Make Your Story

14 A

Ava sprinted through the narrow cobblestone streets, dodging past people and diving down small side streets in an attempt to lose her livid dad. She could hear him running behind her, ploughing through the crowds of people she had skipped round, no doubt mowing several down each time. At each corner she ward him hunt with the effort of turning so quickly and at such a tight angle, but he persevered and - somehow - managed to keep up. Never quite catching her, but always no more than 3 metres behind.
Ava took a sharp left, then a right and another left, then doubled back on herself down an alleyway. She emerged on a busy road and sprinted on, then dodged down another alleyway. She sidestepped right and into an alleyway narrower than the other and squeezed tryouts a tiny gap in the fence at the end. She could hear her dad pounding on the wood, shaking the posts, unable to get through.
Ava tore her eyes away from the rattling fence and took in her surroundings. Somehow, she had managed to get into the posh part of the town, and was now in the large back garden of a 4-storey, Victorian, terraced house. The garden was evenly mowed and the flower beds trimmed to perfection. Across the other side was an extremely expensive looking Wendy House. It had two floors and through one of the meticulously cleaned windows Ava could see a life sized cooker, along with a table, two chairs, armchair and a small bookshelf.
She tiptoed across the garden and to the gate on the opposite side. There are a padlock on it, with two codes and a key needed to unlock it, but she climbed over. On the top of the gate were several sharp, metal spikes but Ava clambered over then easily, just catching the bottom of her shirt on one. It ripped and a small piece of navy blue, stained material stuck to the end.
Now escaped from her dad, Ava ran through the streets and back to the route she had been taking earlier, before the whole incident with the bridge and her dad. She jogged over the bridge and down the street, then took a left and crossed the road. Towering above her was the social services offices. She took a deep breath, brushed herself down and walked in. She glanced out the window as she stepped through the door and saw her dad turn the cover onto the street.

Please turn to a chapter entitled '16'