The Art of Imagination

Chapter 4

Never had she felt so exhilarated in her life. The summer breeze was slowly cooling despite the warm sunlight bathing her fleeting figure. Ingrid had escaped through a secret back door by one of the unused rooms but she didn’t know whether she’d been spotted yet.

Glancing over her shoulder, it appeared as if nobody had noticed her absence. The rest of the household probably figured she was sulking in her room. That would give her an hour tops.

A giddy laugh bubbled between her lips, coming out as a suppressed giggle. She kept running as fast as her legs could carry her across the field and kept to the shadows of the trees the sun was casting. Her arms did start wearing out from holding up her dreaded skirts but at least she was feeling unbelievably free.

At last, she spotted the shed at the edge of the paddocks where cows and sheep were grazing peacefully. None of the stable hands seemed to be out and about which gave her a clear path to the shed.

Ingrid cringed at the brief recall of escaping through her room window just to reach the empty room beside her. It had been a nightmare; trying to crawl across a wall with hardly a ledge to stand on was hard enough as it was. The long dress didn’t help but she’d made it. Her bedroom was locked, her absence was so far unnoticed and she’d be free for an hour.

Another laugh burst through her lips as she came to an abrupt halt in front of the shed’s door. The bolts were rusted and locked with padlocks, the faded red paint was starting peel and in some parts, the wood had rotted. But it was nothing that she couldn’t get through.

Looking side to side then back to the manor, the only witnesses of her break-in would be the livestock. The thought made her giggle.

Placing her dainty gloved hands on the thick black padlock, Ingrid imagined the lock fall open. She focused all her thoughts into it until finally, came the groan of metal. The hunk of iron snapped open in her hands, allowing Ingrid to slip it off. Next would be the hardest part.

Ingrid exerted as much force as she could against the large metal sliders but they wouldn’t budge. The metal was almost as thick as her arm and several metres longer. It seemed impossible for her entire form to dislodge it.

After several minutes of tireless pushing, Ingrid kicked the door out of frustration. “Open, you should thing!”

Abruptly, a squeal pierced her ears followed by the loud thunk. She jumped back in surprise as it fell at her feet quite heavily. Not wasting any time, she wiped the sweat from her brow and squeezed her fingers between the gap of the two doors. With one pull, she knew she couldn’t it alone.

Ingrid released a sigh of irritation. Here she was, ready to try the car she’d conjured up and she couldn’t even get the door open.

Keep calm and imagine, she reminded herself despite the bubbling annoyance within her chest. Ingrid reluctantly took several steps back and closed her eyes. She breathed in slowly, all the while fabricating an image of the barn doors opening up, giving her a gap just large enough for her to squeeze through.

For several more delayed moments, she continued to add as much detail to her imagination until finally, her eyes snapped open.

Just like she’d envisioned, the doors had opened though much silently than she’d expected. Shrugging it off, Ingrid sucked in a breath and wriggled between the little space she’d created. That had taken much less effort than it would have taken her to open the doors by hand.

Once she finally burst inside, she met with a thick cloud of dust kicked up from her landing. Ingrid lifted an arm to her mouth, coughing vigorously and waving with the other hand until it seemed to clear.