Running From The Law

Chapter 1

Breathe. I need to breathe. In. Out. In. Out.

I did it this time. I really did it. There's no going back. I did something bad. And now I am on the run. Years of events led up to this moment and now I am in shock, even though I had thought about it multiple times. Even though I knew what would happen eventually.

I need to leave. I need to go somewhere far away. All I wanted was to be free, but that didn't work out the way I planned. I was free, for a while. But like all good things, that didn't last very long. I also didn't know what I had until I lost it all on that Sunday night.

"Mommy, look at this!" I say as I hand her my drawing.

"That's a beautiful drawing pumpkin. This is going on the fridge." She says as she hangs it up. I smile and walk away happily back to the living room.

"Are you excited for your birthday?" She asks me. I smile real big and nod my head vigorously. "Now I know it's your special day, but when daddy gets home we all need to have a talk."

That was one of the last happy memories of mother. My real mother. Everything about that day seemed perfectly normal, not a single thing was out of the ordinary. Well, at least everything was normal to my 4 year old self.

Mommy said I didn't understand. But I did. Her and daddy sat me down and tried to explain to me that in nine months I will have a little brother or sister. I didn't want that. Babies are smelly and they will take all the attention away from me. And I really like all the attention. But I did something bad. I told mommy and daddy that they ruined my birthday and ran away to hide in my play house in the backyard. I was expecting mommy and daddy to come out and comfort me, but they didn't. But a pretty lady did.

The lady had long pretty dark hair that she let me play with. And she smelled like flowers. I told her about how mommy and daddy were replacing me and how it was my birthday. Then she told me that she had to go home but if I come outside really late at night then she'll come back with the bestest present ever. But she said if I tell mommy and daddy about the present then they'll get jealous and want to take it away from me. So I told her that I am really good at keeping secrets and she left.

After that I went inside with a much better attitude. Daddy asked me if I was feeling better and I just nodded while thinking about the nice lady.

The rest of the day had gone by fast. I colored three pictures and took a nap. Then it was time for my birthday dinner. I've never had a birthday party before. Mommy always said that my birthday was too close to Easter and that nobody would be able to come, but I didn't really care. I just wanted to experience a birthday party.

At my birthday dinner I was quiet. I was thinking about how I didn't know what time the nice lady would come to give me the present. I decided that I would go outside after mommy and daddy were asleep. They sang happy birthday to me and after we had our cake we all went to bed, even though it was too early for bedtime. Mommy said that baby was tired and that we all needed to go to bed to help it rest. I started pouting because I didn't want to go to bed, but I had to anyways. I lay on my bed until it was very dark outside. After that I tip-toed into mommy and daddy's room to make sure they were asleep and they were so I went outside to meet the nice lady. She was standing next to a car at the end of the driveway. I went over to her and asked where my present was and she said it was in the trunk of the car, but it was too heavy for her to carry herself so she needed help. She opened the trunk and said she was sorry. I was confused for a second but then she put duct tape on my mouth and shoved me in the trunk.

We drove for a long time. I was crying and scared. I fell asleep and I was woken up by a violent tug on my arm and the duct tape getting ripped off my face. It was light outside and the lady brought me into an unfamiliar house.