"They cut our grains back again Hannah." Mike said angrily as he removed his jacket, hanging it in the closet by the front door.

"What?" she questioned him, looking up from Caleb playing with his toy cars on the living room table.

"I said they cut our grains back again. Since they've been feeding us at work and all, they said we don't need as much at home." He stated as if he was angry. As if he was acting. This had been going on for months now. He had been bringing home less and less grain and coming home later and later. They needed this food and he needed this job so she had to accept what they could get. They were more fortunate than the people dying of starvation every day in the city. This wasteland of a world was hard to survive in, if you can't work the soil. For some reason, she always could but she could never market the skill.

"Well fortunately I planted that big garden out back or we would have a lean winter like that first year. I worry for the baby." Hannah said rubbing her newly swollen tummy. She was only about three months along and she had just popped. Mike didn't seem as interested in this baby as much as he did in creating it. He was excited at first but then he just couldn't bother to hear about it. It was disheartening to see him disconnect. Sometimes she felt kissing him felt like kissing a paper doll. She couldn't understand what was going on with him and he was not interested in sharing. She had concluded work must have been hard on him. Hannah was always giving in to his whims because she saw his happiness was her happiness.

"Yeah about that, I'm a little behind on gas and I was gonna take some stuff to work to barter." he stated noncommittally. Sometimes when things got rough he would barter Hannah's home grown vegetables and fruits for daily necessities. There were barely any fruits left since they were a luxury good. It was going to be a tough winter.

"Yeah do what you need to do." She responded dejectedly as he walked upstairs to work out. Mike used to work out all the time when Hannah was younger. He had been her older neighbor and he would watch her walk home from school everyday. One day he finally offered her a ride, and it became a daily thing. After dropping her off from school one day, he grabbed the back of her neck and took her first kiss. He took all her firsts. She touched her lips as she cleaned up the living room mess that Caleb had created.

While shuffling through the mess, she picked up her husbands assigned work phone to stick on the charger and a message popped up.

"I miss you, love" it said. 'I miss you, love I miss you, love. love. love. love.' The words reverberated in Hannahs head and through her heart as her guts dropped to her shoes. She could feel her heartbeat in her ears as all the blood rushed to her head. The phone dropped from her hands as her hands began started shaking.

Hannah eyed the stairs until she heard the grunting of her husband pumping weights upstairs in his weight room. Picking up the phone, she ran to the bathroom while Caleb watched his cartoons crunching on a jar of Hannah's homemade pickles. She had always trusted her husband. He had ten years of her trust but this was too suspicious. Their relationship wouldn't recover if she was always suspecting him because she didn't understand why this was sent. She had to know if she was being insane. 'It was probably a wrong number or maybe it wasn't his work phone. The number wasn't even saved under a name in the first place.' she rationalized. Even so, her blood was racing and her hands were still shaking as she sat on the toilet and unlocked the phone. And the tears began to pour as she read through years full of her own humiliation.

[How long until that woman has my new little precious?]

[Seven more months. I don't know if I can wait that long. Can I see you tonight?]

[img dick pic]

[Yum. Same time same place. See you soon love xoxo]

[img gross fully nude woman]

[I miss you, love]

Hannah fell from the toilet and sat on the bathroom floor shaking. There were so many more messages. All of his friends were in on his affair. They were friends with them as a couple! On Fridays when he said he was working for extra grain, he was at the bar with her and his friends. All of the missing grains were being spent on her.

After sitting there for about an hour she jumped as she heard a bang on the door. "Hey hun are you okay? I'm gonna head out to do those trades real quick do you need anything while I'm out?" he lied smoothly.

"NO. I'm FINE" She managed to respond semi normally.

"Ok bye!" he said as he merrily made his way out the door waving at his son who was staring fixedly at the television.

