Worst Nightmare

Jennifer Tomski
Worst Nightmare This foreign room surrounds me with darkness, and loneliness along with determination fills me. It has been two days since I’ve first been trapped in here with no food, water or light and I worry that this will be how I die. I remember the moment before we were taken, happy and refreshed relaxing on newly cut grass of the public park. We laughed about our fears of spiders and getting caught in their thin and transparent webs. We told stories of school while sipping on semi-frozen drinks from the coffee shop across the street. My brother is only twelve years old, seven years younger than me and that day was the first of many that I was available to visit him; my school is located out of the state and so it is rare I can spend a day with my family. It is difficult to express my love for him without seeming ridiculous although it is true to the point I would do everything possible and in my power to protect him. We are unusually close for siblings with the less than occasional argument and it makes me feel fortunate to have him as my sibling. It is impossible to count the times I’ve wondered what has happened to him these past few days. Has the kidnapper harmed him? If so, when I get out of here, I can honestly swear that I will kill him and as gruesomely as possible to let him know he messed with the wrong people. The disturbing images of bruised and cut skin invade my mind and I feel as if I want to cry but I must stay strong for Ollie. I have to be able to fight without emotion. I have to save my brother. I take a deep breath and lean against a wall, tracing my fingers over the rough texture of brick. I walk along it until I am able to find the locked door I have so many times given up on opening. My instincts conduct me to try again and so I do, pushing, pulling and screaming with no luck. I resemble an animal trapped in its cage at the zoo; I have nowhere to go, nothing to see, nothing to look forward to, and everything to