Short Stories

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Debra was running frantically. Weeds were slapping her across the face, their spiny leaves slashing through the tears streaming down her cheeks. She stopped at the top of a rise in the middle of an open field; her eyes searched the area, hoping. “Amanda!” she screamed, but her cry didn’t get far; the brisk October breeze seemed to take her words and throw them right back into her mouth. With a sob she looked to heaven and cried, “God, where is she? Please! God, she is my only daughter, help me find her, let her be all right.”

Debra scanned the area one more time--nothing. Taking a deep breath she left the clearing and headed back into the woods. It was dark and scary under the canopy of trees. The tree branches reached up as if trying to block out the light. Deb could only imagine how intimidating this forest must be to an eight-year-old girl.

Just a few short hours ago Amanda had been playing on the playground with her friend Jamie. Now, the girls were lost and Debra didn’t know if she’d ever see them again.

“How could I let this happen? Why did we ever come here?” The questions kept repeating themselves over and over in her mind.

*****

John’s empty glass made a soft thump as he placed it beside the other dirty dishes on the counter. Leaning against the kitchen sink, he turned and watched his wife put the leftover food into Tupperware containers.

“The kids are watching a movie” he informed her. Deb brushed a lock of stray hair behind her ear and nodded as she stacked the bowls of leftovers and moved to put them in the refrigerator. John stepped aside when Debra came over to start running water in the sink.

“So Deb, what are we going to do for Kevin’s birthday?” He asked.

A frown creased Debra’s forehead. Kevin was their oldest child and he was going to be ten in just two weeks. “I don’t know” she said, “I’d like to do something outdoors but with the way our Missouri weather is this time of year you never know if it will be hot, cold or pouring down rain.”

“Well, we can always plan something outdoors and if the weather doesn't cooperate we’ll just go bowling.”
Deb shook her head. John always made everything seem so simple. He never seemed to let anything bother him, and Debra admired and respected him for those traits, which she often found herself lacking.

“That sounds like a plan” she conceded, “I think it would be nice to have a barbeque at Grahm’s Cave State Park. There’s a large playground there and a field the kids could play ball in. We could....”

*****

“This is all my fault” Debra realized. “If I hadn’t suggested that we come here Amanda and Jamie might not be lost.” The thought made her sick to her stomach.

Her side hurt every time she took a breath and she could barely feel her legs. She was exhausted but there was no way she could stop, even for a minute. The sun would be setting before long and then they would only have maybe half an hour of good light left. If they hadn’t found the girls by the time it was dark out... Deb shuddered at the thought; the fear caused a rush of adrenaline to flow through her veins and gave her the energy to run faster and scream louder for a little while longer.

There was a noise somewhere in the distance off to her left. She stopped, straining her ears to hear even the littlest sound. “Oh please God let it be the girls!” More than anything she wanted to hear a little voice call out “Mommy.”

Instead all she heard was the sound of traffic going by on the interstate. Tears filled her eyes as she realized it must have been a car’s horn and not a child’s voice that she had heard. Realization sunk in and a new fear seized her, one that paralyzed her--the interstate! She had forgotten that the busy interstate ran along the southern edge of the park. What if the girls had heard the traffic and gone that way thinking they could find help? Old nightmares started flooding back into her mind.

A few years ago several kids in their area had been kidnapped. All of the abducted children had had blond hair and blue eyes. Debra’s nerves had been on edge--all of her own kids had blond hair and blue eyes--and for months she had hardly let them out of her sight. What if that nightmare was now becoming a reality?

Terror filled her throat and escaped in a heart-stopping wail. “No God, please no” she screamed as she fell to her knees; her sobs shook her whole body from head to toe.

“Deb? Debra?” There was true panic in the voice that called her name. “Deb, where are you!”

She could hear branches breaking under someone’s running feet. She knew it was John and that he must be terrified but the tears had such a chokehold on her throat she couldn’t even find the breath to answer. He emerged on the path ahead of her and saw her in a heap on the ground.

