“Ellie! Ellie get up! It’s time for school!”

The only reply was a tired groan from the mass of blankets lying on the bed. The teenage girl buried underneath groaned and rolled over. It was 7:25 in the morning. A few rays of sunlight peeped through the window blinds into the dim, messy room.

With a sigh, Miss Harrison opened the door to her daughter’s room and stepped inside. Picking her way through the piles of dirty clothes spread across the floor, she walked to the window and opened the blinds, letting in the early morning light. There was another groan and the covers rustled as Ellie burrowed deeper underneath the blankets.

“Come on, lazy girl! Get your butt out of bed. If you want to have breakfast, you’d better get up now!” Miss Harrison called, walking over and shaking the covers. Ellie groaned again but she slowly extracted herself from the sheets. She threw back her blanket and sat up, blinking in the light.

At 16 years of age, Ellie was a younger version of her mother. Both women were short, with long, light blonde hair and hazel eyes. Miss Harrison had on a bathrobe while her daughter was wearing light blue cotton pajamas. Her hair was tangled and mussed up from tossing and turning the night before.

With a sigh, Ellie slowly crawled out of the bed and walked to the bathroom. As the sound of running water filled the room, her mother headed downstairs to the kitchen. After a quick shower, Ellie emerged again, wrapped in a towel, no longer half asleep. She gathered up her school clothes and changed into them; a white blouse, plaid skirt and tall white knee socks. After running a brush through her hair a few times, she grabbed a couple hair ties and pulled her shoulder length blonde hair into loose pigtails.

Downstairs, Ellie’s mother had prepared some pancakes and bacon for the two of them. She was in the process of brewing herself a pot of coffee. Ellie went to the fridge and poured herself a glass of orange juice.  She slathered syrup on her pancakes and wolfed them down while her mother ate at a more reserved pace.

Just as Ellie was finishing, her cellphone buzzed. “That’s Liz!” She exclaimed, jumping up from the table. Running as fast as she could, Ellie ran to the closet and grabbed her black school shoes and put them on. Her backpack was near the door. Slinging it over one shoulder, she ran out the door. “Bye mom!” she called out.

“Bye dear. Have fun at school!” Miss Harrison called back in reply, picking up her daughter’s dishes and carrying them to the sink.

As Ellie stepped outside, she spotted her two friends, Elizabeth and Katlyn, standing on the sidewalk in front of her house. Like her, they had on their school uniforms. “Hey guys!” she called out, running down the front path towards them. The three friends continued walking towards the school, laughing and talking.

“ugh!” Ellie groaned. “Why do we have to have school today? It’s such a nice day out. Too nice to spend it in boring classes.”

“I know. This is a perfect day for the pool.” Liz replied. “Besides, I haven’t got any tests today, or papers due, why do I need to spend all day at school?”

“Same here.” Katlyn said. “Just a bunch of boring lectures. And that stuff’s in the books already! Can’t we just read the textbooks and skip it?”

“You know…” Ellie said, grinning mischievously. “We could always…skip school. Just for today.”

“No way!” Katlyn said sharply. “We’d get in trouble for sure!”

“Not if we’re careful.” She replied. “Look, you know how they take attendance first period? We’ll just go to school, be in class first period. That way we won’t be counted absent. Then, when it’s over, we can slip out in between periods and go to the pool.”

“I like this plan!” Liz replied, smiling. “When we’re done at the pool, we can hang out at my house. My dad is out of town for work and my mom is visiting her brother today. We’ll have the whole place to ourselves.”  

Katlyn nodded, though she still looked nervous about the idea. They hurried onward, reaching the school a few minutes before the bell rang for classes to begin. With the prospect of the whole day off ahead of her, Ellie couldn’t remember a class that had dragged on longer. Finally, the bell rang again. With the rest of the students, she left the classroom. Trying to look nonchalant, she slipped out into the parking lot and made her way to the agreed meeting place. Liz and Katlyn were waiting for her.

“Alright!” Ellie said, as they walked down the sidewalk. “I just need to swing by my house real fast and grab my swimsuit. I’ll meet you two at the pool.”

“Hey, what if your mom is home?” Katlyn asked. “What if she catches you?”

“Don’t worry.” Ellie replied. “My mom’s working today. She always makes sure to leave by 8:00 to get to work on time. She should be across town right now…”

***

Miss Harrison grabbed her cellphone and dialed a number. She held it to her ear, listening as it rang once…twice…on the third ring, the person on the other end picked up. “Hello?” A woman said.

