Survival

Reminiscing

'Hurry up or we'll be late,' I heard dad call out to us.

'Hold on dear, we'll be out in a minute,' my mom hollered back at him. Trying to put the finishing touches to my hair and makeup.

'You said that twenty minutes ago,' he groaned and she rolled her eyes.

'You have to be perfect for tonight honey. The world needs to know how beautiful my daughter is when we support your father.' she said and I smiled.

I looked at my mom. She looked beautiful as always. She was wearing a dark blue gown which hugged her nicely and flared and the knees to the floor. She was light-skinned just like I was. She had her hair packed in a bun at the top of her head with tendrils framing her face and high cheekbones. Her makeup was light but she looked beautiful and a few wrinkles graced her dark eyes when she smiled.

I could go on and on describing my mom. She was my idol and I loved her so much. But we are running late.

'Finally,' my dad said as he saw us coming down the stairs and I laughed.

'You look, beautiful honey,' he said and pecked my mom on her cheeks.

'What about me?' I said pouting.

'Oh tonight you're looking like a lady for the first time,' he said with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

'Da-ad,' I whined.

'Your dad is just teasing you, baby. We both know how dashing you look tonight,' she said laughing and we all laughed with her.

'Honey I think you need to stay by her side tonight to chase the boys away,' she continued, winking at me and I looked at her in horror.

'That's true. Wait here. I'll be right back,' He said in a serious tone.

'Where are you going?' My mom asked.

'To get my gun.'

'What?! why?'

'To keep the boys away just like you said.'

'Hey, we are running late remember?' My mom said taking him by this arm. 'Besides your face is enough to scare them away,' and we both laughed at him.

'Oh so are you trying to say that I'm ugly?' He asked feigning hurt.

'No dad you're not ugly but we all know that I'm the pretty one here,' I said

'No, you're not. I am,' he retorted.

'You do realise that you just called your self pretty huh?' My mom pointed out and we both laughed.

'I'm so glad you find this funny,' he said and walked away towards the car.

'Awww he's angry. Ariel you know, your father is so cute when he's angry,' my mom said

'I'm not cute.' Apparently, he heard my mom and we laughed. 'Now get your asses over here. Let's go.'

My dad was an attractive man. He was a darker shade than my mom and I. He had curly hair and really deep dimples that showed when he spoke or smiled.

We got in and dad drove us. We teased dad and told jokes. When Humble by Kendrick Lamar came up on the radio, my dad got excited. Not because he liked the song but because he had an opportunity to get back at us for the teasing. And we laughed at his attempt to rap.

We arrived at the award show. It was held in respect of all Auto mechanics companies. This was the 7th Annual Award show and my dad's first. His company was nominated for the Automobile of the year award between the last five years and some minor awards.

We got out and walked through the red carpet. The paparazzi were all over trying to get to talk to famous Auto motor designers and people that I had no idea who they were.

I took in the decor as I stepped into the hall. It was breathtaking. The colours were chocolate brown and white. The chandeliers chairs and flowers were a sight to die for.

When I saw the food, I was drooling already. Desserts were in abundance. My leg involuntary started moving towards that area and a hand stopped me. It was my dad. He managed to break me from my trance and he shot me a glare.

The show passed in a blur, I dozed off during the speeches and when the time for the award presentation came up, we were shuffling nervously on the seats.

'And the winner of the Automobile of the year award goes to...' the host said putting us all in tension.

'Mr Jace Norman...' Nobody listened to what he had to say anymore. We were all jumping and screaming out in joy. My dad won. He kissed my mom and hugged me. We all went out to receive the award. My dad was given the microphone to speak.

'Words cannot explain how happy I am right now. Five years ago, we started this project in making the Nuellè car a success. My beautiful wife and daughter...' he said pausing to stare and smile at us 'were there throughout for me, helping me in their own little way. Encouraging me even when I started to lose hope of ever getting the Nuellè v.2.80 to perfection. I also want to thank the fellow designers and the Nuellè team for making this day possible thank you all for your hard work and determination.' He concluded.

There were tears in my eyes and when I looked at my mom, she was also crying. We hugged once more and we left the stage. We danced all night long and unsurprisingly my dad glared at anyone who came to dance with me. So I ended up dancing with my mom and dad and some girls I met there.

After being congratulated by almost a million people and taking a million photos, we finally left. We were so exhausted.

The drive home was peaceful and I drifted off to sleep.

A loud noise woke me up. The car had collided with an upcoming truck that was driving on the wrong side of the road. And the car flipped over, somersaulting like three times before it came to a stop.

'Dad, Mom!' I screamed 'I can't move'. Nobody replied.

I looked at my mom, her head was resting on the dashboard, dad was bleeding from a cut on his head.
I screamed and looked for my phone and called 911.

I tried to move so that I could help my parents but I couldn't. I screamed for help until I felt the darkness envelop me.

Suddenly I felt a jolt of electricity course through my vein and I cried out in pain.

I opened my eyes slowly and looked around. I could see the blurry forms of people. I tried moving my arms and legs but I couldn't, they were immobile.

When my sight was regained, I saw that I was still captured and my captors were in front of me.

'You see, we were tired of waiting for you to wake up and so we decided to wake you up,' Harry said holding up a taser.

'I guess that explains the shock and the pain then,' I said dryly my body still buzzing from the pain.

'I know. I shocked you awake. Get it? Shock?' He cracked a dry joke. I looked at him blankly trying to send a message that I didn't get the lame joke.

'Give up man. Nobody gets your jokes,' Jax said and he sulked.

'So how about some fun now that you are awake princess,' Nathan grinned evilly and I swallowed.

                          ☆◆☆◆☆◆☆