A Journey, A Coincidence, A Memory

Chapter 20: Lara

January 20, 2022, 6:00 pm

My eyes are starting to torture me.

I have been watching TV for the past seven hours and my eyes are tormenting me.

I shut the TV off and lie down in frustration along with Maisie, who's a deep sleep in our bed. When will we get back home? I totally forgot it's even my birthday and by now I should've been cutting my birthday cake. I was mostly excited to see Addilyn's reactions when she sees the candle lighted birthday cake. She was always fascinated by unique lights and she gives out the most adorable laughter when she sees one. I guess I missed that opportunity.

I stare at the clock, looking at how much time is left for my birthday; six hours. I wish I had never done this in the first place; I should've stayed back at home and faced the punishments from my mother. But decisions have been made; they cannot be changed. This is basically the consequence of making a bad choice.

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I stare at the ceiling in hunger; I haven't eaten anything for hours. All the food I brought was just some candies and chips. Those will definitely not be enough for a missed breakfast, lunch and dinner. This led me into heading out of the motel and searching the restaurant. I should be really cautious about retracing my steps since I don't know this place yet.

I spot McDonald's in a distance and order some burgers and fries. I also order some for Maisie too as a repayment for telling her to come with me on a disastrous adventure. I pay for the food and head out for the exit. That's when I see some police officers glaring bizarrely at me as if they recognized me. They then headed toward me, and that's when I realize what was happening.

I sprinted as fast as I can like an unstoppable racing car. I remember that Maisie said that she ran away from the police earlier, so I get how the police recognize me.

I run around in circles, but the police still didn't lose me. I have no idea how in the world did Maisie handle the police; I can't even seem to make them go far away from me. I shouldn't go to the motel either because they will then know our hideout.

I had never been so blank with ideas. I usually come up with one in an instant, but this is an incident I have never witnessed. That's basically why I don't know what to do.

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It's been several minutes, I'm still on a police chase.

It's time I think of something; my brain has got to work.

After that thought, something comes in between my nerves. It's a plan and I got to do what my brain says.

A bus at a stop is about to leave, so I head to it quickly. I arrived just a second before it left. I move towards the back of the bus where I hide in a compartment for luggage. That might be comical, but it's my only way to be safe.

I could then hear everything, the police pulled the bus over.

I can hear the murmur of voices describing how I look and the driver had no clue that he saw me. I just hope I'm in a good cover.

I can hear the slight sound of footsteps getting louder as they come closer.

That's when I realized that I made a horrible mistake.

The police opened the compartment door and saw me in it. I knew for a second that my horrible mistake would lead me into trouble. As I said earlier, bad choices can lead to bad consequences. Apparently, I bought some McDonald's meal just some minutes ago, so that led to an emerging aroma that can easily be smelled.

I tried to run for my life, but I got caught at the very last step out of the bus. That put an end to my runaway.