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Caught Under the Willows
I woke up to glass breaking. I looked around, realizing it was still dark. I couldn’t help but get angry. My parents were fighting again; and at the middle of night, no less. Couldn’t they control themselves? I decided to go downstairs to make sure no one got hurt. I didn’t know it, but that choice changed my life forever.
Putting on my robe, I wondered why my parents were even up this late. Nevertheless, I sneaked downstairs to see what they were doing. I could hear shouting from the base of the stairs, and I slowly stepped down. “They must be in the living room,” I thought. I inaudibly made my way down into the hallway. I crouched low, beginning to army crawl. I heard their voices more clearly, but I couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. Suddenly, I sneezed, giving away my position. I darted back to the stairs, for once hoping my parents were too drunk to hear me. When the talking resumed, I began making my way back to the hallway.
I crawled forward again. The voices were louder, so I moved up and looked around the corner of the hallway. I could see two figures having a whispered argument. I was having a hard time knowing which one was mother and which one was father. I assumed the thinner of the two figures was Mother. I leaned in closer to hear what they were saying.
“Oh, you just had to go and break the glass, didn’t you?” Father said, in a deep voice. He paced around the room. “Do you want us to get caught?” He said, lifting his head. “Is that what you want?”
“Captain, I told you, it wasn’t me! It blew over from the window,” said a voice that was obviously not my mother’s. I wondered who my father was talking with this late at night. And they called him “Captain.” What did that mean?
Suddenly, a pair of gloved hands pulled me up from behind. One of the hands went over my mouth, while the other held my arms together behind my back. I tried to scream, but the hand covering my mouth stopped me from doing so. I tried to squirm away, but whoever was holding me had a tight grip. They forced me over to where Father was standing. As we got closer, though, I realized that it was not my father. He was taller, wider, and unshaven. I tried to scream again, without any luck.
“Captain,” said the man holding me, “I found her in the hallway. She was listening to what you guys were saying. What should I do with her?” I was paralyzed with fear, and my eyes grew wide. I realized this was it. They were going to kill me, there was no way they would let me just crawl back into bed.
“Oh, take her out to the yard first and then we’ll decide. Fisher, give Seaman the girl while you go out and load the van. We’ll be out shortly,” he instructed the one who I guessed was Fisher. I tried to pry loose when he passed me to the other guy, Seaman, but they were too strong. Seaman’s grip grew even tighter as he walked me out the door. His hand slipped off of my mouth, and I took that chance to scream.
“Shut up! Don’t you know any better? Now, we really have to go!” Seaman started to walk faster to the van parked in front of my house. “Captain, we don’t have time to get rid of her, we’re just gonna have to throw her in the van for now,” he said, with a worried tone. Just before he shoved me in the back, I saw my willow trees in the yard, the ones I grew up with all my life. Their branches swayed wildly in the rising wind. I started to kick and scream with much more effort now. I needed to be free, to be with my family, my dog, and most of all, my willows. When they closed the van into darkness, a shower of tears rolled down my face. My Wisconsin life was over.
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