Short Story Club
In My View
- Living A Value Based Life
- Self-Care In A Crisis
- Baby Girl Expectations
- My Feminist Journey
- The Experiential Diary
Endless Game
The guards wished him the best of luck before releasing him back into the wild.
BUZZ!
“Thanks guys, I hope to never see you again.” Michael replied sarcastically.
They hoped the same for him and reminded him to take care of himself now that he was a free man.
“I will do.”
Those were Michael’s parting words as walked through the steel gates. A smile appeared on his rough, unshaven face. He turned around one last time, gave a gentle wave to the two guards at the gates of HMP Rye Hill before picking up his small duffel bag of items and heading towards the car park area.
In the distance was a cute red hatchback that looked newly washed. A blurry human figure sped towards Michael and as it grew closer it transformed into a gorgeous brown-haired girl with soft skin and light brown eyes. It was Melanie, the love of his life, the girl who had promised to wait and the woman who had kept her word. In all the time they had been apart, her appearance had barely changed and the familiarity of her smile as she jumped onto him and gave him embrace brought him a comfort he hadn’t felt in a long time.
Her joy was unmatched as she exclaimed, how happy she was to see him, touch him and have the joy of taking him home. She’d missed him like no other and spared no words in attempting to describe how excruciating it had been for her, but as her mouth ran away with the words she realised that maybe the last few years had been worse for him and stopped abruptly. She tilted her head back and gave him a look to suggest she was sorry for her comment. He held her gaze and gave a gentle signal that she didn’t have to be sorry, but regardless all was forgiven. He knew her so well, and with the reassurance of a hug, they could move on.
With his arms wrapped around her whole body as if she was the butterfly and he was the cocoon, he whispered in her ear “I never want to let go of you ever again.”
Another minute passed by as they stood in embrace with tears now trickling from their eyes. Eventually Mike let go so that they could wipe their tears and leave HMP Rye Hill for good. Melanie’s excitement took over once again when she reminded him that they had a whole new life from the one that led him there and how there was someone who’d been waiting her lifetime to meet him.
Michael was a free man, and he still couldn’t quite believe it. He picked up his bag from the floor, took her hand and she led him to the car.
“Wow! I’m impressed, it seems like my girl has done well for herself.” Michael grinned.
She joked that if he was impressed by the car, then he’d be truly taken aback when he saw the house. Melanie had worked hard since his incarceration. She had no choice, her baby depended on her.
They climbed into the cherry Suzuki Swift and Michael tossed the small duffel into the back seat of car, it landed next to the child’s booster seat that was firmly strapped in behind the front passenger’s seat. Melanie exhaled as she tapped the start button, and they drove out the exit for what they both had promised to be the last time.
*
They were on the road for what seemed to be forever; a mixture of motorways and dual carriageways until they reached the junction for their city. Unfortunately, HMP Rye Hill was a three-hour journey one-way from home for them. Melanie had visited as often as she could, her work schedule and childcare permitting. In the early days she used to bring Grace with her, but after the first few visits Michael decided that it was no place for a baby to visit. It broke his heart being able to see and hear her, but not being able to hold her.
As they cruised through the streets he used to frequent as a teenager, he was struck with a bout of emotions. He let the tears run down his face silently as they approached the nicer area of the city that he had never ventured. Melanie turned into a quiet cul-de-sac and parked outside the white house in the middle. All the houses on the street were identical, neat, with the same clean porcelain finish. Each had a driveway and a strip of grass with some sort of shrubbery or tree on top of it; this house had a tree.
The engine turned off and Melanie unbuckled her seatbelt and stared in Michael’s direction. Michael sat motionless as the tears dried off his face. He was caught in a trance, until suddenly the words that escaped his mouth brought him back to reality.
“Does she know about me or where I’ve been for the past five years?”, he asked.
Melanie explained that Grace knew that he was her father who loved her very much and had wanted to be around, but were away living somewhere else because there was something very important he had to do. Having a five-year-old meant that she asked a lot of questions, and Melanie felt that she had done the best she could without lying. The context and nuance of everything would one day be explained, but there was no reason to strip their daughter of her innocence. Being vague was a means of protecting her which Mike understood. In the life Melanie had cultivated, the past was the past and people in this life had no idea who they were or what had happened. In order to have peace, she cut off everyone including her parents, but the sacrifices were for her daughter and the love of her life.
It was bittersweet for Mike to hear. He could feel the pain in Melanie’s voice and the guilt of what he had put her through almost rendered him speechless.
“I hope one day I can do something to make her proud. And make up everything to you.” That was all he could say in response and as he reached back for his bag
She whispered in agreement making sure he didn’t hear.
