More Than Life Itself

Moves Like Houdini

I weave my small hand (with my bobby pin) through the black metal bars of the cage. My bag accidently swings forward, my hairbrush making a banging sound against the bars. I mumble profanities softly under my breath. I grimace as I hear the pacing from my mother stop upstairs. 

"Stop banging on the bars!"

"Sorry, mother!"

"Shit! You aren't dead yet!"

Well, that's nice of her to say. Clearly sarcasm. 

I hear a soft click as the lock is successfully picked open by yours truly. I bite my bottom lip, hoping and praying the cage doesn't squeak as I open it. I push it open quickly, so even if it does, the sound is reduced. I'm thankful to find that the hinge of the door is one of the only things my mother keeps clean. 

I step out onto the cement floor and relief fills me. I know I have a long way to go, but this has been a pretty good start. I walk towards the cracked open window, it's the only air I get, and I climb on top of the tool table. 

When people come over my mother says it's tools for her car or building shit, but they are things really for me. When people come over, it's the only time I'm allowed to eat a good meal, drink a lot of water, and go upstairs. People don't come over often enough for me to be at a healthy weight though. Most of our neighbors don't really like my mother. 

With a light push, the window opens just enough for me to fit through. I look out of it to see that it's almost sunrise. The sun isn't fully up yet, which is good because it'll be harder for anyone to see that I'm climbing out of a basement window. 

I throw my bag through the window, so it lands on the damp, morning dew covered grass. I take one last quick look around and decide to steal some of my mother's cash from the drawer. I firmly, yet quietly, yank the drawer open, stealing two hundred dollars. That should be enough for some food. I can just jump trains. 

Since I have nothing else to do, I know the train schedules due to the fact that you can hear them on the tracks all day long. My longing for freedom was not easily subdued because I knew that freedom was so near. And I'm halfway there. 

I push myself clumsily through the window. 

For a millisecond, I stop. I'm out. 

As I stand, I wiggle my bare toes in the cold, wet ground, but I can't bring myself to care. Behind me I hear the basement door open. That's my que. And so I run. I run faster than I've ever run before. My blonde hair flying behind me as I duck through back yards. I run towards the train tracks. I look down at my watch, my prized possession, the only possession I couldn't bare to lose, and I see that I have one minute to catch the next train.

The train that will take me out of here. Then I will catch another, and another, and another. I want to get as far as fucking away as I can. 

Shit, shit, shit.

I'm almost there. My legs have been cut my fence posts that I practically run through, and I'm incredibly tired. I run along the edge of the platform, my hand reaching out. I see my mother through the crowd, and I know this is my last chance. So I jump.