The Bag - Help Wanted
A Story Every Day in 2024 July 7th 189/366
She could see the gadget buzzing and she could see the fear in her son's face.
"Don't answer it," she said.
He looked pleadingly at her and all she wanted to do was take him in her arms and assure him it would be okay. But this wasn't school nor a problem which could be solved with a word to the teacher. This was life and death, she could tell. You didn't get through wars without knowing a dire situation when it arrived.
It didn't matter so much about her. She was old and had long since resigned herself to her diminishing days. But she wanted Jim, her boy, to live a long happy life, maybe find someone. He was a good man with plenty to offer but had always been so career-focused. Look where that had got him!
The Comms. stopped and his relief was palpable to her.
"Let's move," she said, taking charge of a situation she knew nothing about.
Her decisiveness seemed to give him momentum and he said, "Where's your bag?"
She pointed to her overnight bag and another slightly smaller bag, full of yarn and said, "Don't forget my knitting."
*
Ella was concentrating.
"What do you need from me?" Jason asked.
But Ella honestly didn't know. Because she had no idea what Jason could give.
*
"He's not answering, Sir," the Comms. operator advised. This was not the news he wanted to deliver to Him.
This was not the news that He wanted to hear. He gave no reaction. He had already lost emotional control today, more than once, and He would not be subject to emotional weakness again.
He turned and looked at the Comms. operator who gulped audibly under His bloody reptilian gaze.
"Then, we must find him. Are the Drones still mobilised?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Then begin the hunt."
He smiled.
"Start at his mother's."
*
Ella's concentration was waning. She was trying but something was hindering it. She thought she knew what it was. Heightened Disruption.
Jason could feel something different too.
*
Anna could sense Ella's uncertainty across the miles. She could also, despite the shield, sense the Disruption.
She turned to her father.
"It's Ella. She needs our help."
***
366 words
I wonder how Anna and Malcolm will help them. I hope Jim and his mum get away but I just don't know...
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Comments (9)
It feels as though a face-to-face between Jason and Him is due soon. Jason needs to realize the extent of his power.
Liked the return to discussion of a bag for a beat! Good reminder of how this all started!!
I feel like this is part of a series I was reading before my vacation? I'm so far behind.
Often in stories like this, there is a nexus where all the characters' actions culminate in a singular unforeseeable resolution. It will feel natural when it comes to light. Well-wrought!
What a great yarn!! Let’s goooo! I feel like it’s all getting ready to kick off. Great stuff.
Agree with Katarzyna. Chekov’s rule must be obeyed! Loving it, Rachel!
I'm sure the knitting has to become indispensable at some point in the future. It simply begs to be that gun that has to be fired in the third act!
I’m cheering for Jim & his Mum… they’ll get away… they have her knitting, what could possibly go wrong? Yep… Anna and Malcolm to the rescue ✅ He gets worse by the second: “ He turned and looked at the Comms. operator who gulped audibly under His bloody reptilian gaze.”🥺😵💫
He smiled. "Start at his mother's." That was sooooo scaryyyy!! 😭😭😭😭😭