“Are you hurt? What happened? What’s wrong?” Fearful questions came pouring out of him as he ran to his wife’s side. She sat there in desperate need of his comfort and strength and all she could do was shake her head in answer. Deb looked up and saw the fear and helplessness in his eyes, she had only seen that look a few times in their life together and she had never liked seeing it. She was being no help to the girls by letting her fear keep her silent; pulling together all the will power that was left inside of her she forced the words out.

“The interstate,” she managed, “I heard the cars on the interstate and I realized they might have gone there to find help.”

“So, you’re not hurt?” John questioned.

Deb could see that John didn’t understand, “No! You don‘t understand!” she cried in frustration, “If they go to the interstate they could get run over or someone might take them! And it’s all my fault, John. How could I let them get lost?”

“No!” John put his hands on either side of her face and looked into her eyes, “This is not your fault. I could have watched them just as well as you; the other adults could have too.”

Deep down she knew he was right but she still felt like the blame was sitting squarely on her shoulders.

*****

There were only four years difference in age between Kevin and Debra’s youngest son Darrin, with Jesse and Amanda, the twins, falling almost right in the middle in age. Her children played well together; Darrin was still too young at six to keep up with his older siblings very well, but Amanda had no problem keeping up with the boys. Having grown up with only brothers had made her into quite a tomboy.

It was exactly because of that fact that Debra and John had decided to let their younger children invite one friend each. She knew her daughter well; if Amanda didn’t have another girl there to play with she would end up running around with the boys, and eventually she would get herself hurt.

The day of the party had dawned with clear skies and pleasant temperatures; it hadn’t rained in almost two weeks so Deb wouldn’t have to worry about the kids getting muddy.

They had spent most of the morning driving their fifteen passenger van around their small town picking up the kids that needed a ride to the party. The rest of the children that had been invited were coming with their parents and would be meeting them at the park. By the time the last boy climbed in, they had filled the van to capacity. Debra looked over at John and they shared a secret smile, as if to acknowledge it was going to be a long forty five minute trip but that they were in it together.

The scenery was beautiful. Almost all of the leaves on the trees had turned from their normal uniform green to the various shades of fire that were associated with fall. Debra had always loved the beauty of this time of year.

Debra turned in her seat when an unusually loud squeal came from the back seat; one of the boys was antagonizing Amanda’s friend Jamie.

“All right boys,” she warned. She had to raise her voice to be heard above the excited children. “That’s enough. Look, we’re pulling into the State Park now so sit still and you’ll be able to get out in just a minute. Now, when we get there you all can go play while we get out the food and stuff. Then we’ll all go up and see the cave. Okay?”

Her announcement brought another burst of excitement and the volume in the car increased rather than decreased like she had hoped. John chuckled at the exasperated look on her face.

The van had barely come to a complete stop before the boys had the door open and were rapidly climbing out and spreading in all directions. Kevin, Jesse and the rest of the older boys got out the baseball equipment and headed to the large open field, playing baseball was probably Kevin’s favorite thing to do. Amanda and Jamie spotted some flowers growing in the woods along the edge of the field and immediately decided they needed a bouquet for the birthday table.

“Don’t go far,” Deb called to the girls.

A car horn honked behind her and Debra turned to see her mother Candice pulling up in her bulky dark blue Plymouth. Darrin and his friend Luke were riding in the front seat beside her. Deb walked around and opened the door to let the boys out.

“Hi Mommy.” Darrin reached out and gave her a hug. “Can we go play on the playground?”

“Of course you can honey.” She bent down and planted a kiss on her son’s wide forehead. As the boys ran off to play, she turned back to the car to help her mother unload all the supplies they had packed in her car.

By the time they had unloaded the cars the rest of the children and their parents had arrived. Debra blew the whistle she had brought with her to get the kids’ attention. As the children gathered around her she did a quick mental head count making sure none of the kids had wandered off, good, they were all there.

“Okay” she announced to the eager faces, “we are going to go up and see the cave. Every one stay close and no going down any of the paths. Does every one understand?”

