clothing.
Frustration along with desperation fills me as I reach for the door again and find my arms only inches too short. I stare down at the wheels and the tracks zipping by below me, my stomach knotting with fear. I see James leaning out of the car and his mouth is moving but I can’t make out the words. I frown and he repeats it, his lips forming a word that terrifies me as I stare down at the gravel and train tracks only feet below me. Jump.
I look up at James and his expression is just as worried as I know mine is. I grit my teeth and inch closer, getting as far as I can without tumbling off. I grip the metal bar with one hand and with the other I reach for the handle. I close my eyes briefly. And with one last breath, I jump.
14
––––––––
I n the moment of suspension, three feet above the ground, in the middle of the air, my mind races a million miles an hour and I wonder if I’ll make it to the door or if I’ll fall and be sucked underneath the train and smashed against the tracks. I feel one foot hit the doorway to the cart and then James’s hand wrap firmly around mine. My other hand grasps the doorway handle and I feel myself begin to topple backwards before James pulls me inside the cart. I fall to the floor with a thud, James beside me, the noise suddenly diminished by half as the walls enclose around us. I’m on my hands and knees, gasping as my heart rate spins out of control.
I roll over onto my back, pressing my hand firmly above my heart, feeling it rattle against my ribcage and the cold of the metal cross against my skin. I can hear James panting beside me and we just sit in the sudden calm for seconds, our labored breathing being the loudest sound.
“Are you okay?” James eventually asks, his voice somewhat quiet with shock.
I nod my head up and down and then before I can control it, a rush of laughter bubbles up from my throat and suddenly I can’t seem to stop. James sits up to look at me, slightly alarmed, but I only wrap my arms around my middle and laugh some more. A small grin spreads across James’s face as well and before I know it, he’s laughing too. Left over adrenaline pumps through my veins, releasing itself in small bursts of giggles as I pull myself into a ball on the floor.
Giddy relief floods me like a wave as my muscles relax and I reach out to grab my bag, hugging it to my chest as my giggles slowly subside. I see James get up from beside me and then he helps me to my feet. We’re both still a little shaky.
I look around the car. It’s mostly empty, to my surprise, except for stacked boxes to the far side of the room. As I approach them I see they’re labeled with many different food items and I presume this is intended for a grocery store somewhere. James heads over to the large rolling door that’s still slightly parted from our arrival and pulls it shut, locking out the rest of the blurred, whirring noise, leaving us with muffled clicks.
“I can’t believe we actually did this,” I almost whisper, still in shock. I sit down on one of the boxes. “I mean, we outran the administrators and jumped on a train .”
James grins in amusement. “I told you it’d be an adventure.”
I smile and reach into my bag, pulling out the apple I abandoned only minutes before; so odd that it seems like hours. James comes to sit beside me, following suit. We eat our breakfast in silence, the noise from the train making up for lack of conversation. The room around us seems so foreign and strange but for some odd reason I feel no apprehension about being here. It feels right; normal even. Much better than going along with the administrators.
I finish eating my apple and suddenly something on the far side of the room catches my eye; a ladder. I get up and walk toward it, seeing that it leads to a hatch on the ceiling.
“What are you doing?” James asks.
“Look,” I reply,
Frustration along with desperation fills me as I reach for the door again and find my arms only inches too short. I stare down at the wheels and the tracks zipping by below me, my stomach knotting with fear. I see James leaning out of the car and his mouth is moving but I can’t make out the words. I frown and he repeats it, his lips forming a word that terrifies me as I stare down at the gravel and train tracks only feet below me. Jump.
I look up at James and his expression is just as worried as I know mine is. I grit my teeth and inch closer, getting as far as I can without tumbling off. I grip the metal bar with one hand and with the other I reach for the handle. I close my eyes briefly. And with one last breath, I jump.
14
––––––––
I n the moment of suspension, three feet above the ground, in the middle of the air, my mind races a million miles an hour and I wonder if I’ll make it to the door or if I’ll fall and be sucked underneath the train and smashed against the tracks. I feel one foot hit the doorway to the cart and then James’s hand wrap firmly around mine. My other hand grasps the doorway handle and I feel myself begin to topple backwards before James pulls me inside the cart. I fall to the floor with a thud, James beside me, the noise suddenly diminished by half as the walls enclose around us. I’m on my hands and knees, gasping as my heart rate spins out of control.
I roll over onto my back, pressing my hand firmly above my heart, feeling it rattle against my ribcage and the cold of the metal cross against my skin. I can hear James panting beside me and we just sit in the sudden calm for seconds, our labored breathing being the loudest sound.
“Are you okay?” James eventually asks, his voice somewhat quiet with shock.
I nod my head up and down and then before I can control it, a rush of laughter bubbles up from my throat and suddenly I can’t seem to stop. James sits up to look at me, slightly alarmed, but I only wrap my arms around my middle and laugh some more. A small grin spreads across James’s face as well and before I know it, he’s laughing too. Left over adrenaline pumps through my veins, releasing itself in small bursts of giggles as I pull myself into a ball on the floor.
Giddy relief floods me like a wave as my muscles relax and I reach out to grab my bag, hugging it to my chest as my giggles slowly subside. I see James get up from beside me and then he helps me to my feet. We’re both still a little shaky.
I look around the car. It’s mostly empty, to my surprise, except for stacked boxes to the far side of the room. As I approach them I see they’re labeled with many different food items and I presume this is intended for a grocery store somewhere. James heads over to the large rolling door that’s still slightly parted from our arrival and pulls it shut, locking out the rest of the blurred, whirring noise, leaving us with muffled clicks.
“I can’t believe we actually did this,” I almost whisper, still in shock. I sit down on one of the boxes. “I mean, we outran the administrators and jumped on a train .”
James grins in amusement. “I told you it’d be an adventure.”
I smile and reach into my bag, pulling out the apple I abandoned only minutes before; so odd that it seems like hours. James comes to sit beside me, following suit. We eat our breakfast in silence, the noise from the train making up for lack of conversation. The room around us seems so foreign and strange but for some odd reason I feel no apprehension about being here. It feels right; normal even. Much better than going along with the administrators.
I finish eating my apple and suddenly something on the far side of the room catches my eye; a ladder. I get up and walk toward it, seeing that it leads to a hatch on the ceiling.
“What are you doing?” James asks.
“Look,” I reply,
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