The tracks beneath the snow

Chapter Two: Abduction

Christmas has always been my favorite holiday with the traditions and lights and songs. But this year is different since we lost mom to breast cancer in the summer. It's been hard on my kid sister Bea and I but it's been unimaginable for dad who misses his best friend so much. They had one of those cliche loves where they were highschool sweethearts and only ever loved each other. I can't ever recall them fighting more than a bicker or the occasional snarky comment. I remember thinking, this is the type of love I want someday.

Unlike my mother, however, I am twenty years old without having had so much as an occasional casual hookup. My time was better spent on my studies and preparing for college. Let's just say, I won't be racing to the altar anytime soon. It's all for the best anyway seeing as how my dad has really needed me since mom died and I ultimately had to defer classes at UMBC before dropping out all together. Cancer really is the ugliest thing in this world. I can go to college anytime but I only have one family and they need me.

Enough day dreaming Amelia, get it together, we have a mission to complete. Every year for Christmas, my mom and dad had the silliest traditions. My favorite tradition I happened upon by accident one night when I was about fourteen. I had gotten up on Christmas Eve to use the restroom. It couldn't have been later than about 11 p.m. so I wasn't surprised to hear my parents talking in the den down the hall on my way back to bed. I don't even know why I decided to stand quietly and listen, but I am so glad I did.

They had Die Hard playing on the television, a Christmas classic by any standards. They were talking and laughing about how my mom had ripped one of my sister's presents out of the hands of some poor women on Black Friday. I had to cover my mouth to stifle the laugh trying to erupt out of me. "They said Christmas!" my dad exclaims! "You have to take a shot of eggnog!" "Listen Michael", I hear my mom say in her joking voice, "you got me this time but you won't be so lucky next time. The next time someone says Christmas I will win!" My dad is quick to rebut, "I don't mind losing the game Mary, but I do think an extra shot or two of eggnog will better my chances of winning the real game later." I take my cue and turn on my heels before scurrying back to bed smiling at their playfulness and love for one another.

The next day, I was in the kitchen with my mom and I admitted to her that I had overheard a little bit of their game last night. Her cheeks flushed red for a moment before I explained what I had heard and that I was curious how to play. The look of relief on her face assured me that I had gone back to bed in the nick of time!

She explained that when she met my dad, they agreed to see a movie for their first date. My mom was elated as it was the holidays and she had been dying to see "A very Brady Christmas". Needless to say, she was taken aback when she realized they were seeing the action flick of the decade, "Die Hard". Mom said dad was so determined to prove it was a Christmas movie that he bet her a drink after the film if they referenced Christmas. They did in fact reference Christmas several times and true to her word, mom let him get her tipsy at the bar and the rest was history. Somehow this explanation made the memory even sweeter.

The door alarm chimes as I walk through the liquor store entrance straight to the egg nog section. My younger sister Beatrix is eight years my junior and at twelve, I have to say she is the bravest girl I know. I can't wait to surprise dad with the eggnog and deluxe edition Die Hard DVD while we wrap Bee's gifts tonight. I plan to tell him all about that memory and mom's explanation that next day. I know he will enjoy hearing her perspective from that amazing day. "That will be $3.75." the clerk says, pulling me out of my day dream.

As I am walking back to my car I start to wonder if it is in poor taste to buy your dad a christmas gift with your fake ID? I ultimately decide that Saint Nick will turn the other cheek and carry on toward my car. Besides, I'll be twenty one in February. In the short time that I was wandering the shops in town and strolling down memory lane, I hadn't even noticed the snow start to fall and stick to the ground. Luckily, dad taught me how to drive in the snow as soon as I got my license at sixteen.

Shit! I'm halfway home when I realize I bought everything I need but the present for Bee. All she asked for this year was a photo album of mom. I got her other presents but how could I have forgotten to get the photos developed. My mom and Bee bonded over their love of photography and Bee had been asking to develop a roll of film from a camping trip with mom right before she passed.

I may be a good driver in the snow but I doubt I could make it all the way back to town and then home again before it gets too bad out. As if God himself heard my plea, I passed a small gas station with a one hour photo attached. This isn't too uncommon where we live in the middle of nowhere but still, that was quick, even for God. I chuckle to myself as I walk inside.

The clerk assures me it will be well within the hour and I resolve to sit outside on a bench with a hot gas station coffee to watch the snow fall. The last thing I remember was being so happy and content in that moment. I pull out my phone vibrating in my pocket and smile when I see Bea's picture flash across the screen. "Don't forget Mellie, you promised to take me to the ice skating rink this weekend for Tommy's birthday party!" "Nice to hear from you too." I joke before continuing. "Don't worry Bea I didn't forget. This Saturday the 19th at 2pm. You remind me every single day. I love you so much Bee, gotta go!" I hang up my phone and before I know it, a hand is over my mouth and nose and I'm being picked up off of a bench from behind. I kick and flail as my phone flies to the ground and smashes into a million pieces. I can't see who is holding me but within only a moment I'm being tossed into the trunk of a red car and locked inside. Oh my God, I've been kidnapped. I've actually been kidnapped.