Heart-Shaped Box:

Simone’s Notes:

A woman’s womb has been described as many things. Nirvana’s late Kurt Cobain described it as a heart-shaped box in their 1993 hit, “Heart-Shaped Box.” There have been many poems celebrating the woman’s womb. But why? Why are there so many poems celebrating this part of the woman’s body? Is that life begins in the womb? That is what it seems to be. The poems celebrate life and the woman’s womb.

Two days was long enough. Ginny was worried to death! “We just have to find her!!!” she cried out. Kate had been missing for too long. Jakob, Mikey, and Hunter looked at her like she was worrying too much. “The police are doing the best they can, Gin.” Hunter calmly told her. “But that’s not enough!” his best friend argued. “We need to go out and find her!” The boys all looked at her as she was insane now. “Are you saying that we should look for Kate by ourselves?” Mikey asked aloud in shock. “YES!!!” Ginny shouted out. The boys were really concerned. “But isn’t that a little much?” Jakob asked. “The police are already looking for Kate just as Hunter said. We would be over-stepping our boundaries.” “NO!!!” Gin yelled out. “I have to find Katie! I have to know that she’s safe!!! We find have to her!!!” She was close to screaming and crying. Hunter stepped forward and lightly held his gal pal close like a scared little child. “There, there,” he said softly. “We’ll help you. Don’t worry.” Jakob and Mikey looked at their Irish friend as if he was crazy. “But Hunter,” Mikey protested in rush. “How can you promise her that? We don’t even know what to begin looking for Kate!”

Right then, Ginny’s mobile buzzed loudly. All four seniors looked up. “Hm?” Gin asked quietly. Then, she picked up her phone and looked at it. “It’s a text message from Kate!” she exclaimed. Her boys gathered her as she opened it up. “What’s it say?” Jakob asked. The den mother read to herself quietly for a moment. “Been kidnapped! Taken 2 Dark Witch Woods! Scared 2 death! Don’t want to die! Please help!” she read aloud at last. All of them paused. “Dark Witch Woods?” Mikey asked at last. “That’s miles from the city!” Hunter became tough again. “Well then,” he said. “Let’s go!” The other two stared at him in shock. “But…” “Kate’s in danger!” the Irish boy spoke up. “We have to act now before she and the baby might die! Do you understand?” The other two nodded. “Right!” Hunter called. “Let’s go!” Gin began to smile like a little child again. “Right!” the other boys called. Then, the quartet headed out.

The woods were cold and lifeless compared to the city. The seniors walked through the woods closely. Despite it being summer, they were all felt as if they were in South Pole. “Why is it so cold here?” Mikey shivered. “Your guess is as good as mine!” Jakob replied. They all stayed close for warmth. This made them feel like they were in the Blare Witch Project. Hunter thought about joking about bringing a camera, but decided against it due to timing. Crows felt over head. Ginny looked around nervously. “I’m scared!” she mumbled. “There, there.” Hunter said. “I’m here for you.” He led the way boldly while Jakob and Mikey stayed behind Ginny. So far, there were only black and dead trees. “Gin,” Mikey spoke up. “Yeah,” she whispered. “Can you text Kate on where she is exactly?” the gay boy asked. “I’ll try it,” the den mama replied. Then, Ginny pulled out her mobile and typed, “Where r u exactly?” The group waited for a couple of minutes. Gin got a message back saying, “@ a small house n the center of the woods. Please find me!” They had serious looks on their faces. “Okay,” Hunter said. “Let’s move out!” The other three seniors nodded. Then, the search and rescue team headed out again to save Kate and the baby.

Above, Envy, An-Oni, and a witch were watching from above. “You stupid bitch!” Envy hissed. “You should’ve taken the girl’s phone away!” The homunculus sighed aloud. “No matter,” he said. “They can get her, but the little brats won’t leave with Kate alive!” The witch turned to Ai-Oni in excitement. “Can I torture them, mistress? Can I torture them? Huh? Huh?” she asked repeatedly. The she-devil smiled to herself. “You can do as you like with her little friends,” she replied. “But if you hurt my baby, I will kill you!” The witch grinned like the wild woman she was. “GREAT!!!” she yelled out. Then, the wild descended down in a flash of light. Ai-Oni turned Envy slightly annoyed. “Did you have to go and get her for the job?” she asked at last. The homunculus just shrugged. “What else could I do?” he asked. “Soles burned herself to death for some reason and I had to get another guard for the girl and that dumb creature was the best I could grab at the moment.” “Whatever,” Ai-Oni replied. Then, both went on to watch the chase that was soon taking place.

