I took a deep breath as
I started out the window. Carefully placing my foot on the shingles, I stepped
out onto the slope. I held still, fully out of the window. Any slight movement
could send me tumbling down the ledge to my doom. Slowly edging my feet
forward, I made my way to the end of the roof.
Now comes the tricky
part, I thought.
I stood up, leaning backwards to keep my balance. Teetering on the edge, I
jumped as far as I could.
I spent so long in the
air that I thought I’d missed. I opened my mouth to scream, but my hands
clasped firmly around a thick branch. Pausing momentarily to regain my breath,
I sidled along the branch until I reached the center of the tree.
“Uuuuuggghhh,” the
butler turned over in his bed. I held my breath, not daring to move. After what
seemed like hours, I finally heard his snoring resume. I let out a long sigh of
relief, and cautiously made my way down the tree. When I had reached the
bottom, I darted quickly across the lawn until I was in shadow once again. After
repeating this process, I found myself in front of the doghouse.
“Growlie,” I whispered.
“Grooowl,” he howled in reply. I gently pulled at the door, but it didn’t open.
I pulled harder. It still wouldn’t budge. “ Darn, it’s locked!” I concluded.
“Who’s there?” I heard
the voice of a security guard. “Show yourself!” Then came the unmistakable
sound of a gun being cocked. “This way! Someone’s trying to break into the
doghouse!” More guns being cocked.
I bolted. I could hear
the heavy footsteps beating down on the ground, and they sounded quite close.
My heart pounded in my chest, and I heard the footsteps get closer. A gun went
off, and I actually felt the wind off of the bullet. I saw the fence to the
estate just ahead, but I had no idea how to get past it.
“We can corner him at
the fence!” one guard shouted. His voice sounded so nearby I was surprised they
hadn’t caught me yet. The fence was only a few yards away now. 3...2...1...
“Yaaaah!” I leapt over it with a cry, surprised at my own strength. I had read
about adrenaline at school, but this was the first time I had experienced it
firsthand.
“DAMN he’s a high
jumper!” exclaimed a guard. I kept running.
“Should we go after him,
chief?”
“Nah, he’s gone now. If
he comes back, we’ll be ready.”
I ran down our
ridiculously long driveway, exhilarated at my escape. I did it! I
thought. I ACTUALLY DID IT! NO MORE JESSIBELLE!
As soon as that thought
made its way into my mind, it hit me. I would be leaving Growlie behind. I
would be leaving….Jessibelle behind.
I hated to do it. I
really did. But I had no choice. Jessibelle and I had once been the greatest of
friends, always getting along in every way. Then our parents said, “It is time
to stop this 'frivolous' behavior, and become young ladies and gentlemen.”
Being a young gentleman was dumb. You had to wear a suit and be still all the
time and you had to say please and thank you; you had to hold your fork right
and eat spaghetti right and even sit right; you had to talk right and walk
right and you could never play anything fun anymore! I talked to Jessibelle
about this and she said, “Being a young lady is fun. You get to wear a pretty
dress and you learn the proper way to do everything.” She tried to show me the
“proper” way everything was done, even though I insisted that I didn’t want to.
She just wouldn’t give up. Yesterday, she came home with an Oddish and paralyzed
me just so she could keep me still. That was the last straw...
Even though I didn’t want to, I
kept running. Only now with tears streaming down my face.