One Wrong Move and She’d be Caught: Winning Story

Congratulations to Lindsay Newman, the winner of this week’s prompt!

I hope you enjoy her story!

Caged

by Lindsay Newman, Grade 11

“If you’re thinking about running again…” a warning voice said from behind her. She sighed heavily, sitting only feet from the fence. “I don’t like it,” she said fiercely.

The voice sighed as though deflating greatly. “What is it you don’t like?”

“Everything,” she replied sourly. “I cannot stand waking up and knowing I have nowhere to go but the fields. It gets old after the first hundred times, don’t you think?” The voice behind her became a man sitting beside her. He was young and handsome, but he was cautious. She looked sideways at him and exhaled sadly. He had kept her from running the last time, and she knew if she spent anymore time in his company, he would hold her back once more.

“Life here isn’t to your liking?” he asked rather disappointedly.

She turned to face him this time, the deadened, yellow grass of the field poking through her thin garments. “If anything were to keep me here, it would be you. But you know how much I despise this place, Ben. I can’t live here like a caged animal for the rest of my life,” she told him, taking his hand in her own. He glanced at their intertwined hands, then up at her. He was not convinced. She sighed. “I do love you, Ben. I do.”

“But you love freedom more?” he shot back quietly, unable to meet her gaze. “I see how longingly you stare at the fence, Jenna. Day after day, month after month, constantly waiting for the right moment. Do you wish to stay or has the right moment not come?”

Jenna stared at him blankly. “Ben…come with me,” is all she can think to say.

He looked at her, then at the ground, laughing derogatorily. “I do not wish to leave, Jenna. I know the dangers that lie beyond the fence. I know of the Guard. Do not drag me with you,” he said pleadingly.

“You don’t have to come if you do not wish too…” Jenna said quietly, a heavy weight settling against her shoulders. She had been afraid of this.

“You know that if you only say the right words, I will follow you wherever you go. Leave me, Jenna. Find your freedom. I only wish that I could have given it to you first.” He squeezed her hand lightly, avoiding her gaze, then released it. He rose to his feet without another word, his footsteps crunching the dead grass as he left Jenna alone, staring at the fence in stunned silence while a tear trickled down her cheek. She wanted to run after him, wanted him back, but it was too late.

She had nowhere to go but out.

*****

“He just…left?” a young woman said from the doorway. “You’re joking!” Jenna shook her head sadly as she finished her chores. She grabbed a basket of apples by its handles and lugged it away from the large washing basin to a cupboard. Ben had brought the apples in an hour after their parting in the field, and Jenna had watched with a pained expression as he greeted her with no more than a curt nod. He really had left her. She wished with her whole heart that she could reverse time, change their conversation, but she would not be able to undo what had been done. “I am so sorry,” the young woman told her. She almost sounded angry when the words were spoken as she was staring after Ben while he left the washing house. “There’s no use in staying here, I suppose,” she added sadly, hoisting her own basket of apples into the cupboard.

Jenna looked at her sharply. “You think I should go?” she asked in disbelief.

“You have no family to keep you here. Ben has abandoned you…and I’m no reason to stay behind. I have children, Jen….my husband. I do not think it wise for me to leave, but I do know that you do not belong here. Even if I don’t necessarily want you to leave,” the woman said. She was smiling slightly, though a very sad look had come into her eyes.

Jenna hugged her tightly. “Oh Beth…you know I’d stay if I could,” she told the woman.

“Of course,” Beth replied, though her voice was choked and her throat was tight with the threat of tears. “Remember me, would you? If even just my smile, I’d be content.”

“How could I ever forget you?” Jenna said quietly, fighting to keep back tears of her own. “Good-bye, Beth. I wish you every happiness.” She pulled away from her friend, taking her hand and pressing it to her lips before sweeping off into the fading light of day.

*****

Jenna stared at the envelope in her hands, moving her gaze over her handwriting which spelled out the name “Ben”. She couldn’t leave without saying good-bye to him, but she knew he would never speak to her in person. The note would allow her to give him her last words, well wishes….

Jenna swept a tear from her cheek as she tore her eyes from the name scrawled upon the envelope. She forced herself to stare out the window. Stars sparkled against the deep blue night sky. They danced and shone with a sort of happiness that Jenna envied. They were not caged as she was. They were free, far away from the clutches of those who kept her here. A dreamy smile flickered across her lips as she recalled her childhood. She had always wanted to be a star, beautiful and bright. Now she had her chance. She would soon follow the stars.

