The Great Escape [Kap]

The Great Escape [Kap] Jan 23, 2019 22:58:37 GMT -5

Post by Eastern Orange on Jan 23, 2019 22:58:37 GMT -5

I chew on my lip worriedly as I contemplate my window. It looks as ordinary as it always does, but today it is changed. It has a new weight to it. A new meaning. Today, it isn’t only a window. Today, it is also an escape. I have finally talked myself into leaving. Just for a little while, at least. Just to take a peek at the world that has so long been a mystery to me; only seen in the words of my favorite authors. Mortimer is gone for the next few days, and I have vexed Constance enough today that she is trying to punish me with a silent treatment. It’s perfect and I probably won’t get the chance to go out again for many months.

I have been toying with the idea of leaving for the past year. I loath to risk Mort’s ire, but he really has left me no choice! I’ve begged him to let me out, even just for a few hours and under his direct supervision, but to no avail. He refuses. He claims I am too fragile, too precious, and the outside world is too cruel. But I’ve read about many wondrous things, and more than anything I want to experience something other than this stupid house!

(It’s not stupid, I’m sorry Mort. I’m very grateful to you and everything you have provided for me!)

Before I can talk myself out of it, I rush to the window, throw it open, and awkwardly climb out. I take some time to marvel at the fact that I’m actually outside and then I have to focus on not having a panic attack. I look back at my window. My ordinary window. I’ve never seen this side of it before. How stupid is that? It looks exactly the same, but everything is different. I cock my head to the side, and for the first time in my life I kind of hate Mortimer and what he has done to me.

I turn heel and climb the stone fence that separates my entire world from everyone else’s.

-----

What I didn’t count on was how cold it would be. Obviously, I know about weather. I could observe rain, and snow, and sunshine. But I’ve never had to actually consider it before. I was only wearing what I normally did in the house: a simple long sleeved shirt, and pants. I had foolishly believed that since the sun was shining brightly, that it couldn’t be this cold out. It didn’t take long for me to start shivering, but I didn’t want to turn back. It had made it so far already! The cold never killed anyone did it?

I took streets at random, I had nowhere in mind to go (how could I?), so each direction looked as good as any. Eventually I found what seemed to be a main road or an outdoor market because there seemed to be quite a few people about.

So many people.

More people than I had ever seen in my entire life.

People who brush pass me without a glance. People who give me weird looks. People who shout and laugh and casually go about their day. They flow around me like a swelling current, pushing against me, drowning me in their noise and strangeness. I come to the sudden realization that I don’t belong here; That I have been kept apart for far too long and some fundamental part of me is broken. All the excitement I feel about seeing the world burns away in a flash, leaving me empty and even colder than before. What have I done?

I turn around, searching for the street that lead me here, but I can’t focus in my panic. Not that it mattered if I found it… I realize now that I had no idea how to get home. I had been so eager to start my journey that I hadn’t bothered to think about trying to end it. I look around wildly, and grab on to the first person I see. “Excuse me, sir, do you know Mortimer Watson?” I plead, my voice high and frantic.

The Great Escape [Kap] Feb 5, 2019 13:22:36 GMT -5

Post by kap on Feb 5, 2019 13:22:36 GMT -5

Jake

I don't want to be the one in charge, and I never have. People are always looking to me for guidance, and I help them- I enjoy helping them. That, I suppose, is why I've become the one 'in charge' sometimes. I have a love-hate relationship with the fact that I'm a natural leader. I could be at home, and my mother wants help deciding something as simple as what to make for dinner. I could be with my friends, and they want me to pick the teams for us when we play games, meaning that I'm always a team captain, even if I don't want to be. So many other people would love to be the one in charge. They'd love to be team captain. They'd love for someone to turn to them for advice for once, rather than somebody else.

I like helping people, but I don't want control over them.

I'm not the manipulative type.

Some days, I spend time trying to figure out how to be like everyone else. I don't want to be the one who stands out. I don't want to be the one everyone wants to follow. Rather, I just want to blend in. I like to help people, sure, but I don't want that to be the only thing that people think of me as: their aide. I want to be their friend and their helper, not just their leader and the only person they go to. I don't like being out of the ordinary like that, always asked for advice. It makes me feel like I'm too different to blend in with others. It makes me feel sort-of alone sometimes, to be entirely honest.

I didn't want to feel alone anymore, though, so today, I made my way downtown. People are everywhere in the downtown area of District Nine. It's always hustle and bustle, rarely any quiet or lack of movement. Maybe I could learn something from these people who all just seemed to blend together as one before my eyes. Maybe I could learn how to be like them. How to fit in. How to be normal.

Walking down these streets throughout my life, I've learned them quite well. Perhaps that's because when I do walk around in this area of District Nine, I'm not like most people. Instead, I do my own thing. I look at every detail around me: every sign, every building and every little sidewalk, making a mental note of where each crack in the concrete is. I pay so much attention to detail, I sometimes think about how I could probably build or rebuild things in the District with ease. I could make a shelter for myself if I needed to (although I have a home that works just fine for me). I could figure out how to make a hammer, a knife, or just about anything that could be a useful tool for me in building. Come to think of it, I could probably fight people with the things I would be capable of making, if I chose to make weapons (which I'm fully capable of doing if need be, although never having used one on any living creature).

I don't have a need to fight people, though.

My goal in life has always been to help people, not hurt them. Perhaps that's why people place me in charge, or ask me for assistance when I'm out on the street on any given day.

Like today.

I feel someone grab my arm, and at first, out of fear, I try to pull away. Then, I realize that it's not someone trying to hurt me. Rather, she seems to need help, or at least would like some sort of information, given the question she decides to ask of me.

“Excuse me, sir, do you know Mortimer Watson?” the individual seemed frantic in asking this.

"Is everything okay?" I ask her. Then, a moment later, I remember she'd asked me a question that I had yet to answer.

"Mortimer Watson?" I pause for a moment. I knew that name. Then I recalled why. "I've passed by his house from time to time, but I've never met the man, why?" I inquire. Then, I pause for a second before speaking again, still concerned about her well-being.

"Are you okay? Do you need help with something?" Hopefully, she was okay, and that there wasn't a bad reason she wanted to know if I knew this man. Hopefully, he hadn't hurt her. Maybe they were related. Maybe she just needed to find her way to him. That would be a good thing. I just had to hope, right?