5O Shades Freed

First published by The Writer’s Coffee Shop, 2012
Copyright © E L James, 2012
The right of E L James to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her
under the C opyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part
may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recordedor transmitted, in
any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either a product of
the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people living or
dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
The Writer’s Coffee Shop
(Australia) PO Box 2013Hornsby Westfield NSW 1635
(USA) PO Box 2116 Waxahachie TX 75168
Paperback ISBN- 978-1-61213-060-6
E-book ISBN- 978-1-61213-061-3

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the US Congress Library.
Cover image by: © Photo-Dave
Cover design by: Jennifer McGuire
Dr. Seuss. The Lorax. New York: Random House, 1971.
www.thewriterscoffeeshop.com/ejames

E L James is a TV executive,wife and mother of two, based in West London.
Since early childhood, she dreamt of writing stories that readers would fall in love with, but put
those dreams on hold to focus on her family and her career. She finally plucked up the courage
to put pen to paper with her first novel, Fifty Shades of Grey. E L James is currently working on
a new romantic thriller with a super-natural twist.Thanks to: Niall, my rock;
To Kathleen for just being a great sounding board, friend, confidante and a technical wiz;
To Bee for endless moral support;
To Taylor (also a technical wiz), Susi, Pam and Nora for showing a girl a good time.
And for their advice and tact I’d really like to thank: Dr. Raina Sluder for help with all matters
medical; Anne Forlines for the financial advice;
Elizabeth deVos for her kind counsel regarding the American adoption system.
Thanks to Maddie Blandino for her exquisite, inspirational art.
And to Pam and Gillian for Saturday morning coffee and hauling me back to real life.
Also thanks to my editing team Andrea, Shay and the ever lovely and only occasionally frothing
Janine, who tolerates my frothing with patience, fortitude and a great sense ofhumour.
And lastly to Amanda and all at The Writer’s Coffee Shop Publishing House—Thank you.

Mommy! Mommy! Mommy is asleep on the floor. She has been asleep for a long time. I brush
her hair because she likes that. She doesn’t wake up. I shake her. Mommy! My tummy hurts. It
is hungry. He isn’t here. I am thirsty. In the kitchen I pull a chair to the sink, and I have a drink.
The water splashesover my blue sweater.
Mommy is still asleep. Mommy wake up! She lies still. She is cold.
I fetch my blankie, and I cover Mommy, and I lie down on the sticky green rug beside her.
Mommy is still asleep. I have two toy cars. They race by the floor where Mommy is sleeping. I
think Mommy is sick. I search for something to eat. In the freezer I find peas. They are cold. I eat

t hem slowly. Theymake my tummy hurt. I 8/551
sleep beside Mommy. The peas are gone. In the freezer is something. It smells funny. I lick it
and my tongue is stuck to it. I eat it slowly. It tastes nasty. I drink some water. I play with my
cars, and I sleep beside Mommy. Mommy is so cold, and she won’t wake up. The door crashes
open. I cover Mommy with my blankie . He’s here. Fuck. What the fuck happened here?Oh, the
crazy fucked up bitch. Shit. Fuck. Get out of my way, you little shit. He kicks me, and I hit my
head on the floor. My head hurts. He calls somebody and he goes. He locks the door. I lay down
beside Mommy. My head hurts.
The lady policeman is here. No. No. No. Don’t touch me. Don’t touch me. Don’t touch me. I stay
by Mommy. No. Stay away from me. The lady policeman has my blankie,...