A Mother’s Dilemma

ELAINE

When I could finally pry my eyes open, the sun had started its upward journey through the sky.

I was convinced a tiny, angry man with a hammer had been let loose inside my head because that could be the only explanation for why my head was ravaged with pain.

Taking a few deep breaths, I sat up and surveyed my environment. I was on the tiny mattress I owned in my tiny apartment's tiny bedroom.

I rubbed my eyelids to get rid of the sleep in my eyes.

Like a faucet was turned on, the previous night's memories flooded through me in heart-stopping detail.

Walking home from work. Getting ambushed and kidnapped. Being strapped to a chair. That monster and his insane proposal. Not giving him an answer.

I groaned. The pain in my head was starting to have a mind of its own, leaping and roaring unwantedly.

It didn't lessen my shock or confusion at being back in my bed, safe and sound. I thought I wouldn’t live past last night but was glad to be wrong.

Was last night some kind of fucked up