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           Matthew left the party and drove his new BMW down out of the hills toward home. Matthew had grown up as a trophy XXXX. As long as he was on his best behavior during the big holidays and on the family vacation so that his parents could show him off to the family and their friends, they didn't much care what Matthew did the rest of the time. Matthew didn't mind very much. Ever since his sixteenth birthday he had been receiving a generous allowance from Grandpa’s estate, and when he turned twenty-one he knew that he was going to inherit most of Grandpa’s fortune. Now Matthew was already twenty and he had only twenty-nine days to go before his birthday was here and then he would be set for life.

All of a sudden the car engine sputtered and then stopped, and then Matthew was surprised when the car coasted to a stop on the side of the road. At first Matthew was only disappointed. This was a brand new car. It wasn't supposed to stop. But then Matthew began to get a little worried when he got out of the car and saw that there wasn't anything except trees and moonlight in all directions. He was all alone.

Matthew lifted the hood of the car and stared at the engine. Matthew didn't know anything about cars except how to buy one so he was really perplexed. There had to be some way to make it go again. And so he never heard the van that pulled to a stop nearby or the two men who got out of the van and walked over beside him.

“Do you know what might be wrong with it,” Matthew asked the two men hopefully without even looking up from the confusing engine.

“Probably needs a little rag,” one of the men said.

Matthew lifted his eyes to see that one of the men was holding a pad of white rag in his hand, and he was still trying to figure out how a rag might help and engine to go again, when he suddenly realized that the handful of cloth was coming toward his face.

“What do you think you're doing?” Matthew asked, but most of his words by muffled by the layers of damp cloth that were suddenly pressing against his face. And then the strong smell of something sweet and sickly rushed into his nose. Too late, Matthew tried to twist away from the XXXX cloth only to find strong hands holding his arms down at his sides. And all at once, Matthew began to feel dizzy and faint.

When Matthew opened his eyes again, he realized that he was sitting in the back of an enclosed van. He had been stripped down to his pants and there were ropes tied all around him. Matthew tried to protest, but there was some kind of tape plastered over his mouth so that he couldn't move his lips when he talked. And then he saw that the driver was wearing a gorilla mask over his head, and then man sitting beside him had the mask of a bird’s face over his head. Was this a nightmare?

“He’s waking up,” the Bird Man chirped.

“Rules of the road, boy,” the Gorilla growled. “You don't give us no trouble; we don't give you no trouble.”

And then the Bird Man pulled a dark cloth bag down over Matthew’s head and kept in him in the dark until –

Suddenly the bag was pulled off of Matthew’s head and he blinked his eyes until he saw that he was now in some kind of spare room in somebody’s house.

“You can wait in here until your parents come across with the money,” the Gorilla growled at him. “But don't go getting no bright ideas.”

“Yea,” the Bird chirped in his face. “We don't like delivering damaged goods, but I do enjoy taking a peck or two out of somebody as delicate as you.”

Matthew cringed and he could feel his body starting to shake. It was obvious that both of these men were crazy.

Then the two men pushed Matthew down onto an old mattress that didn't even have a sheet or a pillow on it, and then they began grabbing his body again while they tied his legs and ankles up with more strong ropes.

“Remember, not one peep,” the Bird Man cackled. “Or I will have to peck you.”

The cackling continued while the Bird Man and the Gorilla went out of the room and closed the door.

Matthew didn't know how long he remained a captive in the small room. Maybe it was only hours, but it seemed like days while he rolled back and forth on the hard mattress and discovered that the biting ropes wouldn't let him get comfortable no matter which way he tried to lay.

Suddenly the door opened and the Bird Man and the Gorilla both appeared again.

“We got some bad news boy,” the Gorilla growled.

“And we got some good news,” the Bird Man chirped.

“The bad news is that your parents ain't going to pay the fifty-thousand we asked for if they wanted you returned to them.” The Gorilla shook his head from side to side.

But the Bird Man sounded almost chipper as he told Matthew “But they will give us fifty-thousand if we keep you and another fifty-thousand if we don't return you until after your birthday. Isn't that sweet?”

Matthew felt really sick in the pit of his stomach as he remembered the provisions of Grandpa’s will. If Matthew didn't show up at the lawyer’s office on his twenty-first birthday, all of Matthew’s share of his inheritance would go to his parents.

“Make yourself comfortable,” the Gorilla growled as he pushed Matthew back down onto the mattress. And then they both laughed at him while they slammed the door and left him alone again.

Matthew felt like crying. His parents couldn't do this to him! Then Matthew became angry. He would show them!

It was very difficult since Matthew wasn't used to doing physical things, but he soon managed to stand up from the bed. Then he fought to keep his balance while he took little inching steps and little hops until he finally made it to the closed door.

With a sigh of relief Matthew discovered that his captors hadn't bothered to lock him in. Matthew struggled to turn the door knob and then eased the door quietly and then peered outside. He didn't see anyone.

So then Matthew began moving forward with little baby steps. There had to be a way out of here. Maybe it was down this way? Matthew slowly approached a corner in the hallway.

Suddenly a big beefy hand shot out and grabbed Matthew by his face. Poor Matthew almost had a heart attack as the scary Gorilla mask moved really close to his nose. “Are you trying to be stupid?” the Gorilla growled.

The next thing Matthew knew his body had been spun around and now strong hands were propelling him down the hallway. Then they came a door that was a little smaller than the other doors. The Gorilla opened the door to reveal a small closet.

“You don't like the nice soft mattress we gave you?” the Gorilla sounded angry. “Fine! Try sitting on a hard floor for awhile.” Without any ceremony the Gorilla pushed Matthew’s body down into the closet until the hard floor slammed into Matthew’s buns.

“Don’t worry,” the Gorilla laughed for the first time. “We're going to find plenty of things for you to do before your birthday gets here.”

Then the Gorilla closed the closet door and put Matthew completely in the dark.

Matthew had every reason to be scared, and he had every reason to cry, but instead a cold anger began to work its way up through his body. Somehow he would get out of this closet, and somehow he would get out of this house, and somehow he would show up at that lawyer’s office on time.

Somehow he was going to fool them all!

THE END

Mathew played by Mike

Photography by Caitiff

Date of Production: 02/26/2006