Escape alone
You quickly clamped your hands around your mouth, hushing your excitement, and trying to be subtle enough for the others to fall back asleep. It wasn’t a hard task, everyone else was absolutely exhausted, and with the idea of how much work was to be done the following day, nobody wanted to risk an ounce of sleep that night.
The following day when you were led out into the fields, you thought it was the perfect time to execute your plan. When nobody else was looking, you searched for the tallest and thickest tree you could find. Slowly, you worked your way over to its vicinity and readied your body for what was next.
Your youth seemed to carry you the most, as all others were several seasons older than you. The secret power you held within was your final hope, and suddenly, when the time was right, you let it all out.
With a loud booming sound, you sprayed your stinkiest load of spray into the air. All the other workers doubled over in discomfort as their nostrils were filled with the rank acidic smell of your skunk spray. Even you could barely stand the stench of your scent glands as your watering eyes rapidly searched for the easiest way up the tree. Your claws scrabbled at the rough bark surrounding the arbor, and before long you found yourself several feet above the ground, perching in the treetops.
Your princess-ly pristine nails were now dirty and slightly bloody from the painful spikes of wood and splinters lodged beneath them. It was disgusting to you, but you weighed your options with the even more disgusting life of servitude; your second option. When you reached the top of the tree, it seemed completely worth it.
Behind you was a clearing of grass below, and you could see the vast laboring landscape beyond. On the other side was an enormous stretch of trees tall and wide. Their canopies acted as the perfect cover as you began to gallop and leap through the thick leaf cover of its canopy. Freedom seemed only moments away from you and your mind was filled with the possibilities that await you thereafter.
From below, you could hear guards chasing after you, yelling for you to stop, and attempting to catch up, but your speed, and the rank smell of your anal glands seemed to be an easy deterrent. You didn’t know if it would lead them to you, or throw them off the trail, but after a while of running, their voices seemed to fade into the distance.
By the time the sun was in the middle of the sky, you realized that you were completely home-free. Looking around, you saw the vast fields of overhanging trees for miles farther than your eyes could have processed. You climbed down and found yourself among thick, dense, forest brush, and in an instant you realized something quite important: You didn’t think about what would come after.
Despite your science knowledge, it seemed almost useless in this harsh environment. You didn’t have the luxury of guessing, checking, and applying the scientific method to things around here; the stakes were just too high.
The heaving breath within your lungs was invigorating to you, the cold air within your chest helped bring life to your situation, yet when the high began to fade, you realized that you may have put yourself in a more dangerous position than you were in before.
Twilight came upon you, and it hit you, how long you had been on the lam. Anxiety clutched your stomach as you realized that you would be alone in the wilderness, unable to attain the basic needs you would have previously had handed to you.
“Okay. I can figure this out.” you said to yourself confidently, though you didn’t know how much of that was just a ruse to yourself, just for comfort. But when your night vision began to kick in, and the sounds of wild animals around you began to close in, you wondered how efficient your secret weapon could have been utilized before it was too late. You pulled yourself up by the bootstraps and continued to trudge through the muddy forest around you, without any idea of how long you’ll be walking, or even the direction you’ve chosen, the future seemed just as dim as the night air around you. Yet you continued on for as long as you possibly could have, until someone, or something would find you.
Written by Driftingdragon on 13 October 2020
The end (for now)