She clutched her letter to Ben in a trembling hand as she closed the door of her home behind her. She wound her way through the small village with ease. She had made the trip to Bens house many times. It was as though it were second nature to find him. When she came to his house, she halted abruptly, seeing that a soft light was filtering through his dusty windows. She approached slowly and cautiously, hoping against hope that he would not hear or see her outside. She crept up to his door and slid her letter beneath it so that it disappeared inside. Knowing that she would change her mind once again if she lingered any longer, she turned on her heel and ran. She ran harder than she’d ever run before, tears streaming down her cheeks. She fought furiously to keep from turning back, wiping at her tears fiercely once she came to a stop before the fence. She stared up at the top, then, with a determined nod, she began to climb. She scaled higher and higher, her lungs burning as she gasped for air. By the time she reached the top, her legs ached and her arms trembled with effort. She threw her leg over the fence, straddling it uncomfortably, then brought her other leg over. She descended slowly, sweat dripping down her back and beading on her forehead. She was about halfway down when she heard a voice crying out into the darkness.

She froze, peering through the fence to the other side. The voice was muffled, and she could not make out the words it spoke until it came closer. “Jenna!!” it called.

Jenna’s heart skipped a beat, then began to pound harder. It was Ben. “JENNA!” he called.

There was a definite note of fear in his voice. Jenna wanted to climb back over, her back to Ben, but the sweat collecting on her hands caused her grip to loosen. She felt the metal slip from her grasp and felt the air rushing past her as she fell to the darkened ground below. The wind was knocked from her lungs as her back collided with dirt and leaves. She gasped for air, a sharp pain in her chest. She could hear a distant rattling of metal which slowly became closer and more focused. She realized it was someone shaking the fence.

“Jenna!!” came Ben’s voice once more. “Jenna where are you?? JENNA!”

“Ben…” Jenna muttered groggily, hoisting herself to her feet. “Ben?” She stumbled into the darkness, following the sound of his voice. She finally felt the fence beneath her fingers, then hands closing over her own.

“Jenna, what are you doing?” he asked, the terror in his voice sending a wave of guilt crashing over Jenna. She knew she shouldn’t have left.

“I have to get out,” she croaked, her throat tightening as she fought tears. She was unsuccessful; the tears dripped slowly and steadily from her eyes. “Ben, you can come—“ A howl in the distance cut her sentence short. Jenna whirled around, her eyes wide with fear. She’s only heard of the Guard from the elders of the village. She hadn’t thought it could be true.

“Jenna run,” Ben told her suddenly.

Jenna turned back to him. “But—“

“Jenna, you have to run!” he told her sharply. Jenna knew he was right. She had to go.

Moonlight suddenly flooded the area around them as a cloud passed over the moon, and she saw a great, looming forest before her. Without a second thought, she dashed into the trees. As she ran, she wondered how long the Guard might follow her. She wondered where it was, what it was….but she ran. She didn’t stop. Not to look back, not to take a deep breath of much-needed air….she just ran. It seemed like hours before her lungs were screaming for a break. She knew she couldn’t run for much longer so she darted into the shelter of some nearby bushes. She pressed herself against the ground, breathing rapidly as she refilled her lungs. She could feel her adrenaline rush subsiding, feel the ache of her limbs and the stabbing pain in her back. She waited in the dark, praying that she had escaped the Guard. Then there were footsteps. She held her breath as she lie in the bushes, watching through the leaves as a pair of feet came into her vision. Then another. She watched four massive feet crunch the leaves beneath them as they came closer to her hiding place. But they were not just any feet. They were paws. Jenna wanted to cry as she sat in the deafening silence, watching the paws move closer. She wanted to run, but she knew she had to remain still.

At that moment, the moon was uncovered by the clouds once more. Moonlight filtered through the leaves, shining down on Jenna. One wrong move, and she’d be caught. If only she had listened when Ben had told her not to run. She’d be safe inside the fence, safe from the Guard. Jenna lay as still as possible as the paws came to a halt before her hiding place. She watched a snout lower itself to the ground, nudging the leaves at its feet. She saw the teeth as it snarled angrily. She felt a tear slip from her eye and fall noiselessly to the ground. The snout rose abruptly, as though it had heard the tear hitting the ground. Jenna waited for it to find her, to attack. She was going to die. The paws were almost upon her when a voice cried out. The Guard froze in its place, then dashed off to find the source of the voice. Panicked, Jenna rose shakily from her hiding place and stared, horrified, after the Guard. The voice had been Ben’s. She had only enough time to scream his name before his cries of pain filled the night.

The End