{"id":1889,"date":"2013-02-21T03:22:07","date_gmt":"2013-02-21T03:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/?p=1889"},"modified":"2013-03-15T04:02:14","modified_gmt":"2013-03-15T04:02:14","slug":"the-fridge-by-marijke-hillmann","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/the-fridge-by-marijke-hillmann\/","title":{"rendered":"The Fridge by Marijke Hillmann"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"sky\"<\/a><\/h1>\n

The Fridge<\/h1>\n

by Marijke Hillmann<\/p>\n

The camper ambles its way through the Tete Province, Mozambique on a sweltering, humid late afternoon in 1975.? Our 13 months? old son is dozing off in his seat ? I sit next to him and hold the bottle he has just finished drinking.<\/p>\n

Screeching brakes:? the sliding door is opened and I stare at the barrel of an AK47. Five armed child soldiers aged between 10 and 14 clamber onto the bus; number five keeps his gun pointed at the baby. Frozen in time ? I just stare.? Then my hands cover the baby ? he stirs and sleeps on.<\/p>\n

Disjointed images? I watch rivulets of sweat moving slowly towards a protruding belly button under a torn camouflage shirt, two buttons are missing. ?Does this boy have a mother?? I wonder.?<\/p>\n

Some excitement amongst the other four ? they point their rifles at my husband and indicate that he must open the little fridge; in awe they touch the cold cans and milk bottles stored there.? Chattering amongst themselves, they open the glove compartment and pick up the little portable fan on the dashboard.<\/p>\n

After a few minutes my husband calls them to order: ?listen you guys ? he points at his watch ? the border closes at 6 pm ? off you go now ? no more nonsense?.? With a movement of his head he directs them outside.? I catch my breath???????..<\/p>\n

The five recruits disembark and glance backwards once more at the little white miracle. Their minute of excitement for the day, a defining moment in my life.<\/p>\n

We drive on and reach the border in time.<\/p>\n

###
\nSee more of Marijke’s work on her featured page<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The camper ambles its way through the Tete Province, Mozambique on a sweltering, humid late afternoon in 1975. Our 13 months? old son is dozing off in his seat ? I sit next to him and hold the bottle he has just finished drinking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[86],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t