Transparent Color's

The alarm goes off. I sit on the edge of the bed counting down, “...5, 4, 3, 2, and 1”, Clara and I move out the door, I turn my head to look at Clara running the opposite way. I look back down the hall and run. Adrenaline fills me and I feel stronger than ever.

The room is on the left, 212 or was it 210, I’m not sure, so I open 210’s door and an old man was on the floor covering his ears screaming. Not Toby. I quickly shut the door and go to 212, open the door and see a lump on the bed covered by sheets. With a smile on my face, I run in and remove the sheets to find Toby shaking with fear. He looks up and flings himself at me, I give him a quick kiss on the head and pull an already made sack with a shirt and pants, boots and jacket from the shelf; I pick him up and run out the door.

Run Maggie Run! I can hear commotion on the other side of the building and wonder if Clara and her friend are okay. I reach the end of the hall and turn right, I see the window; I’m moving so fast that I slam into the window to stop. Slow down Maggie, Slow down! I put Toby down and pull the hatch of the bars open and slide up the window. I tell Toby to climb down first; he shakes his head out of fear and starts backing away.

“Toby, this is not the time!” I grab his arm, pick him up and push him out the window onto the edge. I follow behind him.

We make our way down the ladder; the ladder does not go down all the way, so we have to drop the rest of the way. We stay in the shadows close to the wall, just like Clara told me. I am leading the way, but have Toby by the hand. When we get to the edge of the psych building, I look down the alley. I see two guards down at the other end facing the commotion that is now outside. I bring Toby close to me and we slowly move across the opening. As we are nearly to the other building, I hear a woman’s scream and a gun shot. I freeze. Clara, was that Clara?

Toby pulls my arm forward snapping me back to the present and we make our way to the center. Still glued to the wall, in front I see the metal sign. I don’t see the spot light though; it must be occupied elsewhere, as painful as it is for me to think about. I grab Toby and we move to the sign, I lift it up and whisper to Toby, “Be careful, it can cut you. Run to the ditch.”

I help him through the hole in the fence; he goes running to the ditch. Next is me. As I am holding the sign, I put the sack of clothes through, then my right leg, squat down and put my head, then my body through. Last is my left leg, as I am moving it through, while holding the sign up, I hear multiple gun shots. It makes me jump and the inner side of my leg gets cut. I let out a quiet squeal and get myself all the way out. I can’t worry about my leg right now. I grab the sack and dash to the ditch.

Stumbling down I see Toby waiting for me. He runs up and latches on to me.

“I thought you had got shot when I heard the guns,” he sounds so pitiful.

I shake his hair and hand him his clothes, “Get dressed Freckles.”

As I peak over the top of the ditch, he puts the sack down and detaches the magnets that hold the sack closed. He takes out and unfolds the shirt and puts it on. I look down in the sack and notice there are two small blankets at the bottom, I smile; good, now we can keep warm. I look up; close my eyes and say, with a whisper, “Thank you Clara.”

When my eyes open, I see the stone platform that holds the statue. My eyes are now fixated on the statue, I feel drawn to it, like a magnet. Not realizing that my feet are moving, I move from the ditch to the front of the Statue. I step up on to the stone platform that holds the statue. I become mesmerized, unable to disconnect my gaze from the man before me.

I can hear Toby faintly moving out of the ditch after me. He whispers to me “What are you doing? You are in plain sight!” unable to respond or care at the moment, I ignore his plea for me to get down.

His eyes, I keep saying in my mind. I’ve seen those green eyes before, but where and when? Oh yes, every day at the fence. I step closer to the man of stone, as I look at his face, I see he is a young man not too much older than me. I am now just inches from his body. My right hand slowly starts moving up to his face. I hesitate for a moment then lightly caress the side of his cheek with my fingers. My heart begins beating fast.

I freeze, did I just see him blink? I think I just saw him blink. Barely having breath in my lungs, I force out “He blinked.”

“What?” says Toby cautiously.

“His eyes…” I stop because I now feel an arm around my waist. Shaking myself back to my senses, I realize this statue is no longer a statue but a strange man holding me. I let out a silent panic and start to push and squirm to get free.

“Stay still!” I hear a whisper in my ear. But I can’t, my body is on flight mode. Twisting more sporadically now I lose my footing on the stone platform and we both fall off into the ditch.

Left free on the ground, I hear Toby screaming. I look up and see him looking down at me. I crawl up the ditch to get to Toby, when I reach him I pull him down and cover his mouth with my hand. I look back towards where the man fell and he is gone. I now focus on the spot light.

A guard yells, “The statue is gone!” The spot light is lighting on the empty platform, right above us.

That same guard says, “Go tell the Organizers!” to another guard.

I whisper in Toby’s ear, “I am going to let go of your mouth, are you going to stay quiet?” he shakes his head yes, so I remove my hand and put my index finger to my lips. I reach across him and grab the sack with the blankets inside. I throw it around my shoulders and motion for Toby to follow me and we move horizontally down the ditch away from the light. When we are far enough away, nowhere in sight of the light, we head up the other side of the ditch to a field. I take one last look back at the City, at my place of living, at my school, at Anna, at Clara and her friend, and yes even Jimmy. I say good-bye to Pink, grab Toby’s hand and then push my way through the front of the field to a place unknown.