The Great Escape

As I stare out of the large floor to ceiling window of this wretched tower I can’t help looking out at the sea just beyond the city dock. It is so beautiful at this time of day, the sun is beginning to set and I swear I can feel the ocean call my name. The mere thought of the world beyond this tower sends a monsoon of feelings coursing through my body. Hope that one day I will get out of this room, fear that I will die in this god forsaken tower, then sadness that _he_ never came. The dream that prince Edmond would come save me died 20 years ago. “Did you really think he would leave the comfort of his beautiful palace for you?” I say to my reflection in the glass. He proabably did not even contemplate rescuing me. I was naive to think he would so anything that did not benefit himself. I turn around and take a look around the room and take note of the little details of my prison cell. With the light from the blazing hearth I can see almost everything in this small room. Most people would think this room is gorgeous and extravagant from the gold crown moldings to the extremely rare fabrics of the sofa and chairs. To me, this room is hell on earth. The thing that catches my eye is the markings on the wall opposite the hearth. The wall with 10,950 nicks adorning it. One for every day I have been trapped in this room. I walk over to the wall I have scarred and run my hand over the indents until I find the first one I ever made. “I will not add anymore gouges to this wall ” I tell myself “I will escape or I will die trying.”

I walk away from the wall leaving all the memories with it and walk to the center of the room. Over the past 30 years I have done some minor re_decorating_. No one has ever said anything, I think the guards that bring me my meals probably think I was just bored. Little do they know I moved all the furniture against the walls to give me more space to train. When I was younger I would watch the guards training almost every day with my best friend Athena and I picked up a few things. I go thought the exercises I saw them do beginning with the worst of them all. Push ups.

By the time I finish my exercises I only have a few minutes until the guard will be here with my dinner and I have to be ready for when he opens the door. I run over to the closet and pull out some pants and a shirt that I have saved for this day and throw them on. The only shoes I have are house slippers but they will have to do so I slip those on as well. After I am fully dressed I walk over to the large beautiful gilded mirror and take a look at myself and I laugh a little. “ I look silly” the shirt and pants are lovely but with the addition of the house slippers the whole look is just ridiculous. “It’s a good thing I’m not trying to impress anyone because I look horrendous.” _KNOCK KNOCK. _“Oh shit” I whisper. I run to the side table and grab the large candlestick just as the knob on the door begins to turn. I sprint behind the door just in time for the guard to open it. He walks in a few steps but I still can’t see him. Come on just a few more steps. “My lady?” He says to the room. My heart is pounding so irrationally I’m surprised he doesn’t hear it. Finally he steps into my line of vision and I strike. I whack him as hard as I can on the head with the candlestick. He falls to the ground like a fallen tree. His metal armor clangs on the ground so loudly my ears ring. That was not part of my calculations, someone surely heard that. As fast as snake I drop the candlestick and flip him over on his back. I undo his sword belt and pull it off of him. The sword is heavier than I expected but I wrap the sword belt around my waist. He also has a dagger sheathed to his thigh which could come in handy. Time is running out so I quickly grab the dagger and keep it palmed in my hand. I get up to start running but notice some coins had fallen out of his pocket and bend down to pick them up. They aren’t just any coins, they are gold medallions. “Where did you get these?” I say to the guards limp body. I slip the coins into my pockets and run out of the door and begin descending the stairs.

Another downside of being trapped in that room for 30 years is I have no idea how to get out of this castle. When I get to the bottom of the stairs I am met with an impossible decision. Left or right? The hallway is dark, lit by a few torches every few feet but both directions look identical. “Left or right, right or left” I say to the empty hall. Suddenly, I hear a pounding coming from my left. It’s running. A lot of people running. I go right and fly down the hallway. All I need to do is get outside of this castle to the city and make my way to the docks, sounds easy enough. “STOP!” A guard yells behind me. But I can’t stop, I won’t. There’s an intersection of hallways ahead of me and this time I go left. Which was not a good idea because there is a guard standing 50 feet ahead of me. He pulls his sword and smiles at me. Without slowing my pace I smirk back and throw the dagger in my hand and it hits its mark in his throat. “Looks like the practice with the butter knives paid off!” I say to him as he begins to fall to his knees. I pull the dagger from his throat and keep running. The guards chasing me through the halls have begun to gain on me. I just need to find a door that will take me outside. “You can’t escape!” One of the guards yells at me sounding out of breath. “You will never find the way out!” I wish I could throw this dagger at his face. “Has anyone ever told you to never say never?” I yell back at him. My voice sounding more steady than I feel. Ahead of me is a another spit in the hallway and I’m not sure why but I feel like I should go right. Without second guessing myself I go right and a delicious smell hits me. I must be near the kitchens and that means there has to be a door to the outside. All kitchens have them so the servants and cooks can take out the garbage. I follow the smell and hope that there is only one person in there and that they dont try to stop me. I see it. A door is propped open at the end of the hall and through it I see ovens. I fly through the door.

There is not just one person in here like I had hoped. This kitchen is packed, there is at least 15 people in here “Sorry excuse me!” I say to them as I move around the tables where most of them are cutting up a variety of vegetables. “STOP HER!” The same guard yells at them but none of them move to stop me. One girl to my right runs to a door at the back of a hallway off the kitchen and opens it. It’s a door to the outside. I run towards her and as I run through the door I knod my thanks to her. Behind me I hear a loud clattering that sounds suspiciously like a lot of pots and pans hitting the floor. I smile as I sprint for the city because I know somehow those servants in the kitchen helped slow those guards down.

I don’t take the time to appreciate the fresh air hitting my face or the smell of the flowers and grass. There is no stopping me until I am as far away from that tower as I can be. As I enter the city no one blinks an eye at me. I get to the docks in just under 20 minutes and stop the first sailor I meet. Pulling out the gold medallions from my pocket I tell him “my name is Aurora and I need to get out of this city now” his eyes widen when he sees the gold in my hand. “Then lets go.” He says to me as he takes the gold from my hand. We board his ship which is named The Great Escape which I find very ironic but I dont say anything to him. In less than 5 minutes we are sailing out of the harbour and for the first time in 30 years I am actually excited for what the future holds.