The Barefoot Girl

Chapter 3

Mom strokes my hair.
"Honey, what is it?"
I wipe my eyes. "I... Uhhh I just... Feel bad for that girl," I lie. That's not it at all but better to tell a white lie then get mom crying, I figure.

Mom looks at me with a strange expression that mixes sympathy, and confusion. She's always been able to see right through me. She knows that's not why I'm bawling. I throw a fake smile at her and walk upstairs. I stroll past the twins room and they eye me curiously.

"Bridge, you ok?" Megan calls.

I don't answer. Gosh, does she have to call me "Bridge?" I slump into my room and sit on my bed, cradling my knees in my arms. The scene of the worst day of my life is stuck, replaying over and over again in my head.

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It was two years ago. Shrieks of laughter surround me. I push Liam on the swing. Lacy is running around.

"Bridge!!! Watch me Bridgey!!!"

Her hair is flowing behind her and she wears the brightest smile in the world. And then, her shrieks of joy turn into ones of terror.

"Lacy?" I call.

Muffled cries answer me.

"Lacy? LACY!!!" I shriek. I sprint to the other side of the playground where she had slid down a slide. A man has grabbed hold of her and is trying to pull her away. I do what my mom always trained me to do: scream.

Someone HELP!!! I shriek. "He's taking my sister!!! Someone PLEASE!!! My sister... KIDNAPPER!!!" I'm almost hyperventilating.

A passerby walking his dog looks at me and then darts his head around until he sees the man dragging Lacy. He drops the leash and attacks, but the kidnapper knees him in the gut and he falls backwards. By now tears are flowing down my face like a river.

"LACY!!!" I scream.

The man gets up and tries again, this time rewarded with a punch to the chin. By now more people see what's happening but they all watch in stunned silence.

The kidnapper shoves Lacy in the backseat of his car. The man attacks again but the kidnapper elbows him to the ground and jumps into his car as if all in one motion.

"NO!!! Please NO!!! I run to the car and throw a rock at the front  window. All it does is make a slight dent. The man curses and starts his engine. I happen to notice through my tears that the man is on his phone. The kidnapper speeds away. I fall to my knees and bawl. Liam is screaming behind me. The man and all other bystanders seem to be frozen in time, until the man who tried to save her comes up to me and wraps me in a hug.

"Listen," he whispers. I called the police and even got a picture of his car for the news, so if anyone sees anything , they'll let us know.
I just continue to sob. I can't even find the courage to thank the man for trying. I'd lost my little sister. She was only five. And it was all. My. Fault.

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My tears are coming down my face just like they had that day. That's the real reason I don't want anyone calling me Bridge. Lacy had been the first one to call me that nickname and literally never called me anything else, other than the occasional "Bridgey." I've convinced my friends and even the twins that I just thought it was weird to be called Bridge. I mean, a "bridge" is a thing strip of concrete used to get over rivers so...

It seemed like a pretty light reason.

Megan and Michelle have appeared at my door.

"Bridget? Bridget, are you ok?" Megan calls softly while Michelle wrongs her hands.

"Go away," I mumble.

But really, I want them to stay. They've seen me like this. They know exactly what's going on. I only cry like this when I'm thinking about that day.

They seem to know that I don't actually want them to leave. Without saying a word they come on either side of me and lay their heads on my shoulders. I sob until I've run out of tears and watch the silent tears of my sisters fall onto my shirt.