Tuesday, April 10, 2012

I is for Isabel

"Isabel Maderas, paging Isabel Maderas," the young man shouted repeatedly.  He carried a sign stretched high above his head as he walked through the crowd at the airport.

Isabel did not respond to the young man as he passed within breathing distance of her.  Once through customs, Isabel blended with the crowd.  She proceeded to the gate, but held back making sure she did not recognize anyone, nor that anyone would recognize her.  Dressed in a plain t-shirt and jeans, she wanted to remain incognito.

Her father, Pedro Maderas, would go to any lengths to keep her in Madrid, but she wanted to get as far from her country as her money would allow.

Holding back, she waited until the very last moment to board.  "America, here I come," she whispered to herself, as she buckled her seat belt.  As soon as they were airborne, Isabel breathed a sigh of relief, not realizing she had been holding her breath.

She stared out the window until Madrid disappeared from sight.  A small tear escaped and rolled softly down her cheek before she took her fingers and wiped it away.  She knew her father would never find her now.  Isabel had plotted for months to escape her father's controlling clutches.  She paid in advance for fake papers giving her a new name.

Pedro controlled everyone around him; his family, his friends, and his colleagues.  No one escaped his madness, no one except Isabel.  She had finally outsmarted him.  

"Twenty-one and free," she thought.  Her life had just begun.  Her mother passed a few months earlier, and all her siblings were grown.  Her father had lost his mind after her mother died, and Isabel was a prisoner in her own home.  She couldn't stand it any longer and planned her escape.  Her mother left her an insurance policy that only she and her mother knew about.

Isabel stepped off the plane in the small town of Pensacola, Florida after days of traveling.  She was happy to be in her knew home, but sad to leave her old country.  Life would be different, but she was ready.  She would never look back.

"Hi, I'm your neighbor," said a tall, tan, handsome man.  "Want some help with your luggage....they look a tad heavy?'

Isabel froze when she heard his intriguing voice with that warm southern drawl.  She smiled and nodded, unable to utter a complete sentence when she stared into his ocean blue eyes.

"I'm home," she whispered to herself, "I'm really home."









3 comments:

Bethie said...

I like this. Hope she's not just trading one controlling man for another though!

ayjay said...

I like this. The pictures you included at the end are about perfect for the story snippet too!
Happy A-Z'ing!
~AJ @ frodofrog.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

Thank you for the likes. I have had fun doing this A to Z challenge. It has helped with writing my second novel. It gets my brain waves active.