Today we are going off the usual poetry and sharing a short story... a sentence starts the story prompt using the line THE DOOR WAS CLOSED...ENJOY !
FINALLY FREE
The door was closed. That wasn't stopping him though; he blew through it like it wasn't even there. Anger does that, gives an adrenaline rush that even the best drugs can't compete with. He wasn't a very big man, five-foot-ten one-hundred-ninety pounds, but he had the strength of a gorilla when he was angry. She stood in the closet of the tiny bedroom, hoping the open window would make him think she had escaped through it. She held her breath as he passed by the closet and stuck his head out of the window, cursing aloud and banging his hands on the windowsill. He rushed out of the room, and she slowly let her breath out.
When she heard the door to the house slam shut, it sent shivers up her spine. She had made it through this one with out as much as a scrape, so far at least. Now comes the hard part, actually getting away. She opened the closet and walked over to the window, giving a quick look out to make sure it was safe. Seeing nothing out there she headed for the front door, picking up her purse and keys along the way. As she reached for the door, she stopped dead in her tracks. Someone was out there. She saw the shadow pass as he walked up to the door. So she turned the deadbolt instead and the other three locks on the door, hoping it would give her a little time. She grabbed her cell phone and dialed 911. The operator came on just as the living room window exploded towards her. Shards of glass flew everywhere as she did a duck-and-run maneuver and headed for the open window in the bedroom.
The 911 operator was on the job and was already calling for back up, asking over and over if the caller was okay.
"Hello caller... Are you still there? I have the police on the line, can you give me your address...caller....caller?"
"There's a man with a gun. He's breaking into my house..." She spewed out an address. Not the one she was just at, but the one she memorized, just in case this had ever happened.
Knowing this route like the back of her hand, she ran at full speed, not looking back even once. She could feel him behind her, and he was catching up. She hoped that she would be able to make it to the safe house before he caught up to her. She turned the corner and started hitting a button on her key ring. A door three houses down popped open. She pushed herself a little harder to open the distance between her and the man chasing her. She made it through the door and quickly put all the locks in place. She went to the jacket closet in the entry way and flung open the door. She pushed the coats aside and found the button on the back of the wall. When she pushed it, the wall opened up to show a stash of weapons. She grabbed the Colt .45 and the clip and snapped them together. She ran to the safety point she had set up, tucked herself in and waited for the worst.
He tried the door first and then another window crashed open. She took a few deep breaths to try to calm herself, like the instructors at the shooting range had taught her. It seemed like an impossible task, because her breath could not be caught, and her heart was beating so fast it exploded in her head.
'Point and shoot, keep your eyes open, look at what you are shooting, point and shoot'.... She kept repeating the mantra over and over. It did little to calm her though, her hands were shaking and she was more scared than she could imagine.
He had broken the window out with a potted plant that was on the porch. Now he was climbing through the broken window, pushing the curtains aside and looking into the dark room. He could see her in the corner tucked in behind the overturned 4" thick oak table. She had him dead in her sights, slowing her breath to take the shot if necessary.
Then it was as if time itself had slowed. Things happened in a snapshot fashion. He raised the gun he held, pointing it in her direction. As she raised hers, he pulled his trigger, but he missed her as the bullets penetrated the oak table she had placed as protection in front of her. Three more shots rang out in the room. None of them hit her, or came from her. Her assailant fell to the floor, gasping for breath and spilling his life all over the carpet beneath him.
The officers were in the house now. They kept repeating for her to drop the gun. She did as they instructed, putting her hands up over her head. One of the cops slowly approached her. She couldn't hear much. The shots were still ringing in her ears. A cop was wiping her assailant's blood off her face. He kept asking her if she was hit, but it felt like a dream she was trying to wake up from, and wasn't sure herself if she was hit or not.
After she was given a good looking over from the EMT, she was placed in the patrol car and taken to the station. They asked her what seemed like a million questions and then released her. As she was leaving the station, the officer that shot her assailant put her coat over her shoulders. He reassured her that he would be there if she ever needed someone to talk to. She thanked him again for coming to her rescue.
As she walked away, she realized that she finally felt safe for the first time since her ex-husband vowed to kill her or die trying. Smiling, she thought, At least that was a vow he kept.
YOUR TURN
ENJOY
JL&B
