I always wondered what it would be like to fly. To suddenly grow a pair of wings to soar through the sky. It would be nice to find an escape where there is no abuse and no earthly problems. Just to fly away…what a dream that would be.

"You !" The man held up his hand before hitting his wife across the face.

The woman fell to the floor holding her face in pain. The bruises on her body became the new color of her skin these days when he came home drunk which was more often since his job change.  If she was sleeping, he would pull her out of bed and yell vulgar slurs or she was awake, he might just yell at her before she got the back of his hand. It was a never ending cycle and she didn't know what to do or how to hide the visible marks on her face. Eventually she pushed away most of her friends and family for the fear of their judgement. They told her before that they didn't like him and that she made a mistake marrying him but what was she to do now? He owned her.

Curling up in her bed defenseless, the woman cried a few more tears before going off to dreamland hoping he wouldn't wake up in the middle of the night.

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"Jess come on please. Mom and dad haven't seen you in months and I miss you."

The woman on the other line wanted to say she missed them too, "I can't...work is..."

"I have heard that excuse way too many times to know you are lying. Please just a weekend. You can bring Tyler if you want."

"No no he is busy too. I will come when I have time okay?"

"That means never."

"It means not right now." The woman looked over at the unsightly new bruise on her face, "Krystal I will when things calm down. Tyler has his new job so right now isn't a good time."

The line went dead for a while until the younger woman said, "You know I love you. We are here for you if anything is going on with you and Tyler."

"It is fine. I love you too." The jingling of keys in the door spiked the older woman's blood pressure, "Krystal I have to go. Tell mom and dad I love them too. Bye."

A rather buff man walked through the door and threw down his briefcase, "I heard you on the phone."

The woman froze being caught talking to her sister, "It was just my family. They wanted us over this weekend but I told them we couldn't."

The man eyed out his wife before going to the kitchen, "What is for dinner?"

Quickly getting up, the woman pulled out chicken from the oven, "Roasted chicken from the market."

The man smelled the chicken before sitting at the table, "I have to go back to the office later."

"Oh okay." Normally that would be a good thing but knowing he would come back late after drinking, she would rather him stay home and be like any other man who would watch TV before dozing off, "Don't be out too late."

The man glared at the woman, "If I have to stay out late I will. I don't have an at-home job tutoring like you Jessica. Some of us have to work late hours to earn their living."

"I-I didn't mean it like that."

Standing up after taking a few bites, he went over for water, "The chicken is dry. I can't even get a decent meal at home."

Jessica didn't need to look back to know that he was putting on his shoes to leave. Taking a quick bite of the chicken, she enjoyed the flavor as the chicken was perfectly cooked. She knew the real reason he wanted to leave. They didn't love each other anymore. Sure, at one time they were head over heels in love but something changed a year after marriage.

The hugs and kisses would slowly become less until they didn't happen at all. He would spend more and more time in the office until he came home drunk night after night. At first, she thought he was cheating on her but she didn't want to confront him because that just made him even more angry. She thought of a divorce but that would also make him angry.

Eventually Jessica reasoned he couldn't lash out if she sat quietly living this life by herself, but he seemed to get upset over that too. She didn't want to be abused day in and day out, but she felt trapped. Trapped by the bruises on her face that made her scared to go out and trapped by the man who made her think no one else would want a pathetic wife like her.

So that night Jessica went to bed but stopped at the foot of her bed wondering if anything would aid in helping her escape this tragic life. Falling to her knees, Jessica folded her hands together and prayed. Although, she grew older and strayed away from her religious affiliations, Jessica reached out to the one person that might help her. She prayed to God, "please save me."

Author's Note: 

Just a little teaser for what is to come.