Misunderstood Control

The plan

Loralie woke up, still in the same cold lonely position. She sat up as quickly as possible, looking for Nikki. She was curled up behind loralie, and she looked extremely tired. She couldn’t just leave the cat like that. Picking up Nikki, she walked the two of them to the kitchen. She gave her some food and water, although it wasn’t healthy for a cat to be living off of that kind of stuff. There had to be a ladder or something laying around this place, she thought. “Come now Nikki, least go exploring again today, hm?” she asked. Nikki just kept eating, ignoring everything loralie was saying. Loralie rolled her eyes, getting back up from the kitchen floor. She walked back out into the hallway. “hey Nikki I’m going back to the vent, come when your ready.” She yelled behind her. Starting down the hall, it all felt like a bad dream. She will wake up, and this will all be behind her. But the pain still throbbed all over her body. This was no dream. Once she got to where she needed, loralie sat down, defeated. Suddenly, her brain started working again. A risky idea popped into her head, but it seemed like the only way out. Nikki ran to loralie and nudged her head against her side. Loralie smiled and pet the poor animal. She just wanted some love and attention is all. “alright sweetheart, just a sec.” she stood up, brushing the dirt from her pants. She took the boxes one by one, staking then to make the hallway they were in smaller. Pushing on them, she realized how sturdy it was all together. Nikki settled down and lay on the floor as loralie worked. Then, it was time to put her plan in action. It wouldn’t involve much moving of her hands, but more on the legs. Getting herself a running start, she jumped from one wall of boxes to another in an instant. Gripping the slit in the vent, she moved off the cover with her other arm. It was off! Finally! Trying her best not to look down, she decided it was best to try and pull herself up into the vent first. Using all of the strength she has saved up, loralie clawed her way Into the vent. It was dark and musty, dust clinging onto the walls for dear life. There was a flow of air rushing in, and it was freezing cold. Loralie decided that it was enough time, and she should get back to Nikki before she hurt herself in any way. She crouched down, ready to jump. She didn’t feel like breaking her legs, that would be a minor setback. Carefully stepping down onto the air, she put her left foot at the same height as her right knee, bent behind her. Then, she dropped. Loralie landed on her one knee and one foot. It hurt like hell, the vibrations of the fall shocking through her whole body. Slowly getting back up, loralie had an idea. Rushing to the kitchen, she grabbed one of Nikki’s favorite treats. Boiled carrots. As soon as she gathered enough, she grabbed a sheet and her flashlight, and finally headed back to the vent.