Kidnapped Hope

.They had planted bushes and trees in the compact garden, hoping to watch them grow year after year as Mark and Nicolette metamorphosed into young adults and eventually came back to visit from college. They had even found room in the garden for a swing-set. But now it stood there, abandoned, as a cruel reminder of what had been. Even the neighborhood children who always used to play on it didn’t come anymore. They shared the Zuckers’ grief, and expressed it in their own way. Peter turned and pressed the buzzer on the wall. But as he did so, a sudden blow made him lose his balance and fall onto the bed. He turned and saw Martine’s collapsed body at his feet, one of her hands still clutching his coat as if her life depended on it.

She looked up at him intensely, desperately mouthing something.He cradled her head and shoulders and leaned closer, anxious to understand what she was trying to tell him.