About a dozen little heads bobbed up and down in reply to her question. Debra looked at her mother and her friend Shirley to see if they were ready to go; they were going along to help her keep control of the kids. Even with the three of them Debra had a feeling they were going to have their hands full.

The cave was not very large, only about 100 ft. wide and 75 ft. deep; it was special because it was an Indian burial ground. Half of the cave had been fenced off so people could view the burial ground but not disturb anything.
It didn’t surprise Debra that the boys were more interested in climbing to the top of the cave than learning anything about its historical value. She also wasn’t surprised to see that Amanda was the exact opposite; she had always loved history and information in general. Debra watched her perch in front of the large monument that explained the history of the cave. Well, at least that was one child she wouldn’t have to worry about up here--the boys were enough to take up all her energy. When another one of Kevin’s friends wandered to close too the rim of the cave, she had had enough. Rather than warn them again, she just blew her whistle and told them all to come down so they could go back to the recreation area.

“Mom, I’m not ready. Can I stay and finish reading this?” Amanda asked.

“Oh honey, I’m sorry. You’ll have to come with us now, but we’ll come back later today, okay?” She promised.

Amanda nodded and ran to join Jamie, who was headed back down the trail to the recreation area.

When they got back to the recreation area, Deb saw that John had already gotten the barbeque pit fired up and was just getting ready to put hamburgers on the grills to cook. Since the kids were playing again under the watchful eyes of some of the other parents, Deb got to work. She found the hot dogs and set them by the grill so John could cook them next. He had already gotten out the BBQ sauce but he handed her an empty squirt bottle. Deb took it to the water spicket and filled it up, so that John could use the water to douse the flames if they got to hot. John circled his free arm around her wais as he accepted the bottle from her.

“Is that all you need for now?” she asked.

“Yes dear, you go play with the other mommies. I will call you when I have the meat almost done so you can get the rest of the food ready.”

Deb leaned in and got a quick kiss. “You’re the boss,” she said as she pulled back, then had to dodge the spatula that John playfully swung at her.

Debra sighed, and stood still for a minute to enjoy the sights and sounds of the party. Children were laughing and chasing each other, the smell of BBQ wafted by on the breeze and her friends were enjoying each other’s company. Deb whispered a prayer of thanks that the day was going so well, then wandered over to where her friend Cindy was sitting and watching the boys play a rowdy game of tag.

*****

“Grandma, can Jamie and I go back up to the cave and walk around and stuff?” Amanda pleaded.

Candice was busy setting out the party plates and cups, “I don’t know honey...”

“Mommy said we could go back when we were up there earlier. Please grandma.”

Amanda put on the innocent puppy-dog face she knew her grandma couldn’t resist. “All right” Candice gave in, “you two be careful and don’t be gone too long, we’ll be eating soon.”

Amanda stretched up and kissed her grandmother’s cheek, then the two girls darted up the steep path to the cave. Amanda took her time and read all the facts about the cave. Amanda knew Jamie couldn’t have cared less about the history of the cave but her friend did enjoy climbing to the top now that there were no boys around to get in her way and make her nervous.

When the girls became bored with what the cave had to offer, they held a conference and decided to take a walk down one of the many paths that started at the cave.

“We have time,” Amanda reasoned, “and we won’t go far.” So the girls took a path to their left.

This was the most fun the girls had had all day. There were plenty of leaves to kick through as they ran from one flower to the next, and they were quickly gathering quite the array of flowers. They had been exploring for some time when they spotted a waterfall. The water ran down three levels of rock and gathered at the base in a clear pool. The mist made rainbows as it hit the air.

“Ooooooh, pretty,” Amanda gasped

“It sure is,” Jamie agreed. “But don’t you think we should head back?”

“I guess so,” Amanda agreed reluctantly.

The girls gathered a few of the flowers that were growing around the pool. Finally satisfied with their bouquets they went skipping down the path.

They hadn’t gone far when Amanda stopped. “Jamie, I don’t think this is the right path. I think this is a creek bed.”

“Does that mean we’re lost?” There was a hint of fear in Jamie’s voice.