As she began to settle back down from the fright of a confrontation, Hannah shakily reached for her phone and pulled it from her back pocket and began to look up the woman. Thats when she saw where all her fruits and vegetables were.' At least the woman could cook' she thought as she scrolled through images of cooked vegetables plundered from her garden. Closing off the self abuse she grunted as her abdomen spasmed, and dialed her mother. The phone rang once, twice three times before her mother's welcoming voice greeted her from the other end of the dark tunnel Hannah was in.

"Mom..." Hannah said shakily as she tried to gasp her next sentence. Her lower body began cramping again.. "Mom... I ... I Need... help. Can you c-come over." she gasped as she got up from the bathroom floor.

"Yeah sure. Right now?".......Hannah what's going on? You sound like you're crying?...... Are you okay?..... Hannah?"

Her phone dropped from her shaking hands as she felt her world start turning dark.

Hannah was hyperventilating and she could feel her heart beating louder than her mother's voice. She was trapped. She had spent the past ten years cooking and cleaning and raising their child. All of the friends she had ever had were screened by him as bad influences and she had just let that happen. 'My life is a lie. How does one survive as a divorced woman? He was just using me as a birth giver. He used me and everyone laughed about it. Oh my parents are going to be so heartbroken. This was the culmination of ten years of my love's devotion. Oh what a fool I am.' she thought.

"Why did you do this to me?" Hannah whimpered aloud as she slipped into the darkness and her head smacked on the bathroom floor.

Meanwhile Hannah's mother was rushing to her keys screaming her head off at her husband as they were scrambling to their daughter.

"Hannah. Hannah what's going on are you okay? Hannah. HANNAH YOURE SCARING ME HANNAH! Oh my god ROGER! ROGER CALL THE POLICE!" screamed Hannah's mother Beth as she bolted to the front door as she wrestled on two mismatch sneakers.

"Calm Down! What's going on Beth?"

"It's Hannah! something's wrong with Hannah!" she said as she heard hannah on the other line say 'why did you do this to me'. Beth had no idea what was going on with her daughter but she was distressed. Mike had always been a charismatic man. Everyone loved him but sometimes he did have a temper. She handed the phone over to her husband after she heard the smack sound on the tile floor and concentrated on getting to her daughter as quickly as possilble while explaining why they were rushing over there. Her father was concerned as well but both her parents hoped that it was just an argument.

"Should I call Mike to see what's going on?" asked Hannah's father.

"No. What if she's just having an emotional night from the hormones and feels overwhelmed. We both know Mike isn't that active in raising his son. Let's not jump to any conclusions. We are almost there" said her mother. Mike and Hannah had a tumultuous relationship but he could keep her fed and Hannah liked him so it was a given that they would marry. If they were to divorce she wasn't sure how Hannah would survive. Everything in the house including the house belonged to Mike. She had such unwavering trust in the man. Her mother wasn't so sure. She could speculate all day but she wouldn't know until she got there.

Arriving at the house, Beth and Roger found Caleb passed out on the couch with a pickle hanging out of his mouth. Beth began to clean up her grandson as Roget began to look for his daughter.

"HANNAH!" yelled Roger checking each room on the first floor.

"Shhh!" yelled Beth from the couch as she peered down the hallway to see if he found her. Roger shot her an exasperated look. Beth returned his look with a helpless one as she pulled a blanket around Caleb.

Roger pushed open the bathroom door and yelled, "BETH GO PUT CALEB IN THE CAR!" as he pulled out his phone to dial 911.

"Why? What's wrong?" asked Hannah's mother as she saw the bathroom through Roger's arm. Beth's scream pierced the souls of the families on Culver Street that night.

Hannah slowly opened her crusted eyes and edged herself up into a seating position. She jumped as she noticed the ground below her wasn't tile, but grass. She dizzily held her head as she got her bearings. She looked around to see herself sprawled in a meadow in the middle of a forest. It was frightening. Was she kidnapped? Where was her son? She felt her womb and the baby moved a bit. The pains were gone. She felt her head and winced a bit. There was a lot of crusted blood but just a small cut on her forehead. The breeze around her shook the leaves making a pleasant rustling sound.

