My 8 E-books written over the years by Alina Udrea - HTML preview

CHAPTER 4

Sam had been lucky to meet the Johnsons and she was grateful.

They had given her shelter and food and clothes. They were so nice to her. And Nat, she really liked the girl. She was only 3 years younger than herself. And she liked Sasha, too, the family dog, and the feeling seemed to be mutual as Sasha also liked her.

The two girls became very close, like sisters. And Nat wanted to know

as much about Sam's world as Sam wanted to know about Nat's. Although Sam wondered what could be so interesting about the life she was forced to leave behind. There was no technology back then but even so Nat seemed to enjoy her stories. Truth be told, the life she left behind had been calmer than what she saw now. Her greatest worry had been to please Eleanor and Carla which meant to clean and

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cook and nothing more. But these people had so much more going on. And she was just discovering it all.

Life with the Johnsons was good. But still she couldn’t just live like

that and just accept their charity. She had to get a job and make her own money. Now that she was dressed properly she looked just like an ordinary girl of the 21st century. She really needed a job so she wouldn’t feel like she was a burden to them. She wanted to repay their kindness somehow. So one day she went to a local bar to become a waitress as she thought it couldn’t be that difficult. The owner, Mr. Stevenson, was a young man in his early 30s who seemed eager to hire her. So she started work next morning. There were two more waitresses working in the bar who were also her age, Tina and Ann. They seemed nice at first. Meanwhile Mike had looked for any information he could find on

Sam in the police data base, just to make sure. Of course he found

none. There was no doubt in his mind that she was telling the truth and that she had really come from the 1700. And his wife Diana who was a very good judge of character was also convinced that Sam wasn’t lying. As far as they were concerned she was welcome to live under their roof as long as she followed some basic rules. Mike had also managed to get her an ID using his relations. So Sam was good.

As for Nat, she was the happiest of all. Sam was the sister she

never had but she wished she did. When Sam finished her shift, Nat and Sasha would wait for her to walk home together. It wasn’t a long walk, but it was the nicest stroll of the day.

One night before her shift was over, she saw Tina and Ann

preparing to leave earlier, although the work wasn’t over. There were still some glasses left in the sink. Sam thought she could finish up herself without making a big deal out of it. But there was something wrong with their behavior, she could feel it. She heard them giggling and leave. The pub closed for the public at 10 pm but the three girls had to clean for the next morning and they usually finished at about 11 pm. This time it was only half past 10 and Tina and Ann already left, leaving Sam alone to clean.

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As she was about to finish, too, she heard a noise in the bar as she

was in the back, cleaning. She was pretty startled so she left the remaining glasses in the sink and she took the broom to protect herself while her heart was pounding like crazy in her chest. “Who’s there!?” she finally managed to find the courage to ask. “It’s me, Sam.” came the unexpected answer. She recognized the voice. It was their boss, Mr. Stevenson. She calmed down and put the broom back in the corner. But it was strange as he had never come there at night till then. He usually came before 7 pm, checked how the business was going and then left.

“Uh, I didn’t expect you, sir…” Sam said not knowing what to make of it. “I almost finished washing and cleaning….”

But she didn’t get the chance to finish her sentence as he

grabbed her hair and kissed her violently. He was clearly drunk as his mouth stank of alcohol and he was stumbling. She always imagined her first kiss as something magical and not like this. She was disgusted. She tried to push him away but she couldn’t. He was obviously stronger than her, even drunk as he was. She tried to scream but he covered her mouth with his left hand while he was touching her with his right hand. Sam realized the danger and she gathered all her strength and courage and she kicked him in his nuts. A scream of pain escaped his lips and she managed to run as he was kneeling in agony. She got to the front door and tried to open it, but it was locked. She remembered she had her pair of keys in the back by the sink where she had just left her drunk boss who had just tried to rape her. She didn’t dare go back but she had a hairpin in her hair and she could use it to unlock the front door. With trembling hands she took the hairpin and started picking the door. She could hear him stumble across the tables and she was sure he was just behind her but she didn’t stop to check. Sweat was running down the back of her neck when she finally managed to open the door. The next moment she was out in the street and running towards home, towards the safety that Mike and his family offered her. When she entered the door of their apartment, all sweaty and