“No. I’m sure the path is around here somewhere, we’ll find it.”

*****

John turned the last of the hot dogs over; there was just enough heat left in the coals to finish cooking them.
Scanning the area, John spotted his wife in deep conversation with her friend Cindy. He smiled to himself, glad that God had given her a friend form church that she could relate to. Cindy’s husband Andy was at the playground pushing Luke and Darrin on the swings. John was thankful to have him as a friend too. As much as he hated to end what looked to be a serious conversation between his wife and her friend, he needed Debra to come get the rest of the food ready before the meat grew cold.

Debra looked up when she heard John call her name. It was hard not to be annoyed about being interrupted; Cindy had been explaining something that their pastor had mentioned in his sermon Sunday. Debra often depended on Cindy to help her understand things that related to church and the Bible. While Debra had only been saved for a few months, her friend had been a true Christian since she was teenager. Deb admired her because Cindy still had that passion for Jesus that most people lost after time went by. She could only hope she would be the same way.

“Hey Babe,” John called again, “the meat’s ready.”

“Okay!” She waved at him so he could see that she had heard. Debra stood then turned her attention back to Cindy. “We’ll have to finish this conversation later Cin, sorry.”

“That’s all right. Let me come help you.” Cindy reached out a hand so Debra could pull her up off the bench.

Candice was already setting out the birthday gifts so Kevin could open them after they had eaten. Debra and Cindy opened the back doors of the van and pulled out the bags of chips and bottles of soda pop. John joined them and grabbed the heavy cooler they had used to pack the potato salad and ice in. Once they had the food set out and she had double-checked that all was ready, Deb blew her whistle to let everyone know that the food was ready. As the kids gathered at the tables she did another head count. Debra was slightly annoyed when she realized the girls weren’t there--they must have been hiding somewhere and chosen to ignore the whistle call. She quickly scanned the area but didn’t see them anywhere. She vaguely remembered seeing them talking to her mother earlier.

“Mom!” She called to Candice who was helping the kids get their drinks. “Have you seen the girls?”

“Sure, I told them they could go back up to the cave.” She kept her focus on what she was doing. “But, I told them not to take long ‘cause we were going to be eating. I expected them to be back by now.” She set the 2-Liter down that she had been pouring from. “Do you want me to go get them?” she asked, walking over to where her daughter stood.

“No, Mom. You stay here and I’ll go find the girls.”

“I’ll go with you,” John volunteered as he grabbed his wife’s hand. Together they walked up the trail that the girls had taken only a little while earlier.

Deb half expected to meet the girls on their way back. She was getting more annoyed the farther she climbed. Why had her mother let the girls come? Debra had promised to bring the girls back when she could be there to watch them, but Candice hadn’t heard her tell them that.

A seed of fear started growing in the pit of Deb’s stomach when she realized the girls weren’t at the cave. John dropped her hand and climbed up the side of the cave. “Amanda, Jamie!” he called.

Debra started tracing her jawbone with her knuckles, a habit she performed when she was deep in thought or worried. John climbed back down and joined her.

“Maybe they went down a trail,” he suggested. “Let’s go down this way and see.”

Deb followed him blindly, her mind chasing down the millions of possibilities of where the girls could be, when something rustled and crunched under her feet. She stopped. The path ahead of them was completely covered with fallen leaves. The path was covered! Her mind seized that fact.

“Oh John,” she breathed.

“I know,” he cut in. “Let’s go get the others.”

Before turning Deb looked at the path again, or at least what she thought was the path. If the girls had come this way and not been paying attention they could have easily have walked off the path. They could be anywhere!

John pulled on her hand. When she turned to him he could see that her eyes were glazed with fear.

“Honey.” He framed her face with his rough hands. “We’re going to find them. They’ll be all right.” He deliberately slowed his words in an effort to make her understand. Her blank stare turned desperate and she met his eyes.

“You go get the others. I have to find my daughter!” With that she turned and ran through the leaves, heading deeper into the woods.

*****

So here she was over four hours later; she was at the end of her physical and mental strength, clinging to her husband.

