Since I home school, I decided to participate in the Writing Fiction class in 2014 that my daughter was taking.  I thought it would be fun to periodically post some of the short stories that I wrote during that time.  For this particular writing exercise, I had to write a scene in which two people were stuck together and find a way to get them unstuck.  Here’s what I came up with…

As soon as the words were spoken, she knew that the bond could not be broken. Just two little words had sealed her fate. Such simple words, “I do”. Anguish overwhelmed her and her body grew weak. Shock and bewilderment showed upon the faces of the people that had gathered around her lifeless body; which was now collapsed in a heap of white chiffon splayed across the soulless earth beneath her. Indeed, this was the beginning of the end. The end of a life that knew no boundaries, the end of a life who knew no despair, the end of a life that had only beautiful dreams of a future and a hope that couldn’t be contained.

The moment she awakened, she suddenly remembered what had happened and she screamed as if she had just seen a ghost. When in fact, what she was really experiencing, was the haunting fact that she was now married to one of the most ghastly men in all of London. Through no fault of her own, she had been condemned to this fate. She had been kidnapped from her home in Scotland, brought to London, and forced to marry a man who had practically raped her with his eyes at their first introduction. He was repulsive in every way possible and his vile behavior was completely unbearable. The way he looked at her, filled her with such fear, that she lost her composure whenever he was near.

She had to think of a way to break free from her tormentor, but how? She had no idea how to get back to Scotland even if she did succeed at escaping and then there was still the fact that she was legally married to this wretched man. The only solution was plain and clear. She had to find a way to kill him, before he completely destroyed and ruined her life. Another problem was that everyone around her was against her. She couldn’t trust anyone or could she? She had seen a poor maiden beaten half to death for stealing scraps of food in the kitchen just before the wedding day. Perhaps she could make friends with the girl and persuade her to help her escape. It was a long shot, but considering the circumstances, it was probably her only choice. She had seen the girl come and clean the ashes from the fireplace every so often. So, she decided to wait and see if the girl would make an appearance.

It was late afternoon by the time the girl showed up. She had been lucky that her husband had not come into check on her yet. The marriage had still not be consummated and she wanted to keep it that way. From her bed, she watched the girl carefully sweep up the ashes. Rebecca knew that the girl was oblivious to the fact that she was there watching her, so she quietly cleared her throat as to not alarm the girl too much. The girl immediately picked up her cleaning supplies and was about to hurry out the door when Rebecca called to her. The girl stopped and looked at her with large frightened eyes. To disrupt the lady of the house would not be tolerated and the girl knew it. Rebecca tried to reassure her that she only wanted to talk and told the girl not to be afraid. Then Rebecca proceeded to explain to the girl her circumstances and asked the girl for her help. The girl agreed and carefully led Rebecca through a secret passageway in the wall.

It was cold and damp once inside and almost too dark to see clearly. The girl quickly pulled Rebecca along down the steps and seemed to know the way as if she had been there many times before. At the end of the passage way, Rebecca could see a faint light coming through a small crack in the wall. She peered through and noticed that they were in a space adjacent to her husband’s study. She quickly pulled back as she noticed her husband pacing the floor of the study. His back was towards her, but she didn’t want to take any chance that he might notice her. There was a small door that led into the study and Rebecca thought of a plan. What if she could sneak up on her husband and strike him from behind with a blunt object and then hide his body in the secret passageway so that nobody would find his body until she was long gone.

Finally with her mind made up, she slipped quietly out of the small door, grabbed a candlestick that was on the mantle and struck her husband from behind with all the strength she could surmise. Immediately the man’s lifeless body collected at her feet and the servant girl came running quickly over to help. They both worked quickly to drag him into the secret passageway. Safe at last, and with the bond of her captor finally broken, Rebecca escaped into the night and never looked back.