Lisa
The novelty cat mug hits the floor. Immediately, I run outside. I dash from the main house to the barn, where Jennie dangles like a fish on a hook. The yawning barn doors are open, and I run inside. It smells like animal inside, thick and musty. I find the stairs and scale them to the hayloft. The wood creaks with every step, no doubt mouldy, ready to snap and I nearly trip on the hay-laden floor.
Finally, I've reached the balcony. There's a long string of lights connected to an outlet at the top. The lights snake around the floor and out the open door. I follow them and lean around the door, careful not to step on the balcony itself. I'm not sure it'll be able to hold my added weight.
"Jennie!" I call out her name to get her attention. Her eyes snap to me, those sharp greens, flickering in the dim moonlight like sea glass.
She's okay. But maybe not for long. My heart pounds in my chest, and I reach out toward her. I can almost reach her, but not quite. "Can you take my hand?"
She hesitates. Her eyes flicker from me to something flying in the wind. My eyes catch on it. A string of lights flutters in the wind, half strung up on the balcony.
You have to be kidding me.
"Leave the lights." I tell her. There's no wiggle room in my tone. She's getting out of this alive, whether she wants to or not.
I can see her waver. She has to be the most stubborn woman I've ever met. "I think I can reach it..."
I give her an ultimatum. "Do you want the lights, or do you want to live?"
I see the reluctance in her eyes. Finally, she peels herself away from the string of lights long enough to grab my hand.
I have her. I have her and I won't let go. I pull her toward me and she stumbles, launching into my arms. She's cold and shaking but safe, and that's all that matters.