“If I had just taken them back to the cave like I’d said I would. If I...”

“Stop! If onlys’ are not going to change anything!” John reprimanded. “God, we need Your help and strength. Help us find our girl.” He prayed.

“Deb I know you’re tired and scared but you have to keep going. It’s the only way we’ll find the girls.” John stood up and pulled Debra up with him. “Now, you keep going down this path like you were and I will go check out by the interstate.”

Debra nodded and started to go back down the path, but John grabbed her hand and pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her. “Be careful babe,” he whispered into her hair.

Deb nodded against his chest, then pushed away and started running down the path. She had no idea where this path was going; she prayed it would lead her to Amanda and Jamie. A shiver ran up her spine. The temperature was dropping, and in another hour or so the sun would be setting beyond the horizon. By now her desperation had grown so strong it had made her numb to everything else.

Ahead she could see the trees were thinning and a road crossed the path. To the left of the path was a building; as she drew nearer she could see the sign on the door, “Ranger’s Station.” Relief flooded through her system--if anyone could find her little girls surely the Rangers could. She mentally scolded herself for not thinking of that sooner.

The doorknob twisted easily in her hand but she had to push hard to get the door to open. She fell into the room already begging for help. Someone helped her up and led her to a chair.

“Whoa, slow down Ma’am,” cautioned the oldest of the three Rangers, who turned to his partners and dispensed orders.

“Tony, get this lady some water. Daniel, you get the first aid kit.” The younger two jumped to obey.

“My name is Bruce,” he said turning his attention back to Debra. “Please tell me what is going on. Are you hurt?”

Taking a deep breath Deb struggled to make a conscious effort to slow her words down--she was being no help to the girls babbling on like this. She had to clam down.

Bruce’s kind eyes showed more and more concern as she explained the situation. Tony and Daniel had joined them by the time she had finished her story; Tony handed her a glass of cold water that had begun to sweat while he had stood there holding it. Daniel set a box of first aid supplies on the table beside her.

“Thank you,” she sniffed to all of them.

Bruce and Daniel crossed to the other side of the room; there was a radio there. Daniel immediately picked up his Walkie-Talkie and started informing other Rangers of the situation.

“Ma’am.” Tony had to repeat himself several times before he finally got her attention. “The bathroom is there in the corner, and you can use whatever you need out of the first aid kit. I’m sorry the bathroom isn’t very nice, but we don’t get a lot of company here.”

Deb picked up the small box with the Red Cross symbol on the lid, pushed herself out of the chair and crossed the room. One look in the mirror told her why the Ranger’s jaws had dropped when she showed up: Dirt had replaced her make up and there were streaks of it that had been washed away by her tears. There were several cuts on her hands and face; many had bled at one time and there was a large rip in the shoulder of her windbreaker jacket.

Deb picked the twigs and leaves out of her ponytail while she waited for the water to run hot. The heat of the water was relaxing but it stung as it washed away the dried blood. Some of the cuts were pretty deep and started to bleed again. She shuffled through the first aid kit and took out antibiotic ointment and band-aids; she applied generous amounts of the ointment to the deep wounds and covered them with band-aids so they would be protected.

Static crackled through Bruce’s Walkie-Talkie. Debra wiped her hands on her jeans, put the supplies back in the first aid box and opened the door of the bathroom. Seeing that Bruce was busy with his conversation, she crossed the room and stood by the window, waiting. He turned to her after finishing the conversation.

“I’ve got all my men canvassing the area, but I’m sorry to say that I can’t call the police. Unless the children have been missing for twenty-four, hours their hands are tied.”

Debra sighed. It wasn’t good news but there was nothing she could do about it.

“Thank you for your help.” She moved to the nearest chair, sat down and put her head in her hands. Feeling a gentle hand on her shoulder, she looked up. Bruce stood there looking down at her, and the kindness and concern in his face was enough to make Debra’s eyes mist.

“We’re doing everything we can ma’am. We’ll find your girls. I’m going to go out and look for them myself as soon as Daniel gets back; you can go with me if you want. In the meantime, is there anything I can do for you?”

