Day five. I have come to accept my fate. I am destined to die in this tiny room, all alone. To rot away with no one to call my own. How did I get here? Where did I go wrong? It does not even matter anymore.

I met his eyes again. Their darkness harboured a pain and suffering I could not explain. He didn’t frighten me, exactly. He never did. On the contrary, there was a meekness about him that suggested his gentle nature. He walked in carrying a silver plate and cup. He had brought me the same peanut butter and jam sandwich for the past five days. Had I been at home, I would have been having a fillet steak and Swiss chard salad made by my personal chef or I’d be alone in a restaurant. At least now I have a companion. He was a rather stout man. I had managed to catch a glimpse of his salt and pepper hair sticking out of his hoodie. He wore a black bandana over the lower part of his face from the day I was taken.

I was ripped away from the life I knew and yet the life I now lived felt oddly familiar. I felt comfortable. I came to realise that the life I have been subjected to is no different to the life I lived before. It was cold, dark and lonely, much like this room. I had tried to fill my empty soul with things I could buy. I lived in a massive house, filled it with expensive, decorative objects and yet the silence in my life was so loud that even if I did escape or got rescued, I would have no one to go back to.

He had not said a word since he abducted me. In fact I hadn’t really seen much of his face at all. I only ever saw his dark eyes and grey hair. He set the plate and cup on the concrete floor next to me and walked away as I thanked him. He turned to face me, nodded and resumed walking away.

I was surrounded by darkness until I saw a light at the end of what seemed like a tunnel. I
walked towards it without hesitation. As I came near the source, I heard the voice of a man. I then saw the source of the voice standing behind a podium on a stage. I found myself walking down an aisle of chairs that led to what seemed to be a coffin. Only a few people, strangers, were seated in the front row. The place was practically empty. Then I saw it, a large frame with my picture in it, next to the coffin. The young man went on, “She was a wise woman; good at managing her finances. She invested well and got good returns. She was dedicated to her work and made wise decisions.” I was at my own funeral.

I stumbled backwards realising that I was only going to be remembered for my money, by people I didn’t even know. No one cared about me. They only cared about the money. My heart beat against my chest as everything disappeared from view. The ground seemed to open up beneath me and swallowed me whole.

I opened my eyes to find myself inside my prison with the plate and cup still on the floor next to me. It had all been a dream. A nightmare. It had sucked the remains of my life out of me. My thoughts were then disturbed by the shouting of male voices from outside. I tried to listen but they seemed to be alternating between shouting and whispering. I tried looking out of the one miniscule window in the wall and could just make out the two male figures.

One of the men was my abductor, he was stout with grey hair. The other was taller and looked younger.

“Mother would have never asked you to do this. She wouldn’t have wanted you to put someone else’s life in danger for our sake!” shouted the younger.

“Well son, your mother is no longer with us and I am trying my best to ensure that you have a bright future. This way, you can go to university and get a decent job,” replied my kidnapper.

Then it hit me. The older man had kidnapped me just to ensure that his son goes to a good university.

At that moment I realised that I had been so focused on my own life and how no one cares for me that I forgot that other people had their own lives to deal with. The older man was doing what he thought was best for his son. He loved his son. He wanted to do something for someone he treasured. I had forgotten that everything happens for a reason. Yes, everyone has a story that explains the reasons behind their decisions.

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