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Saturday April 13^th 1994

It was fifteen minutes past six in the morning. The streets were empty but for the occasional car carrying husbands to work and mothers with children to school. All children went to school, all but one, a little girl stood outside Freshness Bakery waiting for the owner to open up. She was a rather scrawny girl, even for ten years old. Her clothes were second hand, mismatched sizes and so caked with dirt that it was hard to believe they were ever clean. Her small blue eyes were barely visible behind a curtain of dirty brown hair that just fell short of her shoulders. Lacie Deluis was not in a good way and she hadn’t been since her father’s death. When her father had eventually lost his fight against, her mother had taken it very badly. She had stopped working and retreated so far into herself that she barely had the strength to feed herself. Her mother’s condition had left her responsible for keeping food on the table, not an easy job for a ten year old girl. Lacie had been waiting outside the bakery for half an hour when she eventually heard the sound of a key turning in the lock and the door swung open. Mr Ferguson was the only baker within miles, and he had been the only person willing to give Lacie work to do. Truth be told, Kevin Ferguson had a soft spot for the little girl and whenever he could he would give loaves of bread or a packet of buns to take home.

‘Good morning,’ said Kevin gesturing for her to come inside. ‘Plenty of work for you this morning, the damn dog got into the store last night and made a right mess.’

‘No problem Mr Ferguson,’ smiled Lacie stepping in.

Three hours later Lacie walked out of the bakery with fifty dollars in her pocket and a packet of fresh buns to take home. Lacie picked a bun out the packet and stuffed half of into her mouth hungrily. It had been almost two days since she last ate and she was famished. Lacie walked home slowly, eating three more buns before she eventually got there. She knew that immediately she got home, her mother would take the buns and the money and she would probably not have access to either. She had once asked her mother what she spent money on and had shocked when her mother had screamed at her and smacked her across the face with her shoe, needless to say she didn’t ask any more questions of mom; not even on the numerous occasions she had seen her sticking a needle into her arm and injecting herself with a substance Lacie was sure wasn’t from a doctor. She didn’t complain when her mother injected herself because that seemed to be the only time she was happy.

Kimone Deluis was lying on her bed waiting. She wasn’t waiting food nor was she waiting for her daughter to come home. She was waiting for husband. She spoke to him every night, he came to her in her every time she injected herself and that was the only reason she did it. She enjoyed seeing him, he made her happy and she hadn’t been happy in a long time. Whenever he came to her he would whisper to her that he loved her, and he would wrap his arms around her and tell her they could be together again if she would only be wiling to make the sacrifice.  She had been scared and confused at first, but tonight she finally knew she was ready to do, ready to see him again. She picked up the small syringe off her bedside table and without hesitating stuck into her arm and I injected the contents in quickly before throwing the syringe across the room. She sniffed deeply for a few seconds and then picked up a small silver razor blade. She twirled it around in her fingers and hummed Elton John’s Rocket Man, the very first song she had danced to with Michael. She placed the razor on the same vein she had just injected into. She hesitated for a second, but then remembered Michael, and the warmth of his embrace, the fullness of his kiss and tenderness of his love. She smiled and drew the razor across her vein.

Lacie opened the door of her house and stepped in quietly. The house was silent.

‘Mom?’ she called into the house. ‘I got food from Mr Ferguson?’

She knocked on her mother’s bedroom door. There was no reply. She opened the door slowly and peaked inside. Her mother was sprawled on the bed, unmoving. Her eyes stared blankly into the wall. The once blue linen was now stained red with blood that had long since stopped pouring out of the cut on her mother’s arm. Lacie didn’t cry, she didn’t scream, she just closed the bedroom door and climbed onto the bed next to her mother. She lifted her mother’s arm and crawled underneath it.

Lacie woke up, it was late evening, she gingerly rolled over and stared into her mother’s now lightless eyes. She knew she couldn’t stay there forever, but she was not willing to leave her mother’s side. She closed her eyes and lay still for a few minutes before she got up and left the room. She locked the bedroom door and left the house. She didn’t know where to go or who to turn to, she just carried on walking.

Lacie was paying very little attention to where she was going, and before she knew it she looked up and realised she was in a part of town she didn’t recognise at all. She stopped walking and looked around, there streets were dark and empty, there were no street lights and the only signs of life came from inside a very unwelcoming looking bar. She sat down on the pavement and buried her face in her hands. She wanted to cry but no tears formed in her eyes.

‘Looks like you’ve had a rough day?’ said a voice behind her.

‘Lacie jumped up and whipped her head around. ‘Who’s there?’

