Stories

Free Write 6, 7, & 8

I heard the sirens coming steadily closer to my hiding spot. I nervously glanced around. Surely they wouldn’t be able to find me here. My 5’4” frame was wedged into a small hole in a brick wall, trashcans blocking the front. I heard the wailing and saw the flashing lights. They couldn’t be more than a hundred feet away. Closer. Closer, I saw a vague outline of a car speed by the alley and I breathed a sigh of relief. I don’t know exactly why I’m running form them, but a few hours ago I got a frantic phone call form my older brother. He was panting, his breaths shallow and close together. In between breaths, he warned me to avoid the cops at all costs and if I get got caught, I was to tell them that I did nothing wrong. I was scared. He sounded like he was in trouble and I had wanted to find him and help him. He told me to stay put and that he was okay. I would have believed him if he hadn’t added, “I love you, Clair-bear.” He hadn’t called me that since I was 5, almost 8 years ago. So I went looking for him. I searched every place I knew he loved to go: Club Under 21, the park, his girlfriend’s house, everywhere. I had never felt so lost in my life. That was when I saw the poster. It was hanging on a lamppost across from the movie theater. I would never had paid any attention to it, but a large photo of a girl who looked like me before I dyed my hair standing next to a boy who looked like my brother was the center focus. I walked closer and realized that it really was a picture of Drew and I, from last summer. Above our heads in bold letters was one word: WANTED. It had our information and asked to please notify the police with any news of the “Delinquent Twins”. The only problem was that we were not twins, though we looked identical. Drew was now 18, 5 years older than me. We were often mistaken as twins, because he has always had a boyish face while mine was way too mature for my age. I took a closer look at the birthdates and realized that they had made it seem as if I was also 18. I nervously glanced around, wondering why no one had recognized me yet, until I remembered that the girl in the photo had long, wavy blond hair, completely opposite of my current short, black hair with blue highlights.