Leaves and grass were things of the past because most of the world was dry. Her current surroundings did not make any sense. She felt pain, her body was the same so she wasn't dead. Hannah couldn't figure out where she was or what was going on. All she knew is that it was getting late and clouds were rolling in. Sitting at the base of a tree, Hannah tried to make a fire by rubbing sticks together and failed miserably. After giving up on that she laid a bed of tree leaves to sleep on and propped up some fallen tree branches to make a little A frame and passed out.

Back at home the Police had surrounded Hannah's house and forensics were taking samples from the bathroom. Little Caleb was sleeping soundly in the backseat of his grandparents SUV in his carseat as his grandma was blowing up his father's phone to no avail. "Beth you can stop calling." said Roger grimly.

"No. I need answers. Why?! How could he? WHERE IS MY BABY GIRL?" Beth shouted angrily at the house as the neighbors watched. One neighbor finally spoke out, "He's at The Aces Bar with his girlfriend." An officer approached the neighbor and got details, immediately heading to the bar to take the suspect in for questioning. The police eventually finished conducting their interviews, and sealed off the crime scene. The grandparents took Caleb to their home away from this nightmare.

Waking from her night's rest, Hannah stretched in comfort pulling the soft blanket over her. Hannah looked around trying to orient herself and was started in confusion because her surroundings had changed yet again. The pile of leaves under her had become a pile of bedding and the branches she placed over her head had become a tarp. Her heart beat frantically. "HELLO?" she yelled wondering who had moved her and replaced her shelter while she slept. What was their motive? Why did they bring her here? Verifying that she was in the same meadow she felt her stomach begin to rumble. "HELLLLOOOO" she tried again with no response. "I'M GONNA TAKE THIS STUFF IF YOU DONT WANT IT" she yelled to the air. Shrugging she began to slowly roll up the tarp and bedding tying them together with some vines so she could carry them. She needed to find out where she was and find food and water. She was surrounded by green. Maybe she could find a plant to eat. She could always spot the edible plants and weeds. It was like instinct.

"THANK YOU!" she yelled to the air as she began her search for water and civilization. After walking for a few miles she found a stream but no signs of civilized life anywhere. She spent a while washing the dried blood off of her body and felt much more comfortable. Brightly colored fish with google eyes circled her feet tickling them. Where was she? Frustrated Hannah began a slow climb up a tall tree. As the branches became brittle with her light steps she looked around her and sure she was no longer on Earth. Surrounding her was miles and miles of green lush vegetation. Something they hadn't accomplished on Earth unless in a greenhouse in over ten years. Accepting the reality of the situation Hannah plotted a course as she climbed down from the tree. The plan was to search for civilization while collecting food. And if she had to stay near a food source so be it. Being in an environment with possible food and clean air brought tears to her eyes. If only Caleb could see this.

Pain gripped her heart as she thought of the child she was separated from. It was a near constant ache in her stomach as she trudged through the brush. The last thing she heard before she slipped into the black was her father's voice yelling her name. She was sure she heard him so her child at least had her parents to care for him. She married Mike because he showered her in love and sweetness, but once he had her trapped she became an afterthought. As she settled into her life as his housewife her connections to her friends were cut one by one in order to avoid fights over his anger and jealousy. Her world revolved around her son and her parents. Their child was just and amusement to him, or a shiny toy he could put on display around his friends. Since they had married and had their child she stayed as the red flags started dropping. She chose to believe his lies. For all she knew she could be bleeding out on the bathroom floor. This place felt so glamourous, but the hunger pains reminded her that this couldn't be heaven. Why would there be pain in the afterlife? As she looked up at the reflection of the twin moons in the sky, she had to admit that this was either another planet, or another plane of existence and she had to survive. The life inside her stirred as she steadied her emotions and followed the river downstream in search any signs of civilization.