challenges

(It’s Day 10 of the challenge! Thanks to all who took part and hope to see you in January for the 20 Days of Chill in January!)

Is Reggie’s fight over?

Will he see his wife again?

Will he ever figure out what this was all about?

Sure, he knew what life was going to be like when he took a secret covert position. It paid well. It allowed him and his family to have nice things. And he knew there was risk.

Was the risk worth the reward?

Now, his daughter was with him. He hadn’t seen his daughter in years. They didn’t see eye to eye on a mistake Reggie had long admitted. Instead, she blocked it out.

Now she was dragged into this mess.

And there was nothing he could do. They were on their way to New York from Alaska. He had spent many years in New York. He knew the city well. But this worldwide chase doesn’t make sense. Why has he been going all over the world just to get jumped and pushed into different situations where his life and others were in jeopardy.

He couldn’t sleep on the plane, just staring out the window into the dark night. His daughter was asleep next to him, her innocence being tested by something he apparently had done.

What could he do?

—–

The plane landed in New York as the sun was starting to crest the skyline. A new day was starting and the city was going to be full of hustle and bustle and millions of people going about their daily business – with no idea what was happening in Reggie’s odd world.

Kaylee was up, now clutching to her backpack. She had no idea how this was going to end.

Neither did Reggie.

As soon as they got off the plane, they walked out of the terminal and a person was standing next to a limo – and they held a sign that said “Reggie and Kaylee.”

Reggie was apprehensive as he walked up the gentleman, who was wearing a drivers outfit, including sunglasses and a cap.

Reggie looked him over before saying anything.

“Who are you?” he asked with a stern tone.

“Sir, I have been sent here to pick you up,” the driver said.

“By who?” Reggie responded.

“I work for Export Limo Service – I don’t know that information,” he said. “My company told me to come here to pick Reggie and Kaylee up. That’s all I know. “

“And where are you to take us?” Reggie asked.

“Central Park,” the driver said.

Reggie looked around, and looked over this driver. The driver didn’t look intimidating or anything of the sort, but in Reggie’s world, one could never be too careful. So Reggie slowly slid in, with Kaylee right behind him. That allowed Reggie to be right behind the driver, where he could react if necessary.

It seemed like the trip took longer than it should have, but they were soon being dropped off at Central Park. The driver said almost nothing on the trip.

As the sun started to bask over the city and Central Park, Reggie stood watching people going by. Central Park was always a wonderful place to visit. The people were always running around and there were miles and miles of paths to walk and even find some serenity.

Not today, though.

And that’s when everything happened. Standing on the outside of the main entrance, everything happened fast. A runner came by, knocking into Reggie and the two fell to the ground. He pointed across the street, just in time for Reggie and Kaylee to turn and see Reggie’s wife and Kaylee’s mother in the back of a car – she had tape over her mouth and fear in her eyes as the car, with no license plate, took off down the street.

Reggie stood and started to run, but he had no chance. Meanwhile, the runner, who had watched it all unfold, stood and started to run the opposite way. Kaylee, however, saw this and tackled him to the ground and the two rolled into a secluded area where people wouldn’t be seeing. She put her hand over his mouth as Reggie came running back.

“If you even make a sound, it will end for you within a second,” Reggie said to the runner, who stared at Reggie with a scared look.

“The next five minutes will determine the direction for the rest of your life,” Reggie said.

Kaylee stood and looked around to make sure nobody was around and then kicked the runner in the gut.

Reggie looked up at her with bewilderment, and a little bit of amazement.

“Now it’s time that he starts talking,” she said.

The sun was growing brighter. The city was full of life. And somewhere, Reggie’s wife was being taken away. She was still alive, though. And that was all he needed to know to keep pushing forward.

But first, it was time to see what the runner knew. He just had to find a way to get the runner to a secluded place where he could get the information he needed.

(You didn’t really think it would end here, did you? It’s close, though! My goal was to end this during the 20 Days of Chill – one year after I started! So I hope you will all come back for that in January. I will announce information and themes in November/December!)

This is part of the 10 Days of Heat writing challenge! There’s still time to join up with us. Do as many themes as you want! The challenge runs every Tuesday and Thursday through the month of August 2017. For a list of themes, check out the announcement post and join us!

Side note: I have not been around seeing all the blog posts of others in this challenge. It ends this week and I am hoping some things slow down for me. I promise I will be visiting/reading/commenting on every single post from this challenge!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook! You can also follow me on Twitter @softball29!

This one is tough.

My summers have been different as I’ve aged. As a kid, I remember going on small family trips, especially a beach in Maryland. At least one of those trips included a first crush.

As I got older, things changed. It wasn’t always an easy thing because everybody seemed to go in different directions. There was baseball, of course. Then when I got too old for that, it was softball.

Softball has been a staple in my summers for many years. For more than 25 years, I’ve run a team. We’ve had good and bad, but over the past decade we’ve been a solid team in any league in which we played.

Still, I won’t play forever. In the past several years I’ve gotten more into going to baseball games. I’ve planned trips and have seen many different stadiums.

I’ve been to a lot of great weddings and taken trips (Ireland probably tops that list). I’ve seen a lot and always enjoy being in the position to see new things.

The funny part, though, nothing really stands out as that “one memory.”

I have talked to so many people who can pinpoint something special – ranging from one as a kid to something as an adult. It could be a camp, or a trip, or meeting the person of their dreams. But something stands out.

For me, I have a hard time with it.

I know there is a lot of good memories out there. They seem to mesh together, however. I can smile thinking back to times in the past, but there’s just not the one that jumps out.

Maybe there is and I am just not letting it come to the front of my mind.

I do cherish certain things, though. I remember the times of playing in the local county golf tournament, including one year where I played with my father and one of my brothers in the opening round. I remember the first time one of my softball teams won a championship and being able to celebrate it with one of my brothers. I spent many days watching my niece play travel soccer. I played baseball as a kid, be it a “pickup game” or on the local legion team. There were trips to Philly to visit relatives and having a true Italian “lunch” at a neighbor’s house. I was friends with two of the kids in the family and it was wild to be part of that day.

I remember stick ball or walking to the small “convenience” store in Philly, grabbing those fake candy smokes. Or buying pretzels on the corner. Goodness, Philly pretzels rule.

Trips to Montreal.

My lord do I remember those.

So many friends joined me in my obsessive trips to that amazing city. I would still move there tomorrow if I could get a job that paid well and afford me the ability to live there. I have loved the city since the first time I visited it and have been there a dozen or so times. It’s been too long though, and I need to get there and visit soon.

Maybe my best summer memory is a potpourri of memories into one. And though I can’t pinpoint just one that really stands out as “the one,” I feel I’ve had a lot of great memories about summers gone by, and I can hope they continue in summers of the future.

How about all of you? What is your best summer memory?

This is part of the 10 Days of Heat writing challenge! There’s still time to join up with us. Do as many themes as you want! The challenge runs every Tuesday and Thursday through the month of August 2017. For a list of themes, check out the announcement post and join us!

Side note: I have not been around seeing all the blog posts of others in this challenge. It ends this week and I am hoping some things slow down for me. I promise I will be visiting/reading/commenting on every single post from this challenge!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook! You can also follow me on Twitter @softball29!