MAY'S JOURNAL
August 5th, 2008
"Brush with Death" - a short story POSTED AT 09:33 AM in My Life and what's left of it..., Writing for sanity's sake as a favorite post ~~oo~~oo~~oo~~oo~~oo~~oo~~oo~~oo~~oo~~ It's a cold yet a bright Monday morning. The streets are quiet; either
people are still asleep or buildings are yet to open at 9:00 AM. Graziella is
walking slowly, enjoying the peace and the solitude of the early morning
breeze. She's not in a hurry at all. She still have 10 minutes to get to her
7:00 AM work schedule and it's just about 3 blocks away anyway. Graziella can see the man standing and often swaying a couple of blocks away
from her. She's always been a brave woman, she's never been afraid of ghosts or
the darkness of the night. Seeing the man however gave her the creeps. A block away from the man, Graziella can see the man swaying again. Taking
his wallet out and exposing a wad of bills, the man gave her an evil grin.
"God! A drunk at the start of the day! Talk about bad news!"
Graziella muttered to herself. Graziella doesn't want trouble on a beautiful morning so she decided to turn
the next block to avoid the man. Too late. Unfortunately, with the small road
just between them, it won't be as easy as 1-2-3. The man started calling after Graziella that the hair in her arms stood up.
She tried to look back and saw that the man is trying to pull something from
his trousers. "Lord God! He's got a gun!" Graziella whispered, her
knees are shaking, she can feel it giving up on her. Graziella has won several medals in marathons. She can outrun any drunk in
any day. But today could be an exception. Her body's heavier than usual and her
reflexes aren't just as active as they were before; and worse, she suddenly
gets the feeling that something really bad is about to happen. Heart pounding, Graziella summoned all the energy that she's got and started
to run. The man called after her, saying "You bitch, don't run away from
Papa, come give me a kiss". Graziella almost vomited. She can almost feel
her heart jumping out from her body. "Mam... Mam... I love you..." Graziella uttered, tears running
from her eyes. She touched her growing belly and said "I love you my
baby" and almost stumbled. She was waiting for the sound of a gun, waiting
for her body to take the pain and fall into the ground. Then a cab takes a turn from the corner. Graziella waved frantically, like a
crazy woman. The cab stopped and the driver went out with a surprised face.
Graziella fell into the ground. Her knees gave in. She dare not look back,
afraid that the bullet might hit her face, so she didn't know if the man's
still there. The driver spat an angry curse "Drunk bastard! Run away you
coward!" Graziella heard footsteps and then the driver's voice telling her "Are
you hurt? I'll take you to the hospital..." Graziella looked up and saw an
old man's kind and gentle face. She burst into tears. "I'm ok... I want to
go home", she managed to say between sobs. The cab driver took her arm and
led her to the backseat. "Calm yourself, rest there, you're as white as
ghost", he took a long look at Graziella and felt pity towards her. It
sure is unfair for a pregnant woman to feel such fear. He said, "Want me
to drive you to the Police Precinct?” Graziella looked up, with her disheveled
hair and red eyes, she looked so lost. "I want to go home..." she said softly, almost like a child. The
driver went to his seat and asked her where she lives. "Just 6 blocks from
here, in front of the cathedral." The driver took note of her tired voice
and sped away in the smooth traffic. After less than a minute, he parked in
front of an apartment. "Are you sure you're alright? Sure you don't want to report the incident
to the cops?" he asked Graziella one last time. Graziella looked at her
with a blank expression and shook her head. She started to hand him a couple of
bills but the driver shoo her gently. "No, I'm not taking that, I'm just
glad you're ok, my wife's pregnant too, and she doesn't deserve that cruelty as
well. You take a rest, go ahead." Graziella, feeling suddenly tired, didn't put up a fight. She mumbled a
thank you and went inside the gates. The apartment is still quiet; the other
residents won't wake up until 8:00 AM. As Graziella is walking at the stairs,
she felt her pants getting wet. Her heart skipped a beat. "My baby!"
came a strangled cry from her. Believing that she lost her baby and blood
rushes down her legs, she stifled a gasp; she can feel the walls closing on
her. She touched her belly again "No baby, I'm not losing you..." She looked down and saw that she's not bleeding. She peed in her pants. She
let her fear reduce her into an infant peeing like she can't do anything about
it. She felt so degraded and humiliated. Then she felt nothing. She took her clothes off, washed her body and put on clean clothing like a robot. Her mind is as blank as her face. She's in the state of shock. She lay down her bed and stared at the ceiling. Then she fell asleep. She dreamt of the morning's event. This time however, the man shoot her at the back and ran away with her handbag. Graziella woke up gasping for air. She began to cry again uncontrollably. She thought of her dream. What if she’s really dead? Will her baby die as well? How would her Mama know she’s dead? She’s miles away from her family. Would her Papa cry when he know she’s dead? Would he forgive her for bearing an unwanted baby? "Oh baby, you are going home. I'll talk to your Papa again. He must let you home or he'll lose his family. I can't stand this anymore. You shouldn't be alone in your condition, it's breaking my heart..", her Mama is also crying now. Graziella felt relaxed and soothed with her Mama’s words. She stopped crying. “I love you Mama.. You’re the best mother in the world!” “I won’t be a good Mama without a good daughter, I love you more Gracie.” ~~oo~~oo~~oo~~oo~~oo~~oo~~oo~~oo~~oo~~ Reading: Bible Stories for Children Listening to: Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis Feeling: indescribable Share your thoughts here.
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