‘Don’t be startled girl,’ smiled the man stepping into the dim moonlight.

Lacie studied the man carefully. He was not very tall, but appeared very muscular. He had very dark brown eyes and his smile seemed to fit into the wrinkles of his face giving him the appearance of somebody who smiled a lot.

‘I don’t have a home,’ she said. ‘Anymore.’

‘Oh dear,’ replied the man. ‘My name is Peta. It is my job to help little girls like you.’

‘How?’ she asked cautiously.

‘Why don’t we go for a ride in my car?’ smiled Peta. ‘I’ll tell you all about it.’

Lacie frowned and shook her head slowly. ‘I won’t. I don’t know you.’

‘Clever girl,’ laughed Peta. ‘But you will get in the car.’

Monday April 17 1992

Alex Hartley was sitting in her bedroom fidgeting nervously. She was waiting for her partner Sarah to come out of the bathroom. Alex and Sarah had met each other eight years ago through a friend of theirs. They had hit it off immediately and before long had started dated. Not long after they had married and now lived in a comfortably sized apartment and they were happy for a time, but before long they craved something more, they wished to raise a child together but because of their unique relationship this was impossible. So after many discussions and consultations they had decided to find a donor and inseminate Sarah. Sarah was in the bathroom now. Alex had been waiting for over an hour for her to come out of the bathroom. After what seemed like several long hours Sarah finally opened the bathroom door and walked out with a huge grin on her face.

‘All done,’ she sighed and threw herself into Alex’s arms. ‘Now we just wait.’

Alex laughed and kissed Sarah. ‘Suppose that means I have to eat out tonight.’

‘Can’t believe we finally did it,’ smiled Sarah. ‘After all this time, I was beginning to think we would never get around to it.’

‘I just can’t wait to be a mom!’ squealed Alex excitedly.

1 Year Later.

Sarah lay on a hospital bed holding her new born daughter in her arms.

‘She is so beautiful,’ said Alex kissing their daughter on the forehead. ‘What are we naming her?’

‘We agreed on Sophia didn’t we?’ replied Sarah.

‘Yes we did,’ smiled Alex. ‘Sophia is a beautiful name.’

‘Can’t wait to take her home,’ said Sarah. ‘Start our life as parents.’

‘Soon love,’ said Alex stroking Sophias head.

One week later Sarah and Alex carried their daughter Sophia into their home.

‘Look Sophia,’ said Alex gesturing to the apartment. ‘Your home.’

‘She’s tired,’ whispered Sarah. ‘Let me put her to sleep and then we can do the grand tour when she wakes up.’

‘Look at you,’ laughed Alex. ‘Already sounding all bossy-mommy.’

Sarah clicked her tongue and carried Sophia to their bedroom and put her in her cot.

‘Sleep little lady,’ and Sarah. ‘Sleep little lady mummy’s here, my hugs and kisses will end your fears.’

5 March 2005

Bryce Donogan sat at his desk twirling his fingers irritably. It had not been a good month for him so. Bryce was a reporter for a local newspaper titled The Scoop. They had become widely recognised as the only paper that printed the solid truth, unedited by fearful politicians. Bryce however was not I the department that got to right the hard hitting stories about dirty police officers or corrupt judges, no, Bryce’s job was a little less exciting, Bryce was in charge of the petty theft column, he got the exciting job of writing about purse snatching and pick pocketing. Bryce had been begging and pleading with the editor to give a more substantial article, but time and time again he had been denied his opportunity. As it was that day Bright had just handed in his article on a daylight purse snatching that had taken place the previous day and was now sitting at his desk waiting for the clock to click in place and set him free. Just before five that afternoon Arthur Cunningham the editor and chief of The Scoop called Bryce into his office. Bryce knocked on Arthurs office door and walked in slowly.

‘You wanted to see me?’ asked Bryce standing at the door.

‘Bryce Donogan,’ greeted Arthur waving him into the office. ‘Yes I need to discuss something with you.’

Bryce closed the office door and took the seat in front of Arthurs desk. ‘What’s this about?’

‘You’ve been pestering me for months now about giving you a more challenging article,’ said Arthur. ‘And I believe I have finally found an opportunity for you to prove yourself.’

‘Why now?’ asked Bryce.

‘You want to question my decision to promote you?’ asked Arthur with a small chuckle. ‘That’s not very polite.’

‘No it’s not,’ nodded Bryce.  ‘But it would be stupid of me to think that you did this out of the goodness of your heart.’

Arthur smiled and handed Bryce a thin file. ‘What do you know about Somalia?’

