Escaping Home: Chapter Two

When Samantha first joined me in the Prison, she panicked about time. She would wake up in the middle of the night and whisper things and cry softly, hugging her knees to her chest and rolling back and forth. She scared me, because I never understood what she was so anxious about. And when I tried to comfort her, it never worked, because I couldn’t understand what she was feeling.

Sometimes, I wish I could understand just so I could help her when she needs it. I wonder what it’d be like to be in the outside world, with all those things to see, and then come in the Prison. It’s hard to imagine; I’m used to the Prison, and it’s home to me. I don’t know if I’d like to see the Outside.

I glance at her. I’ve woken up for some reason, but she’s still fast asleep. I study her face; it’s not very bright because the only light available is from the cooling embers of the fire. Her mouth is slightly open and her hand is curled up by her cheek. Somehow, with the light on her face that way, she looks like Adalia.

Adalia was Taken when I was eight. The giant machine was rumbling down the road, approaching the camp we had set up. It stopped there, but I hadn’t known. I woke up when I felt Adalia shoving me back, away from sight of the Bosses on the machine. I didn’t know what was happening until the men reached inside our makeshift tent and grabbed her arms. Adalia tried to kick the Bosses off, but they were so much bigger and stronger than she was. Just as they were pulling her out, she turned to me. “Emerik, run!” she yelled. I whispered her name, and the men looked at me. In that freezing moment, I knew that they would get me too. So I ran. I told myself that I couldn’t help Adalia, and I just did what she told me.

When I stopped, all of me felt numb. I didn’t know how to handle it; I had never lost anyone. Not Adalia, who had been taking care of me ever since I could remember. I never expected it.

She used to tell me stories, just like Samantha does now. One that still sticks with me, even now, is the one about the man who gathered a bunch of people together who lived in the Prison. They made camps as a group, and they had people who could hunt, cook food, clean, or do other useful things. The one man led the group, and they stayed together… I have to think of the word. Adalia used some word to describe what they were like… family, I think it was.

But then one day, the leader was Taken, and the group fell apart.

I still remember what Adalia said the first time she told me. “Those people had hope, but then those evil men ripped it away from them.” I remember how dark her face was in the firelight, and the sadness in her eyes that I didn’t understand. She turned to me. “Emerik, listen to me.” Adalia held my small hand in hers. “Hope is foolish. Never hope for something, because it won’t do you any good. You can wish for something all you want, but it’ll never come true. There is no god or saint, or whatever those crazy Natives believe in, that can grant your wishes. It’s only you.”

My eyes widened at her sudden intensity. I didn’t understand, so I just nodded. I still don’t think I understand what she was ever talking about.

I study Samantha again, lying down by her. I wonder if she believes in hope, or gods or saints. She used to always tell me that someday, we’d escape. Was that hope? I wouldn’t respond when she’d say those things, because I had never wanted to get out of the Prison. I didn’t need to. Eventually, Samantha stopped asking me if I wanted to escape with her because she knew I didn’t want to. I don’t know if I would go with her if she actually did it. The thought of her leaving had always scared me.

Does she still want to escape, or is she fine with being in the Prison? I’m not sure.

I roll over, sighing. I try to empty my mind, and just sleep…

The rumbling of a machine wakes me up.