The seniors found the young mother-to-be in the cabin that she texted them at. Hunter lightly pushed open the door. It creaked open slowly. The Irish boy clicked on the torch and waved it around slowly. The light shone on Kate sitting on the bed. She was trembling in great fear. Tears were running down her soft cheeks. The others were worried for her. Ginny rushed forward and held her friend close to her. “Kate!!!” she exclaimed. “You all right now?” The other girl could barely speak, but she gave a slight nod. The den mother breathed easily. “Now, come on!” she said. “We have to get you out of here.” “Not now!” Kate cried quickly. The others looked at her. “What are you talking about?” Jakob asked. “Why not?” Kate swallowed hard. “They are usually watching at this time!” she explained. The rescue crew was confused. “Who are they?” Mikey asked. The young mother-to-be sat up straighter. “These different women are usually watching this cabin,” she went on. Kate paused for a moment before continuing on. “They watch me like a hawk,” she began again. “These women usually leave at nightfall. It’s best to wait until then.” They all went quiet for a moment. Hunter stepped forward. “All right, then!” he called. “We’ll wait until night!” Kate smiled in relief. “Thanks guys!” she cried. Hunter smiled at her in a charming way. “Don’t mention it!” he replied. The pregnant girl smiled again.

The hours seemed long and dragging. Mikey fidgeted a little bit. “Please stop doing that,” Hunter told him. “You’re making me nervous!” “Sorry!” the gay boy whispered. Then, he stopped. The hours kept on dragging. At long last, night fell. Hunter looked at his crew. “Ready to go?” he whispered. The others nodded. “Then, let’s go!” the Irish boy whispered. “Right!” the others whispered. Then, they all crept to the heavy wooden door. Hunter slowly peeked out. Then, he turned to the crew. “All clear!” the boy whispered. “Come on!” Then, the crew quickly headed out the door to freedom. But, it wouldn’t be easy!

The witch stood in the treetops watching. She snickered to herself coldly. “Run little brats, run!” she chanted to herself. “But you’ll never get out alive!” Then, the witch swirled her hands in the air wildly. On the ground, Jakob froze when he heard something. Ginny turned and noticed. “What’s wrong Jakob?” she asked silently. “Something is coming.” he replied in a soft voice. Everyone else froze. They all turned back slowly. So far, nothing was coming. But then, there it was! A pack of wild dogs was rushing towards them. They looked like lifeless beasts. These doggies were hungry for flesh. The seniors all screamed and began running like hell! The witch smiled as the chase took on its course. “Run monkeys, run!” she called out. Then, the witch waved her hand around in small circles slowly while chanting.

The seniors ran hard of they came to a pile of heavy brush. “We’re trapped!!!” Mikey yelled out. “What do we do?!?” Kate yelled. Then, the den mother noticed something odd. “Hold on a second!” Ginny called. “You hear that?” The others listened closely. There was dead silence. The boys looked up confused. “Strange,” Jakob said. “Did we lose those dogs?” “Dunno,” Hunter replied. “But we can stay here. We’ll be sitting ducks.” “But how do we do that?” Ginny challenged. The Irish boy thought about that for a moment. Then, it hit Kate hard! She began to remember Soles’ death as clear as day. The gypsy woman tried to kill her before she died. “So be it!” she yelled to Kate. “But may you carry this to your grave!!!” Soles then held up her fingers and began chanting. The terrible sight of her setting herself on fire and running off the cliff was too much. The young mother-to-be’s eyes began to tear up. She was trembling badly. Mikey noticed her right away. “What’s wrong Kate?” he asked. The girl didn’t answer at first. Then, she began screaming out in fear. “What’s wrong, Katie?!?” Jakob asked. Kate kept screaming out. “Soles, nooooo!!!” she cried out. The boys tried to calm her down, but it was no use. The young mother-to-be was too hysterical in fear. That wasn’t the worst part. Ginny froze when she heard dogs again. “Get her calmed down quickly!!!” she shouted. “We have to move now!!!” The others looked up. The dogs were back again. The others screamed and began crawling over the brush to escape. Hunter had to drag Kate over and take him with her.