Debra knew there was only one thing that would make a difference. “Pray” she pleaded.

“I already have been.” Bruce walked back to the CB to check on the search, leaving Debra with her thoughts. They were slowly driving her crazy; she decided to take her own advice.

“God, I know you know where the girls are. Lead us to them, and keep them safe. Keep everyone safe as they are out looking. Please help me not to lose my mind. I’m sorry I am not trusting You more with this--help me to do better....”

*****

Amanda was starting to feel really lost. It seemed to her that they were just wandering around in circles. Finally giving up she stopped and sat down on the cold ground.

“I think we’re lost,” she declared.

Jamie joined her on the ground and just stared at her. Amanda knew her friend was scared.

“I’m sorry Jamie. I don’t know how this happened.” Tears were filling her eyes and threatening to spill down her cheeks.

“I’m scared,” Jamie whispered.

“Me too.”

The two girls sat there in silence, each realizing just how scary being lost was.

Amanda remembered something her Sunday School teacher had taught the class a few weeks ago -- they could pray to God any time, all they had to do was just talk to him like they would talk to any one else. Amanda was still pretty new at praying but she figured if there was ever a time she needed to pray, now was that time. Amanda grabbed Jamie’s hand.

“Let’s pray! God, we’re lost, we don’t know where we are and we need you to help us. Please let someone find us or help us find our way back. In Jesus name I pray, amen.”

Jamie had tears running down her cheeks now.

“Don’t worry. My Mom and Dad will figure out that we’re gone and they’ll come find us.” Amanda tried to offer Jamie some comfort. “I think we need to keep looking for the path though.” She stood up and reached out to pull Jamie to her feet.

Several times the girls thought they had found the path only to have the trail end at nowhere. It was gradually getting colder and Amanda’s optimism was almost gone.

“There’s another path,” Jamie noted with little hope in her voice. “Which way do you think we should go?”

Amanda had absolutely no idea; her normally acute sense of direction must have gotten lost some where in the leaves, like they had. With a shrug of her shoulders, she turned to the left.

They didn’t have to go far for Amanda to figure out that they had found a real trail. She started walking faster, her hopes rising. They followed the trail as it wound around a large tree, and through the brush they caught their first glimpse of a parking lot. The girls took off running; when they reached the parking lot, Amanda spotted her family’s van. Both girls shouted with relief. Their cries caught the attention of all the boys who were now playing quietly on the playground.

“Amanda!” Her brothers cried as they came running toward her. One of the Kevin’s friends ran to get Candice and the other adults who had stayed behind to watch the boys. Amanda’s brothers rarely gave her hugs but this time they all three wrapped her up at the same time. The boys had barely let go of her before her Grandma came and snatched her up; Amanda didn’t know if her grandma would ever let go. The boys were asking a lot of questions but Candice wouldn’t give the girls time to answer.

“We have to go find your Mom,” she told Amanda. She ushered the girls to her car.

“Can you watch the boys?” Candice checked with Cindy and Andy.

When they assured her they would be all right she pulled out of the parking lot and set out to find Debra.

*****

Debra looked up at the sound of gravel crunching on the road. She peaked out the window to see if she recognized the vehicle. One look and she bolted through the door--it was her mother’s car! She took off running to meet the car. As the gap closed between them she could see two little heads peeking over the dash. Tears were once again pouring down her cheeks by the time her mother had the car stopped. Debra jerked the heavy passenger door open and grabbed Amanda before she could even step out of the car. Debra sobbed as she clutched her daughter to her chest like a precious treasure. After a long time Debra finally pushed Amanda out to arm’s length so she could shower her face with kisses.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Jamie standing beside Candice. She reached out and grabbed her daughters friend and pulled both girls into a tight embrace. Candice came and wrapped her arms around the three of them.

Debra turned her eyes to heaven and let the tears fall and wash away the fear. God had been faithful. He had pulled all of them through this nightmare. Debra would be thankful for the rest of her life.

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