“Judy, it’s me, Abbey.” Miss Harrison replied. “Look, I’m feeling a bit under the weather right now…yeah, got a bad headache, a sore throat…Look, I think I’m just going to take the day off…Hopefully I’ll feel better tomorrow. I’m sure you’ll be able to handle things yourself one day…Thanks…see you then…Bye!” With a smile, she hung up the phone. Part of her felt bad, taking a day off work today. Another part of her thought today was too good a day to spend cooped up in the office doing paperwork.

“Maybe I’ll do some work in the garden…” She thought, cleaning up the remains of breakfast. “Or maybe I’ll go down to the pool for a bit before it gets too hot.” She turned, humming a tune, as she walked upstairs to her bedroom. Inside, she undid the belt of her robe, slid it off and tossed it onto her bed. Underneath, the woman had on a long, white cotton nightdress. She pulled this over her head and placed it on the bed as well.

Miss Harrison walked over to her dresser and pulled out an old, button up shirt and a pair of shorts for working in the garden. She was just pulling on the shirt when a gloved hand reached around and clamped tight over her mouth, silencing the startled woman’s cry of surprise…

***

Slowly, Ellie turned the lock on the back door and opened it. She poked her head in. The teenage girl listened for a moment, but she didn’t hear her mother. Convinced the house was empty, she stepped inside and made her way upstairs to her bedroom.

In her bedroom, Ellie stripped out of her school clothes. From her closet, she took out her bikini and put it on. She was about to find some other clothes to put on over the swimsuit when there was a sudden noise from the bedroom door. Ellie spun around. The teenage girl gasped in shock. Standing in the doorway was a tall, burly man dressed in a jumpsuit and a ski mask. He had a pistol in his hand, pointed straight at her.

“Figures you’d show up before I could clear out of here.” The man said in a low voice, somewhat muffled by his mask. “I’ve been casing your house for two weeks. I knew your mother would be working today and that you would be at school. The house should have been empty. And then, when I do break in, that has to be the day you decide to play hokey and your mother takes a day off work.”

“My mother?” Ellie said, in surprise. “What have you done with her!?!”

The man shrugged. “Oh, nothing much. I just made sure she wouldn’t be able to cause any trouble while I was working…why don’t I show you. Come on, keep your hands up!” He waved his pistol. Glumly, Ellie obeyed, walking towards the door, her hands raised. The burglar led her towards her mother’s room. Inside, he walked over to the closet, careful to keep an eye on his captive at all times.

“Mmmppphhh!” A low groan came from inside the closet as the burglar opened it up.

“Mom!” Ellie cried out, seeing her mother. Miss Harrison was sitting in the bottom of the closet, dressed in only a light blue, button up shirt and a pair of white panties. The shirt was unbuttoned, leaving her chest exposed. Her hands and feet were bound with rope. One of the older woman’s scarfs had been tied between her teeth, to keep her quiet.

“ellll-ee!” Miss Harrison cried out, through her gag, seeing her daughter. She squirmed against her bonds, but wasn’t going to get free anytime soon.

“Yeah, seems like you weren’t the only one who decided to take a day off…” The crook teased her. He nodded to Ellie. Get over here so I can tie you up like mum here.” Ellie groaned softly, but she slowly walked over.

Turning, she placed her hands behind her back. The burglar tucked his pistol in one of the jumpsuit’s pockets. From another, he pulled out a small, tangled length of white cord and began to tie the teenage girl’s hands together. “Ow!” Ellie cried out as he cinched the ropes tight. “Please! That hurts!” They dug into the soft skin of her wrists painfully.

“Quiet! Or I’ll make you hurt worse.” Her captor growled. “In fact, let me take care of that right now…” He turned to the closet, reaching over Miss Harrison to grab another scarf. Ellie whimpered as he pulled the length of silk cloth between her teeth and knotted it off securely behind her head. Forcing her to sit down, he placed her feet side by side and tied them together, just as tight.

“There. Now how about I leave the two of you together for a bit, while I finish going through the house and gathering up your valuables…” the man said. He dragged Ellie into the closet, placing her up against her mother, chest to chest. A final length of cord was slung underneath the women’s arms, lashing them together. “Have a nice chat!” With that, the burglar stood, closing the closet door, plunging the captives into darkness.

“mmmppphhh.” Ellie’s mother grunted into her gag, squirming in her bonds. Ellie groaned into her gag. She just knew, after this was done, she’d get quite a talking to…