The Library

Let Freedom Ring

To be free is the desire of nearly every human being. Freedom has been the cause of countless rebellions across all of space, time, and relative dimensions. No one likes to be caged, yet here we are. Historically speaking, Tommy and I don't exactly have 'the best' track record when it comes to avoiding trouble. Heck, we have an awful one. The worst punishment in my memory would be what has been deemed as the "Humiliation Games" by none other than Sophie.

The prank was a masterpiece if I do say so myself, if all had gone to plan. The prank itself was merely a distraction. Henry was installing an antenna on the roof in order for us to pick up on some cable TV and have a Wi-Fi connection. Isaac and Thomas were in charge of sectioning of a room in the attic so that in the rare moments my parents did enter our getaway they would be completely oblivious to the electronics just out of reach. Sophie was in charge of hauling any tools or furniture up. And then there's me. I was in charge of distraction. I set it up so that as our dog, Daisy, ran through the barn a chain reaction would occur. My mom would drop the eggs she collected at 8 o'clock on the dot, the tractor would backfire and all hell would break loose amongst the animals. The day came up and Daisy went missing so I had to trigger the chaos myself, which lead to me getting caught, which resulted in a month of humiliation as my parents would drive me to school and pick me up to insure I had nothing remotely fun occurring. I was stuck in dresses and it was awful.

Despite the public humiliation that came from that punishment, this one was infinitely worse. The barn was like a cage, suffocating us.

Day one of barn enclosed hell, went surprisingly smoothly. I could tell my parents and Henry were equally shocked by Thomas and my obedience. We spent the day doing all of my mom and dad's chores for them, on top of our own. Dad kept jabbing at us, trying to get a reaction. Every time this happened it took everything in me to keep from responding with some sexual innuendos, expletives, and the ever necessary sarcasm. I just bit my lip and pushed through it, repeating It's just till tonight, then you can run over and over again.

The hardest part was resisting the urge to break into hysterical laughter whenever I overheard my brothers mumbling to themselves. Henry kept repeating, "One more year and then you can tell them, 'bite me.'"

Thomas however was the icing on the cake when it came to keeping spirits up. The first time dad started trying to evoke a reaction from us, I was scrubbing the dishes while Tommy was standing next to me drying and putting away the dishes. Dad walked by and said, "It's about time you started pulling your weight properly around here." Thomas frowned and kept working, but said nothing. Until dad left the room.

The second he was clear I heard Tommy mumbling, "Only eight more hours. Eight more hours and then I'm singing "Independence Day" at the top of my damn lungs during the run." Throughout the rest of the day I would randomly hear Tommy muttering sarcastic comments or reciting entire chapters from books to keep himself calmed down.

When our watches finally read 10 o'clock that night, I swear we nearly exploded from happiness. Isaac brought us a basket filled to the brim with food and our running gear. Tommy and I ate and changed ready to get out of there. We crawled out through a space between the side of the barn and the roof, using our repurposed rope swing to get down. I crept past the house and motioned for Thomas to follow me. We raced for the road and then set into our usual pace.