A New Escape

I stepped through my back door onto the patio. I hoped that once I shut the door I wouldn’t be able to hear the bickering between my mother and father anymore. Sadly I was mistaken. I mean I didn’t know what I was expecting, after all it hadn’t worked any other time. I worked my way to the edge of the patio, and started thinking about what needed to be done today. Not that I cared to think about my chores, I just needed to put my mind towards something else. “Laundry, homework, hanging out with my friend Kass.”

“Well maybe you should try and put the family first sometimes!” My thoughts got drowned out by what I believe to be the fourth time this week my parents had a little chat. Though I’m really not quite sure if anything new has been discussed the past two times. I sat down on the edge of my patio and stared down at my resting feet. It was weird to think of this as my normal, and my parents wonder why I'm out of the house so much. It felt like every day was just the same cycle of school, doing my chores, leaving the house. On the bright side I've become somewhat of a professional at hanging out my clothing to dry.

“You can’t keep blaming me for everything! And leave Claire out of this!” My mothers voice was straining. Soon enough she would cry and that would mean it would be time for me to go back inside and start my chores. I stood up mentally preparing myself. I could feel a wave of relief begin to wash over me as the yelling slowly faded into obscurity. I cracked the door open slowly so as to not alert anyone that I was coming back in. After all, the last thing I wanted was to see was my father stomping around or my mother wanting to sob on my shoulder. I slipped through the small opening and slowly closed the door, trying to keep the squeaking to a minimum. Deep breaths, I felt like I was infiltrating the white house, and if I was caught there would be no escape. I cautiously tiptoed my way down the hall towards the basement with all my dirty laundry. If you could call it a basement, it was more like a hole in the ground that stunk of dirty clothing and bleach. And I wouldn't be surprised if I found mold in one of these corners. I grabbed some clothing and marched over to the sink. I was pretty confident no one would hear me down here so I didn't feel a need to walk around like the floor was glass. After an intense session of scrubbing, I threw it all into a basket and made my way up the stairs. I couldn’t help but think to myself “Files secured. Moving out with the package now sir.” and then my handsome assistant pages in with.

“Excellent work Claire, I’ll tell The prime minister to begin prepping your medal for your service now.” It made me giggle, I wonder how people become secret agents? Well it didn't matter now. I did my usual procedure on the door and began to hang all the clothing at light speed. By the time I was finished the sun was near setting. I ran my finger along the clothing line ensuring all of it was secure before making my way to the door. One more time, all I needed was my school bag up the stairs and to get out the front door, and then I was home free. Heh, ironic. Upon creaking the door open I could hear my father stomping around upstairs, it wasn’t hard to tell who was walking where once you’ve become used to listening for it. I began my marathon to my room, being sure to peek around every corner with care as to not alert anyone. I inched my way up the stairs carefully ensuring to stop just before the top. Probably the most lethal point in my house, you had close to a full 360 degrees of vision to account for, I’m willing to bet anyone infiltrating somewhere wouldn’t dare step up these stairs, but I didn’t feel like climbing a tree so I’ll take what I can get. I cupped a hand around my ear and listened for anything that could give me an idea as to where my father could be. Nothing. That's almost worse than something. I decided my best bet was to bolt for it. I prepared every ounce of my body to fling myself up the stairs into the safety that was the locked bedroom door. I jolted up the stairs. There was no way they hadn’t heard me but it made no difference i was gonna make it. And just as swiftly the door approached it had stopped as I had fallen and smacked my knee off the floor. I wanted to cry but the thought of being stuck here was worse than the pain in my knee. I quickly crawled to my door and locked it behind me. Finally. Deep breath. I leaned against my door and hugged my knee. It stung but I've had worse. I pushed off my other knee and stood up to my room. It was plain and bore a distinct lack of taste. But secret agents didn’t need much to get by so neither did I. My desk was probably my most decorated out of my whole room. It had my laptop from which I did homework and played games, my custom mouse pad with my favorite action hero spider man. A bunch of stickers stuck to the desk and finally my plant pot with my favorite flower, a marigold. I reached for my backpack under my desk and took a minute to admire my beautiful flower. It didn’t get much sun even being near the window, but even with that fact it still managed to stand tall and beautiful with its strong golden shine. I pulled myself away from the flower so as to not accidentally doze off on my bed. I turned to face my door. I cupped an ear against the door and listened closely, still quiet. Dangerous. I could feel my heart begin to pound, I was in the final stretch after all. No time to relax in the final act. I eased the door open. I did a quick scan before stepping out the door but it was already too late. My father had already been waiting for me outside the door.

“Where are you going?” His words were quick and inconsiderate, I hesitated in shock but I think that just made him more irritated. “Well, speak up!”

“I… I was gonna go to Kass’s house…” Damn It, really couldn’t sound more guilty huh.

“Well you're gonna have to cancel. I thought I told you? You aren’t allowed to go out anymore. Besides, there's probably still chores for you to do.” His voice was mocking. He had no reason for it other than to make my life hell. He stuck his hand out motioning for my bag. I quickly placed the strap in his hand. Not daring to look up at him. He stepped towards his room before disappearing with a slam of the door. I slumped my way down the stairs and back onto the patio. All I could think in my head was how easy I got let off today. He could’ve had my head. Guess it’s one of his better days. Well here I am again staring at my feet trying to think about literally anything else. My eyes jolted up to the sound of a soft ruffling in the woods behind my house, There they stood taunting me. They weren’t the thickest once you got past the initial tree line. I took a moment to ponder. He was already mad at me. But what if I just left for a little bit? I pushed off the patio deck and made a sprint for the trees. I put my hands in front of me and braced for impact, The branches scraped my arms leaving a dozen tiny cuts. No matter. Made no difference now. I sprinted through the woods jumping over stumps and roots making my way deeper. I don’t know what made me do it but all I knew is it felt great, I didn’t feel confined and I was able to run and not walk… no run and not tip toe. My heart was racing. I could feel the cold breeze push my hair and back and make me feel free. I stopped for a moment, my heart pounding out of my chest and my body ready to collapse. I leaned up against a tree and panted for air, I scanned my surroundings realizing that I had no clue where I was. Whatever. I sat down and let myself catch my breath. When my hands hit the ground I felt a strange sensation but not foreign, I looked down to see I had sat down in a patch of marigolds, huh crazy. I’ve never seen so many. I felt a weird calmness. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt like this. I could feel my eyes grow droopy, I placed my hand on my chest. I needed somewhere like this, wherever I am.

I opened my eyes to pale darkness, damn I fell asleep. Well too late to care about it now.