The pair looked at one another and held a tired gaze before stepping out the car. Michael was extremely nervous; he didn’t know what he was going to do when he saw her or how she’d react to him.
Melanie opened the door, and announced her arrival when they entered the house.
She put up her coat on the set of pegs to the left of the hallway, then turned right into the first room, the living room.
“Mummy!”, squealed a little girl with excitement as she dived into Melanie’s arms. Melanie clasped the little girl tight, kissed her on the forehead and picked her up, placing her on her hip.
Her nerves eased as she slipped back into a more familiar mode; parenting and less intense conversations. She asked Danielle, the babysitter about Grace, and found out that she’d been well behaved as usual. This statement made Michael smile as he stood in the door frame unsure whether to enter the room or just watch from afar.
Grace was the spitting image of her mother with dazzling light brown eyes, chestnut curls, and a subtle dimple when she smiled. Michael wanted to walk towards her, but it felt as if the doorway had been barricaded.
It took a minute or so until everyone realised that no one had spoken, there was silence in the room.
“Don’t stand there silly, come in.”, a soft little voice called breaking the quiet. Melanie was about to reprimand her for calling someone she didn’t know silly, but seeing that her motion to him made his invisible barrier fall, she stayed quiet. Michael walked towards Melanie making sure to stop with enough distance to be able to reach out his hand to greet Grace who was attached to her hip. Melanie asked Grace if she knew who the man before her was and the little girl tapped her mother and whispered in her ear. Melanie nodded in agreement, then Grace turned to Michael as if she were a secret agent assessing encountering another spy. There was a familiarity, but a decision on whether to trust had yet to be made. She then turned to her mother again and whispered something in her ear. Promptly, Melanie let her down from her hip and she was now tugging on Michael’s trouser leg. “Daddy, pick me up!”. His eyes watered as he picked up Grace and held her in his arms. She allowed him to do so with no resistance.
“I’ve missed you so much.” Michael whispered.
Danielle with the feeling she was intruding on an intimate moment, quietly slid out the room mouthing a goodbye to Melanie. Melanie mouthed it back with an additional thank you.
The tears released themselves and trickled down Michael’s face. In five years he hadn’t held his daughter. He wasn’t able to look into her gigantic moon eyes or brush his stubbly cheeks against her soft ones.
“Daddy don’t cry.”, Grace instructed.
“It’s alright baby, these are happy tears. I’m just so happy to see you.”, he responded.
The pair then proceeded to playing with Grace’s toys in the living room and asking each other a lot of questions. By the end of the night, they had become so familiar with each other. Melanie watched from the side, carefully observing the two most important people in her life bond like they should have done all these years.
Hours went by as this reunion occurred. Melanie had been up since the crack of dawn to collect Michael and the winter season had made sure that dusk had arrived by the time they had returned.
It was almost midnight by the time Michael was laid up on the sofa with Grace in his arms. Melanie had covered them both with a blanket after they’d fallen asleep. She sat herself on the other sofa with a book to read, before she slowly dozed off shortly after.
*
It was around 6am when Michael opened his eyes and they wandered around the room. He could feel Grace by side, so gently lifted his body off the sofa, doing his best to not wake her.
For a moment he froze and gazed at her again. He was still in awe, amazed at the greatest joy that had come from the darkest period of his life.
Then his eyes drifted to the other sofa, where Melanie lay. He walked over to her, bent down, and kissed her on the forehead. He then skimmed the room for another blanket and placed it to cover her bare arms; the heating may have been on, but the winter chill could still be felt in the air. He stroked her hair and then left the room.
Michael wandered the house in search of the bathroom and found it opposite the first bedroom on the landing. He splashed his face with water then stared into the mirror. At that point, all he could see were flashes and he was surrounded the crashing noises. Then he felt a thump to the head.
*
The sudden jolt of his head dropping to his chest woke him up. He could feel the tightness of ropes across his hands and chest. They had married him to this chair and there was no way of slipping out. His eyes slowly started to make out the shapes around him and that’s when he saw the past, he thought he’d escaped.
His mind raced with thought.
How did they know he was out?
What did they want from him?
Where was his family?
THE END
I came up with this idea for a story over a decade ago. I just never gave my time to sit down and complete it. Initially it was meant to be a whole novel, but I’ve realised that as a storyteller, I can tell stories of any length and it’s not all about producing manuscripts for editor to read, sometimes it’s just about stretching my imagination and writing because I feel like it. Here’s to sitting down with more of the stories I left unfinished in my youth.