The Daring Escape

“Clean!” The strict head shouted. “This orphanage should be spotless each day you dirty little monkeys!” She barked. “Thankless! Filthy!” All of us swept and cleaned. It was a gloomy day at the orphanage, and like always, Mrs. McCarthy was screaming at us for not taking care of the orphanage. 

My best friend, Marisa, was crying. 

So were the 15 other children including me, at the orphanage. We were treated like slaves. We got only one piece of bread a day. We swept with aching backs all day. Last year, my other best friend, Luna, was so thirsty, that she started screaming for water. As a result, she was slapped and barked at by Mrs. McCarthy. 

That night, I woke up to the sound of thumping. I looked up. It was just a bird. It flew away. Out of the window. It was free. That night, I couldn't sleep at all. Because tomorrow was a day that I had been planning for 2 years.

I woke up at 7:15 in the morning. I gently shook Marisa and Luna awake. “We’re going. I’m sick of staying here. “ I said. They smiled. All of us were kind-hearted, so we woke up all of the other older children. “We’re escaping today,” I said. 

“The plan is, the tall and strong will carry the 3 younger children.” Shana, Lucy, and Mike raised their hands. “ Then,” I whispered, “right now, 3 quiet people will go downstairs, and grab food. In the meantime, all of us will pack up. I’ll go downstairs with Marisa and Luna.” They nodded their heads, and we went down. It was creepy, but we managed to get food. Suddenly, I heard a creak.  I looked up. I sighed with relief. It was just a cat. By the time we were back, all of our things were packed. 

“Now,” I said, “We go.” We tiptoed downstairs. Then, we ran. “I forgot to mention,” I whispered, “Shana, Lucy, Mike, wake up the younger children when we are out of this place.” They nodded. We ran as fast as we could. 

Soon we reached a sign saying, “ Goodbye from Opisa City.” All of us cheered, and then, we woke the younger children. The younger children were Mickey, Luni, and  Millery.

Mickey started to cry. “Where are we?”She sobbed. “We are never going to go back to the orphanage again,” I whispered. Mickey looked at me, her great blue eyes into my dark green eyes. Mickey smiled. She yawned. I picked her up and cradled her in my arms. 

“I have been planning this for 2 years,” I said, “And finally I have put it into action.” Shana smiled. “This plan must be so detailed,” Shana said.  “It is.” I beamed. “Our next step is to find some sort of vehicle that we kids can drive and ride.” “Over there!” A kid called Una whispered.

“Amazing Una!” I exclaimed as I walked towards the huge golf cart. “The problem is,” Mike said, “All of us can fit judging by the size, but who will drive?” “I think I can.” A voice behind me whispered. 

I turned around to see our oldest kid at the orphanage who was 16, Felisha. “The truth is,” she babbled,” When I was 12, I snuck into the garage, where the golf cart was. I drove it. From then on, for 4 years, I drove it around. I knew that my skills would come in handy for escape. I too dreamed of escaping Hannah.” She said to me.

   “Great!” I exclaimed as I threw a hug at Felisha. We all sat down, and Felisha started it. After 3 hours of driving, she stopped. I looked over. It was a small kid. He was coughing and looked sick. Felisha got out. She knelt down and picked him up.

“Hello,” he said, “can you help me? My name is Tommy. There was a fire at my orphanage. Everyone fled in different directions. I’ve been walking for 2 days.” He coughed again.

“Oh Tommy, you have been walking in freezing weather for 2 days, and you are so little? Of course, we will help you.” I said. I pulled out a blanket. I wrapped him in it and gave him to Una, who was sitting next to Felisha. Una cuddled him. He looked to be about 6 years old. After 3 hours, it was 7:30. “Listen up,” Felisha stated, “First, I will fuel this golf cart. As I’m feeling, whoever needs to go to the bathroom can go. Make sure no one sees you. Then, we will find a place to camp out for the night. 

As Felisha was fueling the golf cart, I went to the woods to do my business. 3 other kids, Una, a kid called Rosie, and Marisa had to go too. “Come on all of you!” Felisha called. “It’s time to go!” 

Me, Una, Rosie, and Marisa ran to the golf cart. Tommy was rolling around in the grass, and Luna was lying down. The little kids were sleeping, and everybody else was whispering things to each other. When Felisha called us, everyone had already run over. 

Felisha looked worried. “What’s the matter, Felisha?” Luna asked. “The authorities are on the hunt for us, and the kids at Hip Hop orphanage.” She said with a shaking voice. “Hip Hop is my orphanage!” Tommy cried. I sat down and cried. “What’s wrong Hannah?” Marisa, Luna, and Felisha said at the same time. “I got all of you in trouble.” I sniffed. 

“Got us in trouble? Hannah, all of us have wanted to escape. Whoever has tried has been locked up in the-” Felisha cried. “Oh my gosh!” I screamed. “The punished people! We left the 5 of them behind!” Felisha immediately started the golf cart. She went so fast that in only 4 hours, we reached a sign saying ‘Welcome to Opisa City.’ Soon, we reached our orphanage. “I’ll go in,” I whispered. Before anyone could protest, I bolted off towards the door. It was 11:00, so nobody was there. I opened the door… and found me into the arms of Mrs. McCarthy. “You freak!” She barked at me. “It was you who decided to escape!” “You are a fool,” she said, “2 days ago when you made the daring escape, I watched it all. I let my cat Fufu in. I knew you would come back for the punished people. Stupid, kind-hearted you.” 

She took out a piece of rope and tied my hands behind my back. Then, she took out a white bandana and tied it around my mouth. I muffled through my gag. She clapped her hands. “Meet my henchmen.” She cackled. A whole line of henchmen came, with my friends in the same state as me. They held us upside down and bound our legs together. They locked us in the dark punishment room. There, I saw the 5 people we had left behind in the same state as us. I looked at the 5 people we had left behind. I had so much to say. 

I observed all of the prisoners. Tommy wasn’t there. Suddenly, the door to the punishment room opened. I saw a bunch of police officers with Tommy. He ran over to me and ripped off my gag. He fiddled with my ropes. “I need help!” He cried. One police officer walked over and cut the ropes holding me. I gasped for air.  The police officer who had helped Tommy was a woman. 

I kissed Tommy on the cheek. “How did you get here?” I asked. “Well, when the henchmen came out to get us, I ran to the police department. I brought them here. Mrs. McCarthy and her henchmen are in jail.” He cried. All of us had a group hug. All was well.

                 4 years later

Dear Diary,

What happened 4 years ago was an adventure. 2 days after that happened, we all got adopted. The police officer woman agreed to adopt me and Tommy. And get this! After we were adopted, mom and dad rushed me and Tommy to the hospital to check for any infections and stuff like that. It turns out, Tommy and I were siblings! We’ve been really excited about that. We learned that our real parents died in a car crash, and when that happened, 2 women picked us up, and took us to different orphanages, not knowing that we were siblings. Now, I’m 10, and he’s 8. We live a great life, and all of the other orphans and we live in the same neighborhood. Tommy was a brave, brave boy for the age of 6. I’ve got to go. Mom is calling me for lunch. See you soon!