Two Birds [ONC 2024]

Chain of Sheets

It was the wedding night, the night I was meant to marry a horrific man. To say it, he was the Prince of Netherlands however his mind was not bigger than a nut. An actual nut.

I sighed. This was it, the moment of truth. Either I had to take a leap of faith or regret not doing so for the rest of my life.

Looking down the balcony, I gulped. Could I really do it? I had been questioning that for hours and yet I had not been able to arrive at a suitable answer.

My father, the ruler of England, had forced this marriage upon me. He was forcing me to marry someone whom I had never met before than the past few days and now I was meant to marry a lunatic. The conclusion, I had to jump off the balcony by tying up sheets and curtains and somehow, escape with my true love, Catherine.

For now, I could not see her anywhere near to her room's balcony. It was on the second floor and mine on the third. I was certain that Catherine would make it down the balcony, but how would I? She was the daring one, while I was the sweet and innocent Princess who had grown in luxury and comfort. This event scared me to the core.

It was getting late. The sky had turned dark and soon I would be expected in the Great Hall as the bride I was. I had to act fast before someone came over and took me away.

Gulping, I made my way back into the room. I looked at the long chain of bedsheets, clothes, curtains and whatnot which I had tied, lying at my bed. Slowly, I approached the bed and picked the chain up, dragging it towards the balcony.

Once I reached the parapet, I looked down for any signs of guards. None so far. Sighing, I swung the chain of sheets and threw it down. It flew down, stretching on and on till it stopped a few inches above the ground level. Perfect.

Quickly, I tied its other end to the pillar which emerged through the edge of the balcony. Tugging as hard as I could, I ensured that it would not make me fall. Perfect once again.

And now came the dreadful part. I gulped and approached the parapet, looking down at the bottom. If I was to fall, I was certain it would lead to my doom.

Nausea overtook me upon imagining my body lying on the ground, head split into half with blood seeping out. Immediately, I wrenched out the contents of my gut to the side at my sickening imagination. Why, oh why was this so difficult?

"You can do this Jane," I murmured as I inhaled and exhaled to calm my nerves down. "You can do this, yes you can! You must... there's not way out. Get up, yes...get up NOW!"

Slowly, I got up. I knew if I kept thinking, I would not be able to make it. Rather, I would have to force myself into it as if someone was intentionally pushing me to take that step.

"There's no other option for you," I murmured to myself as I stood at the edge. "You must do it now."

Slowly I brought up my left leg, holding firmly on to the edge of the parapet. My body trembled but I did not allow myself to stop.

"Okay, you're halfway out." With an equally slow pace, I lifted my right leg and was finally standing on the other end.

I sighed. I did not have the strength to look down hence kept my eye strained into my room. Sweat trickled down my neck even though chilling wind blew around my hanging body.

"Next step Jess." Slowly, I took a small step to the left and bent down. Holding the string of sheets in both of my palms, I steadily brought my left leg down, trying to support it on the pillar. Of course it was difficult, considering how my leg slipped from it, but I realised I had to keep a firm grip on the sheets or I was done for.

"Just the right leg Jess, it's only the right leg." Exhaling, I brought it down and immediately began to swing in mid air.

"AAAAAARGGHH!!" I screamed in terror. My arms began to ache since they were taking up my entire body's weight and it felt like they would tear apart from my body.

Hurriedly, I wrung my legs around the pillar, grasping it with my legs while I maintained my grip on the chain of sheets.

I huffed and puffed heavily, sweat trickling down every inch and pore of my body. Why, oh why in the world had I decided to do this? I wanted to bang my head on the pillar to have made such a foolish mistake. I was not an adventurous girl. This was not my thing. But there was no point on regretting this decision anymore. I had taken a step towards a horrible demise, what wrong could occur if I tried anyway?

"You're going to die but why can't you try?" Whispering to myself, I made a small jump. Releasing my palm slightly, I slipped down the sheet and immediately caught the pillar out of terror.

Well...I think it was exciting? It felt like it and I did the same once more.

Now, the feeling was not that horrifying.

"You can do this Jane!" I exclaimed to myself. With a new feeling of excitement, I slowly made my way towards the ground. As I levelled towards the second floor, I was half way through my journey. And then I noticed it.

Half way down this equally terrifying and exciting journey I made eye contact with someone doing the exact same thing a few balconies over. And that was none other than my love, the only one I had been doing this for, Catherine.

I giggled as I made my way down further ahead. This was getting exciting. I kept jumping, daring to take larger leaps everytime I did. But this could've cost my life.

In my silly excitation, I lost my grip. And that resulted into a sudden fall. The terror seized my heart, the same dread overcame me as the one with which I had started this journey.

"MAMAAAAAA," I screamed as I fell to the ground.

Word Count: 1078 Words