Princeton Short- Story: Never Safe

Ten years ago…

The darkness around you swallowed everything in sight except the moon shining from the window above your head. As you rested on the bottom bunk of your bed you could hear the snores of the several other kids around you. This was the moment had always waited for and you knew deep down inside this chance would never come again. You slowly sat up in the creaky bed and stepped one foot out the bed, careful not to make any noise. Okay, good. You stepped out your other foot silently, looking around swiftly. As your foot landed on the floor it made a loud creaking noise. You bit down on your lip roughly as you got up fully from the bed.

No one in the room seemed to notice the quite noises so you continued to get ready, taking one step at a time careful not to wake anyone. Your small feet made hardly any noise as you walked all the way to the bedroom’s door. You looked back at the fellow foster kids as you turned the door handle inch by inch. You knew you had to leave your foster home. That was the only option for survival. It was either stay and be abused everyday or leave. You didn’t have anywhere to live but you knew what was right. In your entire seven years of life you had been shoveled from home to home and orphanage to orphanage. You had seen and experienced it all…

You slowly creeped through the small home, tip toeing to the front door eagerly. As you made it to the front door you slowly turned the lock and gripped the door knob, inching it open as it let out small squeaks. Stop making so much noise! You screamed in your head. You had on your two piece pajamas and tennis shoes; they were the only things you had time to grab while leaving.

The cold air hit your leg as you stepped one foot out the house. A sigh of relief fell over you. You looked back at the total darkness in the house, feeling chills going through your veins. You looked back to the open door and proceeded to step out your other foot. You were now completely outside the house and standing in the cold, midnight air as someone snuck up behind you. You suddenly felt a hard tug on your ponytail, snapping your head back swiftly.

You turned around quickly to face your foster dad staring angrily back at you.

Him: “Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” *Begins pulling you in the house*

You furiously scratched as his arms and face as he lifted you up by your hair, dangling you from the floor. You let out a screeching scream from the pain as your legs kicked back and forth.

You: “Let me go!”

Suddenly your foster dad screamed and fell to the floor in pain, dropping you. You looked up and saw a small body on top of him, pounding his head with a frying pan. Your sight was blurry and uneven but in the moonlight you could pick up a few features of the boy. He was light skinned with a large, undone afro. You had remembered seeing him a couple of times among the several other foster children in the house. There were around 30 kids in all and you, him, and a few of the other younger kids would get picked on the most. The older kids would frequently pull his hair and beat him while your foster parents either watched or joined in. Blood had begun to leak from your foster father’s head as he laid stilly on the porch. The lights on the house began to flicker on as you heard the heavy footsteps of your foster mother coming down the stairs, some of the older foster kids followed after her. The small boy finally stopped beating your foster dad to grab your hand. You and him began running from the house as you heard your foster mother scream.

Foster mother: “Arnold, James follow them!”

Two of the oldest and cruelest foster kids began chasing you and the boy. The only thing you knew about the boy was his name, Jacob… but people called him Prince. Prince pulled you through the woods surrounding the house, breaking through branches and sticks as he ran swiftly with you trailing behind. Your small legs crushed twigs and leaves as you ran as fast as you could breathing heavily.