Awakened

Cool air swarmed around a small girl. She thought vaguely for a moment that her mom pulled the covers off of her, that it was already morning. But no sunlight shone through her eyelids. Where are those covers?

The wind rushed at her once more and she jerked at the feeling, her leg hitting something rough, like bark. Suddenly, she was aware of a man holding her and felt the subtle bouncing motion as he walked. She opened her eyes groggily, confused why her dad took her out of bed.

"Daddy?" She yawned and tried to focus on her surroundings. They passed a tree and she finally comprehended they were outside. She searched the distance over her father's shoulder for her house. She spotted it a little off to the left about thirty feet. Confusion swept over her.

"Daddy? Where are we going?" He didn't answer, just held the girl tighter. She shivered from the night air; she was still in her pajamas. "I wanna go home." She nestled her head against his shoulder. She felt the prickly hairs on his chin. This annoyed her. Her dad shaved every morning.

And... He smelled funny. Like amber and sour milk. She pulled away in disgust.

"Daddy," she whined. It was too dark for her to see his face clearly. She saw a lamp light up ahead and was grateful, for she feared the darkness would swallow her whole. The girl wiggled in her father's grasp. Why was he carrying her anyway? She was too old to be held. She squirmed continually, becoming a chore for the man to hold. Finally when the light of the lamp was over them, he dropped her. She fell on her back.

"Ouch! Da–" Her exclamation cut short when she looked up at him. She realized with horror that the man who was carrying her was not her dad.

She began to crawl backwards as he advanced. He grabbed her arm and hoisted her to her feet firmly. She began to scream.

"Let me go!" She yelled. She kicked and clawed as he dragged her with him. Finally, she landed a blow on the back of his knee. He grunted in pain and let go of her. This was all she needed to run back the way they came. She sprinted as fast as her legs could carry her; she was nearly at the edge of her lawn when the man finally caught up to her. The weight of him as he pummeled toward her pushed the girl to the ground.

"Help! Mommy, help!" she screamed. But the lights in the house stayed off. She kicked and lunged, but the man wrestled her to the ground. Holding her down with one hand and reaching into his pocket with the other, he pulled out a Zippo lighter. The girl's eyes were wide with terror, watching the flame dance in front of her.

"You're parents are dead," he spoke calmly. Then he threw the lighter at the house. At first nothing happened, but slowly, the roof began to glow with flames.

"No!" She struggled against him, but he kept a tight hold on him. "No, no, no, no!" She started sobbing. "Mommy!" The man started dragging her away from the flames and she fought him each step.

Neither of them saw a dark figure sneak to her attacker. The girl felt the hold on her loosen and she plowed forward into the dirt. She turned and saw that another man had come to her rescue, distracting her kidnapper.

She looked up at her savior, bewildered. His dark hair and tall figure faced the body on the ground, who was already getting up from the surprise attack.

"Go!" The handsome man commanded in a gentle but firm tone. "Run! Get away from here!"

The girl hesitated only a moment, wondering about the welfare of her savior. But as the kidnapper lunged at him, she started running, afraid that she would be captured once again by the scary man.

Minutes later, hidden safely in the surrounding wood, she leaned against a tree to catch her breath. She turned back to see her house ablaze. She dropped to the ground in despair, weeping as she watched her house engulf in flames. As the night grew on, the weary girl soon fell asleep on the woodland floor.