Mia, a single mom, finally felt a flicker of hope with her new boyfriend, Jake. Their weekend getaway to his childhood beach house seemed idyllic. But when her son Luke stumbles upon a hidden box filled with bones, their picture-perfect escape takes a horrifying turn.
Hi, I’m Mia, and I work as a fourth-grade teacher. It’s a job I love, not just because I get to mold young minds, but also because it gives me the flexibility to spend time with my son, Luke.
Being a single mother isn’t easy, but for five years now, I’ve managed to raise Luke mostly on my own. His dad, well, let’s just say “present” isn’t a word I’d use. Weekends with Dad were more like a distant memory for him than a regular occurrence.
Things finally started to feel a little lighter four months ago. That’s when I met Jake. He was a fellow teacher, kind-hearted and with a laugh that crinkled the corners of his eyes.
And best of all, Jake loved kids.
However, I wasn’t sure about how Luke would react upon knowing I had another man in my life.
Luke had always been so attached to me, and I believed the thought of sharing me with someone else would affect him.
So, despite the butterflies fluttering in my stomach, I knew it was time to introduce Luke to Jake.
The thought gnawed at me for days, but finally, I decided to take the plunge.
“Hey, Luke-a-doodle,” I chirped one sunny afternoon, finding him engrossed in a particularly intricate Lego creation. “What would you say to meeting someone special for lunch this weekend?”
Luke looked up with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Special, huh? Like superhero special or birthday cake special?”
“More like friend special,” I explained nervously. “His name is Jake, and he’s a teacher too, just like me.”
Luke’s brow furrowed. “Another teacher? Does he have a beard like Mr. Henderson?”
Mr. Henderson, our ever-patient custodian, was practically a legend amongst the students, thanks to his impressive salt-and-pepper beard.
I chuckled. “No beard, but he does have a really cool laugh.”
The following Saturday arrived, and with a knot of anticipation in my stomach, I introduced Luke to Jake at a local pizzeria.
Initially, Luke hesitated and clung to my leg. But Jake quickly put my little boy at ease.
“Hey there, Luke!” Jake boomed, crouching down to his level and extending a hand. “I’m Jake. Your mom tells me you’re a Lego master?”
Luke peeked at me, then back at Jake, a flicker of curiosity sparking in his eyes. He hesitantly took Jake’s hand, his grip surprisingly firm.
“Yeah, I can build spaceships and T-Rexes!”
“Awesome!” Jake exclaimed. “Maybe you can teach me a thing or two sometime? I’m pretty terrible at anything more complicated than a simple tower.”
That did the trick. Luke’s chest puffed out with pride.
The rest of the afternoon unfolded with a steady stream of dinosaur facts, Lego building tips, and Jake’s (admittedly terrible) attempts at replicating Luke’s creations.
By the time we left the pizzeria, Luke was chattering non-stop about Jake’s “funny laugh.”
That initial lunch was just the beginning. Over the next few weeks, we spent several weekends enjoying outings. Picnics in the park, trips to the zoo, and even a disastrous (but hilarious) attempt at bowling.
It was then, after several shared weekends and a growing sense of “rightness” between us, that Jake and I decided to take things further.
Recently, Jake invited us to visit his parents’ house by the ocean. He thought it would be a nice getaway for all of us.
Honestly, the idea of a relaxing weekend by the sea sounded perfect to me. Luke was also excited.
The moment we arrived, Jake’s parents, Martha and William, enveloped us in a warm hug. Their house had a charm that whispered of childhood summers.
“Come on, let me show you guys my old stomping ground!” Jake announced, leading us up a creaky wooden staircase.
At the top of the stairs, he ushered us into a room.
“This is it,” he declared proudly, pushing open the door. “My haven, unchanged since the great escape. I mean, since I moved out for college.”
The room was a snapshot of Jake’s teenage years. Faded posters of rock bands adorned the walls, their edges curling slightly with age.
“Wow,” I breathed, a nostalgic pang tugging at my heart.
Meanwhile, Luke darted across the room, his eyes wide with curiosity.
He knelt beside a dusty box overflowing with plastic figures and miniature race cars.
“Cool toys, Jake!” he exclaimed.
Jake chuckled, scooping up a handful of the toys. “These bad boys are veterans of countless battles,” he said, kneeling to Luke’s level. “Want to see if they can still hold their own?”
Luke’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Can I play with them here?”
“Sure thing, buddy,” Jake winked.
As Luke began playing with the toys, Jake held my hand and pulled me closer.
“Let’s go downstairs,” he whispered into my ear before gently planting a kiss on my cheek.
Leaving Luke behind, we headed downstairs. I sat on the couch in the living room, adoring the beautiful house, while Jake chatted with his folks in the kitchen.
Suddenly, Luke came running downstairs. He looked absolutely terrified. He grabbed my hand and pulled me furiously towards the door.
“What’s wrong, Luke?” I asked, my heart pounding.
“Mom, we need to leave now because Jake…” Luke’s voice quivered, and his eyes darted around.
“Calm down, sweetie. What’s wrong?” I knelt beside him, trying to soothe him.
“I found a strange box with bones in his room. We need to go!” he blurted out.
“What do you mean, bones?”
“In a box, under his bed. Real bones, Mom!”
I looked at him, my mind racing with possibilities. Did I trust Jake too quickly? Jake had always seemed so kind and caring.
Could he really be hiding something so sinister?
“Wait here,” I told Luke firmly, though my voice wavered with fear. I quickly made my way back to Jake’s room.