The seniors were chasing under an upturned trunk. They all huddled close to each other. The dogs were above them waiting. The mood was tense. Hunter looked to see of they were safe. Fear was closing in on them fast. Kate drew out her silver cross and began praying on it hard. “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want,” she began with heavy tears in her eyes. “He makes me down to lay, in pastures green.” Ginny held onto her friend closely. Jakob and Mikey waited tightly. Hunter waited tightly. After what felt like hours, the Irish boy peeked out again. It all seemed clear. He turned back to the group. “It’s all clear!” he whispered strongly to them. “If we are going to move, we must move quickly, got me?” They all nodded. “Okay.” Hunter replied. The crew waited a little longer. Then, the Irish boy poked up his hand again. He turned to his friends and whispered, “Okay, go!” Then, they all sprinted to their escape and freedom.

The seniors all ran for their lives. Kate was beginning to lag behind. “I can’t run anymore!!!” she cried out. The young mother-to-be began to slow down. Hunter ran back, grabbed Kate by the hand, and ran with her. The seniors all made it out of Dark Witch woods at long last. The crew all made it to the mouth of the city. They all were panting hard. “That was just hell!” Hunter called out at last. “Suddenly, dad waking me up at five in the morning and making me run around the neighborhood doesn’t seem so bad anymore!” Mikey said as he was looking up at the night sky. “So now what?” Ginny asked. All were silent for a moment. Jakob looked around for a brief minute. Then, he saw a pay phone. The boy got up, walked over to it, and got in. Hunter looked up and noticed. “Jak?” he asked. “Who are you calling?” The mouse turned to the weasel. “I’m calling for some help!” Jakob replied. Hunter looked worried. “What?!?” he asked in shock. “You can’t do that! What will we tell them?” The artist looked at him crossly. “What else can we do at the moment?!?” Jakob snapped back. “We can’t call our parents and this is over our heads now! So what else can we do?” The others were silent. They had never seen their get so annoyed before in their lives. “Okay,” Hunter said at last. “Do as you feel!” “Right!” Jakob said. Then, the artist reached into his pocket, pulled out some change, put it in the pay phone, and dialed a familiar number. His friends kept watching. Who could he be calling?

At Central Headquarters, the phone rang. Riza answered the phone quickly. “Hello?” she asked. “Riza!” Jakob exclaimed in a rush on the other line. The lt. quickly noticed her lover’s voice. “Jakob?” she asked. “What’s wrong?” “Riza,” the boy repeated again. “Please come and get us! My friends and I are in grave danger! This is urgent!” “Okay,” his girlfriend replied. “Just tell me where you are and I’ll be there.” “We’re at the entry of the city!” Jakob replied. “Please hurry!” “I’ll be right there!” the lt. replied in seriousness. Then, she hung up the phone and hurried out the door in a mad rush.

Within minutes, Riza found the seniors right where Jakob said they would be and picked them up. She took them all the way to Central Headquarters. The military quickly cared for the children right away. Some of the soldiers questioned why to themselves, but said nothing. Addi and Maria were deeply attracted to Jakob and his lovely ocean blue eyes. They found him some attractive. The mouse himself sat on the floor looking at his feet. Riza stood over him lightly. “Jakob,” she said softly. Her boyfriend slowly looked up at her. Riza felt herself locked into his charming eyes. She was just about to fall into her flirty angel persona when she snapped out of it. “No!” the lt. thought in haste. “I need to stay focused! I’m at work here! I can’t give away my relationship to him!” “Tell me what happened to you guys. Are you okay?” she said in her best working tone. A silence passed of them for a brief moment. “I’m alright,” Jakob answered at last. “But I’m not the one who needs the help.” He motioned his head over to Kate who was sitting at the table crying. “She’s going to need all of the help she can get!” the boy concluded. Thus, Kate and her friends being under the military’s care.