood and writers in Fiction and other communities.
Ah-cwuti's reign
weren’t always dragons in the valley. There wasn’t always a valley. Hogoroth was once a grand capital. The seat of the largest kingdom in all of Adria. Traders from as far east as Ro I Dan and performers as far south as Polarin voyaged thousands of miles to ply their trade in its borders. One of the few kingdoms allied with most of their neighbors, king Ah-Cwuti Hogorah was known as a shrewd but kind patriarch. The jewel of Adria once sat in a mineral rich but unstable feudal warlord overseen land until Bo-Rinsia Hogorah, through both bloodshed and alliances, united most of the territory under a single powThereerful banner. Even the Qwima islands to the very west sent emissaries to pledge fealty to the new king. The Provinces to the north, arid and dry but rich in a substance important to the machina driven countries of Okrod and Noreat. The winding rivers and inlets through the center Borto region created almost perfect conditions for agriculture. Even the South, once known as a mountainous almost inhospitable region, became a hub for tourism and entertainment as careful and creative bureaucracy enticed many an entrepreneur to its reaches. Even Magaleth was moved to outlaw chattel slavery, though pockets still remained even to the kingdoms end.
By D.L Haustinwood4 years ago in Fiction
The Hidden Door: A Family Secret Unveiled
The Hidden Door: A Family Secret Unveiled A forgotten map leads to an ancient mystery hidden beneath the attic. It was a rainy evening when Sarah, curled up in the warmth of her grandmother’s study, found herself once again going through the many boxes of memories her grandmother had left behind. She had never quite known what to do with these things. Every object seemed to hold a piece of the past — an old family photograph, a faded letter, a trinket here and there — and each one stirred up emotions she didn’t know how to process. But on this particular evening, one box in the back corner of the room caught her eye. Unlike the others, it wasn’t full of old pictures or knick-knacks. It was packed with what appeared to be her grandmother’s journals, each worn and yellowed with time. Sarah hadn’t known her grandmother very well before her passing, and now these journals seemed like a window into the woman who had once been the family matriarch, full of stories, wisdom, and memories. As she flipped through the first few pages of one of the journals, something fell out — a small, crumpled piece of paper. She unrolled it carefully, revealing a faded map that seemed to have been drawn by hand. The paper was old, its edges torn, and the ink had blurred in some places, but Sarah could still make out the important details. The map was marked with symbols and what appeared to be a path leading to an “X” in the center of a room she didn’t recognize. It was the attic. Her curiosity piqued, and she immediately began to wonder what her grandmother had hidden all those years ago. Sarah sat back, staring at the map, trying to make sense of it. It had been years since she had explored the attic. As a child, the attic had always seemed like a forbidden place — dark, dusty, and filled with the remnants of a bygone era. Her parents had always warned her not to venture up there, saying it was too dangerous, too cluttered. But now, the map seemed to call her. Her mind raced with thoughts of what could possibly be hidden in that attic. Was it just a memory, or was there something more? Was this map leading her to a treasure, an heirloom, or perhaps an answer to a family mystery that had long been forgotten? Without hesitation, Sarah grabbed the map and hurried to the attic. The wooden steps creaked beneath her weight as she ascended. The musty air hit her the moment she opened the door, and the dim light from a single window barely illuminated the cluttered space. Dust motes floated lazily in the air, and old furniture, boxes, and antique furnishings were piled high, nearly reaching the ceiling. It was the same attic she had visited as a child, but it seemed even more mysterious now. She pulled the rug away from the center of the room, just as the map had indicated. The floorboards creaked as she knelt down, her heart pounding in her chest. Slowly, she ran her fingers over the worn wood and found a small hatch — it was barely noticeable, but there it was, as though it had been waiting for her all this time. The hatch was old, its wood splintered and faded with age, but it had a rusted latch. Sarah hesitated for a moment, wondering if she was about to uncover something her family had kept hidden for generations. She turned the latch slowly, the sound of metal against wood echoing in the quiet attic. As she lifted the hatch, a wave of cold air rushed up from the darkness below. The space beneath the hatch was small, and Sarah could barely make out the shape of an old, wooden door. It was unlike anything she had ever seen — covered in dust and cobwebs, but solid, like it had been shut for years. The key, it seemed, had always been in her hands — the map, the clue she had uncovered in her grandmother’s journal, had led her here. With a mix of excitement and trepidation, Sarah descended into the hidden space, her flashlight illuminating the way. The room was smaller than the attic, but it was filled with strange artifacts — old trunks, letters, and trinkets from a past era. It was like stepping into a time capsule. And there, in the corner, stood a chest — just as the map had suggested. She felt a rush of adrenaline as she approached the chest and opened it carefully. Inside, she found an old family heirloom, a beautiful silver necklace, its intricate design shining even in the dim light. Along with the necklace was a letter, written in her grandmother’s handwriting, explaining the significance of the necklace — a piece of their family’s history, passed down through generations. Tears welled in Sarah’s eyes as she realized that what she had uncovered wasn’t just a hidden treasure, but a piece of her family’s story. The hidden door had opened, revealing more than just a room filled with relics. It had revealed a legacy she never knew existed.
By ÅBBÅS KHÅÑ4 days ago in Fiction
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