Reclaim

Delinquent

                                       Glenn Dickens                                                                                          Missouri
                       12/24/26
"11:50 A.M." My alarm clock flashed.
The party's starting by now, and I'm here at home, grounded for doing something dumb a month ago.

One stupid mistake and I'm grounded till next year, so now the christmas eve party that every one of my friends is currently getting trashed at is going full blast while I lay here in my bed, locked up like an Instiagte.

I'm just glad I'll never experience that, my family is well in the workforce. My mom's a politician, and my dad owns a company so I'm practically set for life, but that's not gonna stop me from living my life my way, the way I can enjoy it best, in my youth.

Being an adult gives me way too much freedom to the point where sneaking out, partying, drinking, and other stuff just doesn't seem like it'd matter if it was all things I was allowed to do.

Other people would rather wait till they're adults for their life to start, and in my opinion that's their life and they can live it like that if they want, but I'm not gonna sit around in my bed all night waiting for tommorow to have fun.

My door opened, and my parents came in to make sure I was still in captivity
They said goodnight to me and that tomorrow I'd have safe boring fun, then they walked out without another word or action. Not a hug or kiss or ounce of attention. I didn't mind, I'd get the attention I deserved tonight.

I waited till 12:20. By now, they're probably asleep. They never get home this early all to stay up any later than they have to.

My window was locked with a padlock, assuming I ever had the balls to jump out of my second story window. A master lock kept me from doing so, but I thought ahead.

The mechanic who keeps the car up to date always leaves our toolbox within reach so he can get in and out as quickly as he can. The more cars he can fix in one day, the more money he'll make. Our toolbox had a ton of different gadgets and tools, but all I needed was two wrenches.

I hid them under my bed so they wouldn't find out I was plotting something. I got out of bed, treading on my toes to keep anyone from hearing me up. I grabbed my pillow and the tools and made my way to the lock. Hopefully, this would work. Otherwise, my night would be ruined.

I dropped the pillow under the lock and put one of each of the prongs in the metal ring that locked the lock, then used all the force in my arms to push the handles closer together, making the wrenches grip on the lock and slowly push outward.

The harder I pushed, the more it started popping open, bending the metal until it busted open making a metal pop before dropping the lock on the pillow, cushioning the clank so it didn't make any noise. It worked, and I couldn't help but smile like it was Christmas already.

I grabbed everything and then slid it all under my bed before pushing my pillow under my blanket, making it look like I was still sleeping in my bed. Even though I obly had my phone, I could still go without worrying too much. I know my way to Micah's house so I don't gotta worry about getting there, I only really needed me, myself, and my phone.

I pushed my window up and went over to my closet, reaching in and taking out the makeshift rope I made entirely of old clothes and sheets. I tied it around a couple lifting weights, more than double my weight in total, then slowly lowered it out the window. This was it.

The floor never looked so far down until tonight, where you can barely see the floor in the dark night. The only form of brightness was the few splotches of snow that littered the yard and covered the roofs lightly.

I held onto the windowsill like my life depended on it. Even though it did, I pretended it didn't. Then I hung out the window, grabbing onto the rope, praying it wouldn't undo itself.

I was dangling outside by the time I pulled the window closed, my legs squeezing the rope so I wouldn't fall, bashing my brains against the grass and dirt packed hardly together. My arms began shaking because of the cold, and because I was straining them by holding on so long, it made pulling down the window harder than it should've been.

I was about half way down with the window when my leg spasmed at the perfect time slipping me down and nearly dropping me, my heart fell as I did, but my arms acted up perfectly grabbing my lifeline of a rope, swinging me upside down and nearly slamming me against the house. My sweaty hands started burning, and my arms got even weaker.

I fixed myself and climbed back up the rope to fully close the window. Once I did, I slid down the rope, catching myself before I landed on the ground, then dropping down softly. My muscles sighed with relief after finally getting a break. The hard part was down. Now, it was time for the good part, my favorite part of the night.

I started walking down the street to Micah's, where the best night of my life - this night - would take place.