Status: Short Story.
Death Road
Death Road (Draft)
As we huddled in the strange bush, so different from the Australian dry landscape I had never known what true fear was like. It was gripping it made everything slow down, and you became hyper aware of every little detail. For example, the way the short Cambodian man was holding the gun towards my head, just a little to the right and his index finger on the trigger was almost shaking as the four of them screamed at the three of us in a language I had no hope of understanding. As I close my eyes, I pray to god, and try and let myself slip away from here. I focus everything on the moment I decided to come to this retched place.
“Move a little to the left, Kellie. Look into the light, yep hold it. There.” As the photographer gave me directions, I moved my chin slightly to left and into the sun that was setting into one of the most beautiful sunsets I had ever seen. I felt the light across my cheek bones as I narrowed my eyes only slightly to give the smouldering look I had become so well known for. “That’s a wrap. Kellie, stunning as always, thank you my dear for another beautiful shoot.” Gushed the tall, Spanish photographer, in heavily accented English. I gave him a warm smile as I wrapped the brightly coloured sarong around my naturally thin frame that was only adored in one of the most beautiful bikinis I had ever seen. We are all on location, sunning ourselves on the beautiful Costa del Sol. It was our last day in Spain and we are headed for Cambodia early tomorrow morning, after a goodbye party of course. I smiled to herself as Dominic, Tina and I headed back to the hotel to get ready for what I know is going to be an awesome night.
“You shouldn’t have drunk so much, Kellie.” Dominic said for about the hundredth time as we boarded the plane, I clenched my jaw at the tone he mocked me with as it only caused the splitting headache to pulse inside my skull even more. As I sat down in the plane I gave a harsh sigh as I knew this was going to be one bumpy ride, the plain is tiny and I’m pretty sure we may just fall out of the sky as we took off to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Phnom Penh was beautiful I admitted, with its stunning temples and culture that seemed to embrace everyone who crossed the thresholds of such monuments. The language was lost to me, and Dominic wasn’t much better, still enough spoke English and I wasn’t concerned, I would be okay, I always was. The fact that we are hundreds of kilometres away from home or as some liked to call it Australia didn’t faze me. Many had always said I had a flare for adventure, a passion for life. That I lived life to the fullest and soaked up as much of it as I could, the fact that I was an uprising model, only added to the excitement of the fast paced life I led. My dear friend Eleanor had been of a similar breed, she too had longed for the party, the thrill of danger that came from pushing such boundaries. But with a baby on the way, and a husband keeping her at bay she was back home in Australia much to my disappointment.
“Dominic stop being so paranoid, it will be fine. Besides they always make it worse on the news. And the locals hardly know what we are saying, for all we know they could mean something completely different.” I said as he scoffed at me, fixing me with his green eyes as he rolled them and mocked “Oh yeah, the fact that this road has been known for attacks against foreigners for decades and has its own nick name ‘Death Road’ makes no difference to you does it Kellie?” I fixed Dominic with a piecing glare as we fought over the fact that I wanted to travel the dangerous 135-mile trip south to Sihanoukville so late in the afternoon. Dominic was trying to talk me out of it, but everyone knew I was as stubborn as Dominic was giving, he loved me and I knew he would eventually give in, he always did. I gave him a wink as we slid into the taxi with our other friend Tilly, who was a close modelling and party friend of mine. My rebellious nature didn’t even take in the full depth of the decision to travel the most dangerous road perhaps in Cambodia. This road had the reputation of being occupied by the Khmer Rouge guerrillas, who prey on vehicles travelling between the port and Phnom Penh, stealing money and food. I wasn’t concerned, besides that kind of thing only happened in movies anyway.
The sound of a shot pulled me out of my memories, and I watched in horror as Tina slid to the ground beside me, with a limpness that told me at once that her soul had left her. I screamed at them as they came at me, their hands tangling in my long brown hair as tears streamed down my face, as I knew this was it, any moment they would pull that wretched gun on me….”
She couldn’t read anymore, Eleanor shut the tattered note book, tears streaming down her face. This was one of the few things the government had gotten out of the Cambodian embassy, that and her three close friends dead bodies. Kellie had always had a flare for writing and as Eleanor checked the date it was written about a weak before she had been murdered by the Khmer Rouge, she had written it while she was hostage. Eleanor placed the book down and looked over at her beautiful baby daughter with tears streaming down her cheeks, as she leant over and picked up ‘little Kellie. She missed her best friend or ‘big Kellie as she called her now. As she hoped that by naming her daughter after her, maybe Kellie would live on in her daughter, as someone with as much fire, with as much love for life couldn’t be truly gone.
