The Road Travelled

CHAPTER ONE

THE PAST

THERE WERE THREE of them. Head to toe in navy blue with utility belts clamped to their waists, I could see them pacing back and forth outside, smoking cigarettes. The smoke swirled in the air and drifted up towards the window, but met the glass and dispersed, trying to find a break or crack to seep through and penetrate. I wanted to gag, even though I couldn’t smell it. But, I could remember the smell, and there were a lot of smokers here.

         I couldn’t close the window anyway. There was no latch to open it, just a sheet of glass separating me from the world outside. Plus, I really needed to see the security guards, just to see if they would leave. Though it was hot, really hot. Not to mention humid. I had been standing in my room for fifteen minutes and my shirt was starting to stick to my skin. The temperature here was always contrasting extremes. Super cold in some areas, and then super warm in other areas. It didn’t make it any better that summer had just started, with a heat alert to begin the season. Another reason I needed to see the security guards was that I had to get out. There was no way I was leaving without making sure no one would catch me.

         A buzzer sounded, a nasally sound coming from the hallway. It was nine o’ clock. Room checks would be done in half an hour, leaving me that much time to escape. I looked out the window again. The security guards were gone, but there was the glow of partly dying cigarettes sitting on the concrete. Grabbing my toothbrush, glasses case, my extra uniform clothes and water bottle, I started towards the door and pressed my ear to the door, listening for any outside movements. It was silent. I took a deep breath, and wrapped my personal items and a shirt in one shirt, and crammed another shirt under my armpit. Then I glanced at the security camera, and my stomach flipped, knowing that what I was doing was wrong. Peeking out the security check window in the door, I grabbed the doorknob. My heart was thumping under my shirt.

         This is wrong, Addison, I thought to myself, you’re going to get caught. Go back to your bed and wait for room checks. You’re going to get caught sooner or later, and just be in more trouble. Do you want to go back to the higher security rooms? I turned around so my back was facing the door and not the camera. Biting my lip, my hand twisted the doorknob, and carefully pulled the door back. The hallway was empty.

         It had been years since I’d seen the Mission Impossible movies, but the theme song replayed itself over and over as I crept towards the bathroom. We didn’t have our own private bathrooms in our rooms, not in this section, because the staff considered us to be almost close to being rehabilitated, so the bathroom facilities were shared. I had figured out that the bathroom was the only place on this floor that had a window large enough to climb through and that could actually open. That’s how I was getting out. A window. But there was no knight in shining armour to help me out. I was on my own.

         It was strange that there were no facility workers walking around the hallways. There was usually at least one person around, just to make sure we weren’t doing anything, even though this was a section of ‘lower security’ and a lot of the people here didn’t cause trouble anymore. We had changed. Most of us anyway.

         If there was any indication as to the temperature outside, the bathroom showed nothing. Definitely much cooler than my room. The window was open and nothing could be heard outside. Getting a good balance on my foot, I grabbed the window edge and pulled myself up to look out.

         It was a bit of a long way down. Even in the dark, I could see it was about a two-storey jump. I’d have to climb out and hold onto the wall like Spiderman, then drop. I looked behind me. No one had entered the washroom. Shifting myself so that my back was facing out, I started out the window. Once I was clinging to the edge, I took a couple of deep breaths, and closed my eyes.