On the Rocks

Chapter 2

Adira started her chores right away. She went to the cabinet under the sink and grabbed the bucket of cleaning supplies and a garbage bag. She walked around the house collecting any beer cans or bottles she found. She dusted off all the tables and vacuumed the living room. She made her way to her parents room and made their bed and vacuumed their room as well. She threw the sheet of her bed into the washing machine to clean the blood out of it that it had gained from her beating the night before. She saw the blood stains and the memories once again flooded her head. She began to think to herself and question why she never tried to leave. Adira went back into the kitchen to wash the dishes in the sink. She gazed out the kitchen window, the only one not boarded up. She looked out at the sunlight and thought about how it would feel to stand in its rays and feel free. She finished the dishes still thinking about what it would feel like to be free. In the bathroom she cleaned the toilet and sink and accumulated all the dirty closes and changed the loads of laundry. She struggled to pull the door of the old dry open throwing her body back as the door finally flew open. She hit her body against the window in the bathroom. The board across the window snapped down the middle. She franticly pushed the board back together to make it appear unbroken. That's when it hit her, her escape plan.

Adira went to the kitchen and pulled out a pot from under the stove. She went to the pantry and grabbed out a few cans of chicken broth and some noodles. She boiled the broth and poured the hard noodles in. She cut up some left over chicken and threw it in to complete the chicken noodle soup. She placed a bowl, napkin, and spoon at the two spots at the table. She took out a small mug and ate a helping herself before her parents arrived back home. She quickly washed the mug to hide the evidence of eating.

Harry and Corabelle walked into the house with three bags in their hands. They set them on the counter and Adira began to unpack them. She placed the alcohol on the counter and put the fresh food away.

"Why haven't you showered? I don't want to look at a filthy brat!"

"Sorry, I will go shower now." Adira's plan was going just as she wished. She went into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. She grabbed the stuff she hid in the washer and strapped the bag to her back. She turned on the shower so the dripping water covered the noise. She took the split board on the window and turned the two parts outwards. She flipped the lock switch on the window and pushed it up. She stepped out of the window making sure to make slow movements. She stood on a ledge outside the house and twisted the boards back together. She pulled the window back down and ran. She ran and ran. She didn't even turn around once to look at what she was leaving behind.

She ran about three miles. She crunched sticks and fallen leaves under her feet as she continued on. She reached a small creek after an half hour of running. She removed her shoes and rolled the cuffs of her pants up. She place the shoes into the bag on her back and walked down the creek in the water so she did not leave evidence of footprints.

The creek led to a larger river and open air. Adira climbed up on a stack of rocks and opened her arms up to the sun. She stood in the rays and felt for the first time the freedom she strived for.