20 In 5 -- Vol. II -- Neighbors

You might need
more than fences
to have good neighbors.

"Hurry! Oh god, hurry! She's in there!" The frazzled woman was shrieking and peering into a slanting hole halfway up a rocky ridge. Her left ankle was encased in a dirty cast, her gnarled toes covered in dust.


The middle-aged couple leaped from the pickup truck, the man waddling with an overhanging belly while the woman staggered under weight long carried badly. "Stacy, we're here!" she yelled and almost fell as she made her way up the rock-strewn hillside. 


"Harriet! It's Harriet!"


The man raced up the hill with surprising alacrity and reached Stacy, hesitating a second before grasping her upper arms to steady the frantic woman. "We saw you from the road. Where's Harriet? What happened?" 


Stacy gulped and cried out "Harriet fell down the hole! She was looking for her shiny rocks and I heard her scream and when I looked..." Stacy's face crumpled. She fell forward.


"Jonah! Catch her!" Jonah did his best, desperately trying to keep them both from falling down the incline. "Help me, Mabel! I thinks she's passed out." Mabel did her best, but Stacy lifted her head and pointed mutely to her right, where two aluminum crutches were lying. Mabel quickly got them to Stacy, who propped herself up, to Jonah's deep relief.


"Get her, Jonah! Oh god, you have to get her out of there!"


Suddenly, from deep and far, a plaintive cry chilled the air. 


"Mommy! Help me!" The voice broke, its weakness a more powerful signal than any scream. Jonah and Mabel gaped at each other, pale and fearful. Mabel turned and raced down the hillside, oblivious to the rocks or her long-unused body. Jonah cried out to her, but bit his lip and said "There's rope in the truck. But we need rescue people, firemen or police or something. I can go to the house and call 'em."


Before Stacy could say "No!" the pitiable voice wafted over them. "Please help me! Mommy! Mommy!" Jonah's spine quivered and he swallowed hard, as the little girl's voice squeezed his heart like trap.


Mabel had somehow found the rope as was rushing up the rocky slide, her eyes fixed like embers on her husband. "Jonah! I heard Harriet again! Please help her!"

--

Continued in Volume II of "20 in 5." Please purchase a copy today to finish "Neighbors;" available directly from Smashwords in a variety of e-book formats. Or you can purchase it from the Mis Tribus eBook Store. 


Included are the ending to "Neighbors" along with 19 other flash fiction stories. Brought to you directly by Mis Tribus.