‘Not much,’ admitted Bryce.  ‘I know it’s considered a danger zone for reporters. In the past year alone four reporters have killed and two have never been seen or heard from and are now presumed dead.’

‘Yes,’ sighed Arthur. ‘And as a result there is nobody who is willing to accept this job. It is a very hard job and it is only appropriate for a single person.’

‘What exactly would I have to do?’ asked Bryce opening the file.

‘This is a six year investigative job,’ replied Arthur. ‘We have a source in Mogadishu who has provided with information about a smuggling operation so huge that its revenue stream is hundreds of millions of dollars.’

‘What are they smuggling?’ asked Bryce raising his eyebrows.

‘Everything,’ said Arthur. ‘Guns, drugs, vehicles and prostitutes.’

‘Sounds like quite a party,’ said Bryce. ‘How much time do I have to consider?’

‘The flight’s in two hours.’

11 Years Later.

Sophia Hartley was twelve years old. She had grown beautiful long brown hair with a fringe that tickled the tips of her eye lashes. Sophia was on her way to the dog shelter to meet her friend and the owner of the dog shelter Marcus Tretna. There was nothing Sophia loved more in this world than dogs but unfortunately because she lived in an apartment she could never have one. So she contented herself with spending as much time as possible at the dog shelter helping out. Sophia pushed open the door to the building and walked in.

‘Right on time,’ said Linda Woodgate the receptionist. ‘Marcus is in the back getting the food ready, you can go straight through.’

‘Thaanks Linda,’ smiled Sophia. She left her school bag with Linda and hurried out to the back. She found Marcus dishing out the food and she quickly grabbed a bag of food and joined him.

‘Hey Soph,’ said Marcus smiling warmly. ‘Almost done here, I started early today.’

‘Her Marcus,’ replied Sophia. ‘It’s okay, I can’t stay long today anyway, I’ve got afternoon class today.’

They spent the next hour feeding all of the dogs, and afterwards Marcus showed Sophia some of the new dogs that had been brought in that day. Eventually it was time for her to go, so she said her goodbyes and made her way to school. Sophias school day went slowly, she hated school on Fridays because she was always so eager to get home and let the weekend begin that she felt every hour drag by as slowly as possible. Eventually though two o’clock came and she made her way home, Sophia always walked home as she lived only two blocks away. When Sophia got home she threw her bag down and went to change into her comfortable clothes. When she had changed she came out into the kitchen and found her mother Sarah had come home and was unpacking her shopping bags.

‘Hey mom,’ said Sophia giving her a hug.

‘There you are,’ smiled Sarah. ‘I bought you pizza for lunch.’

‘Thanks mom,’ said Sophia. ‘I’m hungry.’

While Sarah and Sophia were eating their lunch they heard the sound of key turning in the lock.

‘Mommy!’ shouted Sophia getting up from the table and running to the door.

Alex dropped her handbag on the couch and caught Sophia in a hug. ‘Hey sweetie, how was school?’

‘fine,’ replied Sophia. ‘We’re eating pizza!’

‘Oh wow,’ smiled Alex. ‘I’m coming join you soon, just let me go and change into my relax clothes.’

‘Okay mom,’ said Sophia climbing out of her mothers arms and going back to the kitchen.

The Hartleys had an enjoyable evening eating pizza and watching movies together and eventually all went to bed rather late. When Sophia woke up on Saturday morning she could smell the lovely warm scent of bacon and eggs coming from the kitchen and she leaped out of bed and ran to the kitchen where she found Sarah cooking breakfast.

‘Morning Soph,’ said Sarah without turning around.

‘How do you always know?’ asked Sophia laughing and giving her mother a hug.

‘I can hear those hooves of yours clomping all the way down the hall,’ smiled Sarah.

Mogadishu, Somalia.

Mohammad Al  sat in the back seat of his car waiting for his associate to arrive. He did not have to wait long, everybody knew better than to make him wait. The door next to him opened and Andrei Milikov climbed into the backseat of the Range Rover.

‘Evening,’ greeted Andrei.

‘Mr Milikov,’ said Mohammad. ‘You were almost late.’

‘Yes,’ replied Andrei nodding his head. ‘But I wasn’t. So what’s the reason for this meeting?’

‘Be careful Mr Milikov,’ smiled Mohammad. ‘Do not forget who you’re talking to.’

‘My apologies,’ said Andrei bowing his head. ‘It has been a busy week.’

‘So I have come to understand,’ said Mohammad. ‘What’s the situation with the police?’