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Excerpt
New Years Day, 2012
She awoke to a sickening, pungent smell of something rotten. It smelled like hamburger meat that had gone bad, mixed with pancake syrup and rusted metal. Nikki was sleeping beside her, not making a sound. Her sweet, innocent face glowed from the streaks of light that emitted through the cracks in the wall.
As she tucked the cover around the baby to keep her warm, a buzzing sound could be heard coming from the other room. She looked down at the bottom of the door and could see movement of some sort. Being careful not to awaken Nikki, she arose from the makeshift pallet to get a better look and positioned herself on her stomach by the door. As she peered through the crack under the door, she could see flies darting in and out of the adjoining room. Hundreds of them. They were large, green flies that rubbed their legs together, and made a buzzing noise when they fluttered their wings.
She gazed with disgust at the small metal panel attached to the bottom of the wooden door. It was always latched from the other side, only to be opened by him for food and bare necessities. It was a 12” x 6” door that kept animals like her contained. At least that’s what he told her.
Henry hadn’t come to the door in days, but it wasn’t that unusual for him with his bizarre behavior.
“Henry!” she yelled out, forgetting about Nikki. The baby made a jerking motion but didn’t wake up. With her ear to the door, she heard nothing other than the flies on the other side. It began to dawn on her that the odor could be coming from Henry. She reached under the blanket that covered Nikki, and retrieved the metal hairpin she had been hiding for weeks. Although she had been successful loosening two of the three pins that attached the hinges, the third one wouldn’t budge. It just had to be the middle pin, the one that made the door the sturdiest. The old, white paint on the hinge was caked thick, almost like concrete. She scraped hard with the hairpin and removed a large chunk of paint. Maybe I’m making some progress, she thought. It had to work this time. It was their only chance.