“Move a little to the left, Kellie. Look into the light, yep hold it. There.” As the photographer gave me directions, I moved my chin slightly to left and into the sun that was setting into one of the most beautiful sunsets I had ever seen. I felt the light across my cheek bones as I narrowed my eyes only slightly to give the smouldering look I had become so well known for. “That’s a wrap. Kellie, stunning as always, thank you my dear for another beautiful shoot.” Gushed the tall, Spanish photographer, in heavily accented English. I gave him a warm smile as I wrapped the brightly coloured sarong around my naturally thin frame that was only adored in one of the most beautiful bikinis I had ever seen. We are all on location, sunning ourselves on the beautiful Costa del Sol. It was our last day in Spain and we are headed for Cambodia early tomorrow morning, after a goodbye party of course. I smiled to herself as Dominic, Tina and I headed back to the hotel to get ready for what I know is going to be an awesome night.
“You shouldn’t have drunk so much, Kellie.” Dominic said for about the hundredth time as we boarded the plane, I clenched my jaw at the tone he mocked me with as it only caused the splitting headache to pulse inside my skull even more. As I sat down in the plane I gave a harsh sigh as I knew this was going to be one bumpy ride, the plain is tiny and I’m pretty sure we may just fall out of the sky as we took off to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Phnom Penh was beautiful I admitted, with its stunning temples and culture that seemed to embrace everyone who crossed the thresholds of such monuments. The language was lost to me, and Dominic wasn’t much better, still enough spoke English and I wasn’t concerned, I would be okay, I always was. The fact that we are hundreds of kilometres away from home or as some liked to call it Australia didn’t faze me. Many had always said I had a flare for adventure, a passion for life. That I lived life to the fullest and soaked up as much of it as I could, the fact that I was an uprising model, only added to the excitement of the fast paced life I led. My dear friend Eleanor had been of a similar breed, she too had longed for the party, the thrill of danger that came from pushing such boundaries. But with a baby on the way, and a husband keeping her at bay she was back home in Australia much to my disappointment.
“Dominic stop being so paranoid, it will be fine. Besides they always make it worse on the news. And the locals hardly know what we are saying, for all we know they could mean something completely different.” I said as he scoffed at me, fixing me with his green eyes as he rolled them and mocked “Oh yeah, the fact that this road has been known for attacks against foreigners for decades and has its own nick name ‘Death Road’ makes no difference to you does it Kellie?” I fixed Dominic with a piecing glare as we fought over the fact that I wanted to travel the dangerous 135-mile trip south to Sihanoukville so late in the afternoon. Dominic was trying to talk me out of it, but everyone knew I was as stubborn as Dominic was giving, he loved me and I knew he would eventually give in, he always did. I gave him a wink as we slid into the taxi with our other friend Tilly, who was a close modelling and party friend of mine. My rebellious nature didn’t even take in the full depth of the decision to travel the most dangerous road perhaps in Cambodia. This road had the reputation of being occupied by the Khmer Rouge guerrillas, who prey on vehicles travelling between the port and Phnom Penh, stealing money and food. I wasn’t concerned, besides that kind of thing only happened in movies anyway.
The sound of a shot pulled me out of my memories, and I watched in horror as Tina slid to the ground beside me, with a limpness that told me at once that her soul had left her. I screamed at them as they came at me, their hands tangling in my long brown hair as tears streamed down my face, as I knew this was it, any moment they would pull that wretched gun on me….”
She couldn’t read anymore, Eleanor shut the tattered note book, tears streaming down her face. This was one of the few things the government had gotten out of the Cambodian embassy, that and her three close friends dead bodies. Kellie had always had a flare for writing and as Eleanor checked the date it was written about a weak before she had been murdered by the Khmer Rouge, she had written it while she was hostage. Eleanor placed the book down and looked over at her beautiful baby daughter with tears streaming down her cheeks, as she leant over and picked up ‘little Kellie. She missed her best friend or ‘big Kellie as she called her now. As she hoped that by naming her daughter after her, maybe Kellie would live on in her daughter, as someone with as much fire, with as much love for life couldn’t be truly gone.