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agitated, Mike realized that something was wrong. Sam told him and Diana everything while Nat was walking Sasha outside. Mike called his colleagues and Mr. Stevenson was found asleep by the entrance door and arrested that night. But Sam was shocked and that night she had nightmares. She kept dreaming of what happened. When she woke up in the morning she wished she could just go back to the quiet life she used to have. She remembered how bad she had wished to leave that place and see the world but now all she wanted was that quiet, simple life when she could just sit on the bench in the garden and look at the sky and the stars and moon. Now she couldn’t even do that out of fear she could be attacked either to be robbed or raped. She had seen enough. She just wanted to go back wondering why that life hadn’t been enough for her. She would give anything now to have that simple life back and sit in the evening with Eleanor in the living room and listen to her singing or play the piano. And see Kevin again…. Why was she even thinking of him, she wondered, as he barely even ever noticed her…

So after thinking of it all, she decided to ask for Mike and Diana's

advice. She wanted to know if they thought there was a chance she could go back to her own time and her old life. As for Nat, she would really miss her as she got to love her like a sister. And Sasha. But she would have a private talk with her and explain why she couldn’t stay anymore and why she wanted back. She was sure Nat would understand as she was a very clever young girl.

After deliberating on the subject, Mike and Diana told her that if

there was any chance for Sam to go home, she had to remember every little detail, no matter how insignificant it might seem, about the last thing she knew before finding herself in the 21st century. Sam told them all she knew and all she could remember. She told them about the full silver moon, the storm and the old oak tree. So they told her she should probably wait for the next full moon and find the same oak tree in the park. But it wasn’t that easy as there were lots of oaks now there. But it wasn’t impossible, either. So the next full moon was going to be in five

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days. Which meant she had five days to talk to Nat and explain her personal reasons for wanting to go back, in case this was going to work. If it wasn’t going to work, then it meant she was stuck there and at least she had Nat and her nice folks to stand by her. But she really hoped it would work. Now she wanted back to her old life as much as she used to want to leave it behind some time ago….

After talking to Sam, Nat secretly hoped that it wouldn’t work and that

Sam would stay with her. She got used to having her around. But time would tell. Five days’ time that is. She was going to keep her fingers crossed.

Five days later the time had finally come to say good bye in case

this worked and Sam could really go back home. So Mike, Diana, Natalie and Sasha were all by her side when she went to the park to look for the particular old oak. Nat was barely holding back her tears when she grasped Sam's arm to stop her.

“What is it, Nat!?” Sam asked her in a low voice as she didn’t want Mike and Diana to overhear whatever Nat was going to tell her. “I want you to have this to remember me by”, said Nat as she put a photo of her and Sam that she had taken a few days ago. The photo had the beautiful modern city in the back and it was really beautiful, something the people in Sam's timeline had never seen. So she folded the photo carefully and stashed it in her trousers’ pocket. She thanked her and kissed her burning cheek.

“Don’t cry, Nat. Who knows, maybe if I do get home and Iget bored after a while, maybe I decide to come back? Or maybe this won’t even work. There is no storm now. Just the silver moon…”

“Maybe that’s all it takes, Sam. I won’t cry, if this is what you want. I will even help you look for the oak” she finally said at peace with the situation.

Sam looked at all the oak trees until she found it. She was sure that

was it. It was really time to go. She felt it in her bones, she was certain this was going to work.

Before she touched the oak, she looked at the bright shining moon

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again and at the lights of the city which she was about to leave behind. Yep, she was going back to her own quiet, boring life. But at least it was a safer life. There were too many dangers here, she had seen guns, drugs, and lots of other stuff in the news. She had learned a lot during her stay with this nice family. All the more she wanted back to her simple life. She told them to stay back while she approached the old oak. It seemed to whisper to her again. She got dizzy and touched its bark. Then everything went dark again!

SECOND VOLUME

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