The Escape Plan

Cira Running through the Speaking Woods. Digital image. Pinterest. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Jan. 2016. <https://www.pinterest.com/pin/393079873701121290/>.

Sweat was dripping from my forehead, my breath coming out in pants. I tripped over a branch, a sharp stone scratched my hand as I struggled to regain my balance. I fell to the ground, exhausted from all the running. I knew, in the back of my head, I couldn’t rest long. I had to get up and continue to run as far away from them as I could. I heard faint footsteps in the background. I knew they were getting closer. My exhausted body refused to budge. I had bitten my already chapped lips, trying to anticipate my next move.

I couldn’t give up. This was my only chance to escape, the chance I had been waiting for since the day I was born. I got up using the tree trunk for support. I could see them approaching and coming closer and closer to where I was hiding. It wouldn’t be long before they would find me. My heart was beating so hard I felt like it would burst out of my ribcage. My hands were sweating and my brain was thinking of all the things they could do once they found me.

Feeling a burst of energy coursing through my veins, I ran. I ran the fastest I had ever run in my entire life. I saw a house looming in the distance and the next part of my escape plan was crystal clear. I would hide in the house until I  knew for sure they were no longer chasing me. Having an exceptional hiding spot lifted a huge burden off my shoulders. Only then I could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

I saw that the door of the house was wide open. It looked as if the whole family was about to go somewhere; that would be the perfect opportunity for me to break in and hide in their house. I heard chatter, giggles and sounds of laughter from the interior. Inside there were two little girls playing. Their parents sitting on the table talking to each other and smiling at their little gems.

I ran across the road towards this beautiful house; it sounded like they were a happy family: a family in which the members cared about each other, a family where they all loved each other. A family that I never ever had. I heard a car honk and I turned to look at the incoming vehicle. It looked very familiar and in that moment my whole world froze. The face staring back at me was the haunting face of my father. The father who I was running away from. The father who I didn’t want to see ever again. The father who made my life a living hell. My body was frozen, I just wanted to break down, to cry, to let someone know how much mental and physical suffering he had caused me. I wished someone could take away my anguish away.

Before I could realize what was happening a huge amount of impact hit my body and I went flying into the car’s safety glass. I heard the glass of the screen shatter and I felt tremendous pain in my entire body. I lay there trying to yell, to scream, to let my pain out one time before it would all be over, but my vocal chords refused to cooperate. I always knew that my father was capable of hurting me, but I had never thought, that my own blood, my own father would try to kill me. I tried to look around for my father so I could point at him and tell them it was him who tried to murder me. It looked as if he had vanished leaving his daughter to die, just like he had always wanted. My eyes began closing and I heard people all around me begging me to keep my eyes open, holding my hand, calling 911.

The pain was too much to bear. I blacked out. That was the first and last time anyone cared whether I lived or died.