Free Tell My Dad by Ram Muthiah Page A

three seconds, she remembered the face of the tall, ugly old man and recalled what had happened.
    She looked around and could see only pitch-black, except the flickering lights outside the window. Her hands were tied to the chair’s armrests, and her legs were tied together with a nylon rope. The rope ended with a knot on one of the legs of the gray couch, which looked very old, on her left. She pushed her legs under the chair in an effort to see if she could break free from the rope but stopped when her heels hurt.
    She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Is it a bad dream? She felt like Hermione Granger locked up in a dungeon. She held both armrests tightly, using a firm palm grip, and got up, bringing up the chair along with her body. A little relief formed in her face. She carried the chair by keeping a firm grip on the armrests and slowly walked toward the front door. The rope that tied her legs was long, but not too long. As she took a few steps with the chair on her back, she felt the resistance from the other end of the rope, which was tied to the leg of a monstrous couch. It did not move. One more deep breath and one more pull. She faced the couch and pulled her left leg in an effort to move the couch along. Thud. She lost her balance and fell on the floor along with the chair. The rope around her wrists tightened and triggered pain, which traversed to her biceps.
    She bit her lips and controlled herself so as not to scream. Tears flowed down her chin. She composed herself and scanned her surroundings. To her left was a giant-sized leather couch and a wooden door to a room behind the couch. On her right, a big-screen television was mounted on the wall with the surround system below it. She faced the front door, which was closed, possibly locked, and surrounded by arch-shaped windows on both sides. She turned around to see what was behind her—a kitchen, large dining table, and the back door, which was shut.
    She slid back into the chair and pushed her knee to the floor. At the same time, she held the firm grip on her chair and pushed to the left. Now, she was back to square one and stared at the flickering lights outside the window. She took a deep breath and prayed.
    After a minute, she caught a glimpse of two gray-colored pit bull dogs through the window on her right, mounted three feet away from the front door. The dogs barked and jumped at the same time, trying to catch something. Then, both dogs looked to the right. The tall man slowly walked toward the dogs.
    Her heart raced, and panic set in again. Same guy . Using all her strength, she lifted the chair and moved to her left. Then, she moved closer to the couch, creating a small sag in the rope. She moved along the front edge of the couch to stay close to it, to take full advantage of the sag. As she got closer to the window, mounted on the left side of the front door, she screamed at the top of her lungs, “Help! Help me…Somebody help me…”
    Seconds later, the front door was violently opened. The pit bulls charged in and came dangerously close to her face. The dogs’ eyes looked like flames in the middle of the forest. She screamed, “Go away!”
    The man calmed the dogs and looked at the rope that bound her legs together. A smirk formed on his wrinkled face. He spit on the floor.
    “You think you’re too smart, huh? You have any idea how many times I’ve done this?” he barked.
    Teresa begged. “Please—please let me go. I’m not smart. You are smart. Please let me go.”
    “What is that noise? Help! Help! ” he mocked her. “Do you know there is no one around here to help you? You are sitting in an isolated house surrounded by cattle farms and mountains.”
    He saw the terror in her face and loved it. “Do not worry. We are going to have a good time, okay? Thomas is a good boy; you will like him.”
    Thomas?
    “Please let me go. I won’t tell anyone. I’m a good girl. I don’t hurt anyone. Okay? Please listen to me.” She