As I entered, my eyes were immediately drawn to the box under the bed. With trembling hands, I reached down and pulled it out. Lifting the lid, I felt a jolt of shock.
There they were: bones. My mind reeled, and without wasting another second, I grabbed Luke’s hand and we ran out of the house.
My heart raced as I fumbled with the car keys.
In no time, we sped down the driveway, leaving Jake’s parents’ house behind.
Soon, my phone buzzed incessantly with calls from Jake, but I couldn’t bring myself to answer. I was too scared and confused.
After driving aimlessly for a few minutes, I pulled over to the side of the road. I needed to think clearly.
Soon, the reality of what just happened began to sink in, and I decided to call the police. I dialed 911 with shaky fingers and explained the situation to the dispatcher.
Within an hour, I received a call back from the police. My heart pounded as I answered.
“Mia, the bones are fake,” the officer said, his voice calm and reassuring. “They’re replicas used for teaching purposes. There’s nothing to worry about.”
I felt relieved, but the feeling was soon replaced by guilt. How could I have jumped to such drastic conclusions? I felt embarrassed and ashamed.
I realized I had let my fears get the best of me. I had overreacted in the worst possible way.
At that point, I knew I had to call Jake. With a deep breath, I dialed his number. He picked up on the first ring.
“Jake, I’m so sorry,” I began. “I was scared, not just for myself, but for Luke. I know I jumped to conclusions, and I’ll understand if you can’t forgive me.”
“Mia, I understand your feelings,” Jake replied. “You were protecting your son, and that’s natural. I forgive you. Come back here. Let this be our funny story, not a reason to break up.”
I smiled through my tears and heaved a sigh of relief. Jake’s understanding meant everything to me. I turned to Luke, who was watching me with wide eyes.
“It’s okay, sweetheart,” I said, pulling him into a hug. “Everything’s going to be okay. The bones weren’t real. They’re just for teaching. Jake isn’t a bad guy.”
We drove back to Jake’s parents’ house. They looked quite worried, but I quickly explained everything and apologized for leaving abruptly.
We spent the rest of the day relaxing by the ocean, the tension gradually melting away. That incident marked the beginning of a stronger bond between us, and now, we often recall it with a smile.
Jake even laughs at how I rushed out of the house with Luke that day.
What would you have done?
Mary Lou Retton Has Pneumonia and ‘Is Fighting for Her Life,’ Daughter Says
The gymnastics champion sprang to stardom at the 1984 Olympics, where she became the first American woman to win a gold medal in the all-around competition. Her family is raising money online, saying she lacks health insurance.
May Lou Retton at the 1984 Olympics, where she won five medals.
Mary Lou Retton, who became one of the most popular athletes in the country after winning the all-around women’s gymnastics competition at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, has pneumonia and is “fighting for her life” in the intensive care unit, her daughter said in a statement this week.
Retton’s daughter McKenna Lane Kelley said on Instagram that her mother “is not able to breathe on her own” and that she had been in the intensive care unit for more than a week.
Kelley asked for donations to help pay for her mother’s hospital bills, saying her mother lacked health insurance. By Wednesday, she had raised more than $260,000 online from more than 4,600 donors.
She did not share more specific information about her mother’s condition, though she said that her pneumonia was “a very rare form.” It was not clear what hospital Retton was in.
Kelley, who was a gymnast at Louisiana State University, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, another daughter, Shayla Kelley Schrepfer, released a video on Instagram thanking people for “all the love and support that you’ve given to my mom.”
“She’s still fighting,” Schrepfer said. “It’s going to be a day-by-day process, and we hope that you guys will respect her boundaries, as we want to keep the details between her and our family right now. She has been treated with the best of the best professionals here, and it has been such a blessing to have their hands on her.”
At the 1984 Olympics, Retton became the first American woman to win the all-around gold medal or any individual Olympic medal in gymnastics. Going into the final rotation of the competition, she was five-hundredths of a point behind Romania’s Ecaterina Szabo, and the only way she could beat Szabo was to score a perfect 10 on vault.
Retton scored a perfect 10.
She won five medals in Los Angeles, including two silvers, for team and vault, and two bronzes, for uneven bars and floor exercise.
Though there was an asterisk by Retton’s victory in the history books — the Soviet Union, which was the most dominant force in women’s gymnastics at the time, boycotted the 1984 Games — it nonetheless made her a sports hero in the United States. In addition to earning her the traditional trappings of Olympic gold, like appearing on a Wheaties box, she was widely viewed as an inspiration to a new generation of American girls entering gymnastics.
Even as the American gymnastics program grew and the country won more medals, including the team gold in 1996, Retton’s prominence remained: For 20 years, Retton, now 55, was the only American woman to win the all-around title, until Carly Patterson became the second in 2004.
Retton was born in Fairmont, W.Va., and got her start early, like many top gymnasts. By the time Retton was 7 years old, she was training in gymnastics full-time.
Retton’s talent had been apparent from the start, but a big break came at an Olympics elimination tournament in Reno, Nev., in 1982, where she impressed Bela Karolyi, who would go on to coach her in the 1984 Olympics.
“I immediately recognized the tremendous physical potential of this little kid,” Karolyi said in a March 1984 interview.
Retton appeared in a number of films and TV shows in the late 1980s and 1990s, including the comedy film “Scrooged.”
After her athletic career, Retton became a motivational speaker to promote the benefits of proper nutrition and regular exercise.
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