When my older brother banged on my bedroom door for the hundredth time, trying to disrupt me from my homework, I decided I couldn't take it anymore. Both of our parents were working all the time, and my brother had become almost the sole carer for me. In his spare time, he took to annoying me while completing homework, most of the time causing me to arrive at school the next day handing up a blank sheet of paper. I was failing in school, rarely saw my parents, and lived on cold tinned baked beans and spaghetti in a disgustingly filthy house, because my brother could not be bothered to do anything. He was sixteen and very well capable of running a house, but he chose not to because of sheer laziness. I on the other hand, was twelve and had just started high school. I was inundated with homework every night, and had little time for any fun. As I pondered my miserable life, the banging at my door started up again. Infuriated, I did the unthinkable. I grabbed a concrete door stopper that was inside my room, ran to the window and smashed it with the concrete. With that, I pulled my bed quilt over the broken glass littering the ground and crawled outside, wary of the razor-sharp shards. The banging on my door continued, but it was more frenzied now. He was probably wondering what that noise was. Even if he wasn't the best brother in the world, he still had to care for me. Worried he would break down my locked door, I stood up, now outside, and ran down the path running past our house. My bare feet slapped against the pavement in time with my thudding heart. I glanced behind me to see if anyone was coming, but the pathway was eerily silent.
After about five minutes, I slowed down to a walk. I was well over a few streets over now, so I was quite certain I was safe. Until a police car rounded the corner in front of me, and upon sighting me, tooted and flashed his lights.
"Oh no", I whispered, and immediately turned and pelted back down the pavement. Instantly, I heard the sirens start up behind me, and a revving engine. Worried they would catch me and force me to go back to my dump of a house, I continued running. The car police car caught up to me easily, and coasted alongside me as the window was wound down. I glanced over while continuing to run. Inside, a police officer sat with my brother in the two front seats. My heart clenched. My brother looked so worried, and the police officer looked concerned too.
"Mary Elina," the police officer shouted over the car engine. I ignored him, still too upset to go back home.
"Stop running, and we will discuss the issue with your parents. They have been alerted and are on their way now. We can talk it over and come to an agreement."
I sucked in a deep breath when I heard my parents knew. What would they make of this? They were easily irritable, which resulted from working all day with only a couple of hours sleep. They were also very harsh with punishment. Being forced to go hungry for a day or two was common for disobeying my parents, and they considered it a favour for saving money. No, I decided. I wouldn't put up with this anymore. My eyes scouted the path ahead of me, and with a stroke of luck, I noticed a bike leant against a fence ahead of me. I sprinted to it, jumping on and pedalling away, ignoring the cries of anger from inside the yard and the tooting horn of the police car. I legged it down a narrow bicycle lane, which was too narrow for the car which was in hot pursuit. Summoning the layout of the neighbourhood in my mind, I remembered that the bike lane opened out on a busy highway. It might be enough for me to get away from the police. As the lane widened, I sighted the highway right in front of me. It was peak hour traffic, with cars speeding along in all directions. I looked at the scene with wide eyes.
Running away wasn't nearly as easy as they say.
I rode the bike onto the shoulder of the road, where I pedalled along on the small strip of bitumen as quick as I could go. My legs were burning, but I refused to stop until I had gotten down the road to the subway. Maybe there I could sneak onto a train or something. Cars blew their horns as they raced past me, swerving to avoid getting too close, but I shut it out. There was still no sight of any flashing lights, which I took as a good sign. Possibly they had given up, coming to the conclusion I simply needed to be left alone for a few hours before I came back on my own accord. Coming to a busy intersection, I sighted the subway over the road. I screeched to a stop and punched the traffic light button, waiting impatiently for the light to go green and say I could safely cross. It would be suicide to cross now. Suddenly hearing sirens, I nervously glanced behind me as the crossing light turned green. Three police cars were lined up behind the cars awaiting to drive through the intersection. Me pressing the crossing button had bought the entire intersection to a halt. I pedalled with all might across the road and up to the subway. I almost sobbed in relief as I climbed off the stolen bike and my shaky legs climbed up to the awaiting train.
Until the door closed shut behind me and I saw the two police officers standing there with their hands on their hips, disapproving looks on their faces.
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Okay, I know, I have missed two now. So I created this super long one that can account for three nights. Hope it's good! It certainly got me thinking of sneaky ways to evade police :).
After about five minutes, I slowed down to a walk. I was well over a few streets over now, so I was quite certain I was safe. Until a police car rounded the corner in front of me, and upon sighting me, tooted and flashed his lights.
"Oh no", I whispered, and immediately turned and pelted back down the pavement. Instantly, I heard the sirens start up behind me, and a revving engine. Worried they would catch me and force me to go back to my dump of a house, I continued running. The car police car caught up to me easily, and coasted alongside me as the window was wound down. I glanced over while continuing to run. Inside, a police officer sat with my brother in the two front seats. My heart clenched. My brother looked so worried, and the police officer looked concerned too.
"Mary Elina," the police officer shouted over the car engine. I ignored him, still too upset to go back home.
"Stop running, and we will discuss the issue with your parents. They have been alerted and are on their way now. We can talk it over and come to an agreement."
I sucked in a deep breath when I heard my parents knew. What would they make of this? They were easily irritable, which resulted from working all day with only a couple of hours sleep. They were also very harsh with punishment. Being forced to go hungry for a day or two was common for disobeying my parents, and they considered it a favour for saving money. No, I decided. I wouldn't put up with this anymore. My eyes scouted the path ahead of me, and with a stroke of luck, I noticed a bike leant against a fence ahead of me. I sprinted to it, jumping on and pedalling away, ignoring the cries of anger from inside the yard and the tooting horn of the police car. I legged it down a narrow bicycle lane, which was too narrow for the car which was in hot pursuit. Summoning the layout of the neighbourhood in my mind, I remembered that the bike lane opened out on a busy highway. It might be enough for me to get away from the police. As the lane widened, I sighted the highway right in front of me. It was peak hour traffic, with cars speeding along in all directions. I looked at the scene with wide eyes.
Running away wasn't nearly as easy as they say.
I rode the bike onto the shoulder of the road, where I pedalled along on the small strip of bitumen as quick as I could go. My legs were burning, but I refused to stop until I had gotten down the road to the subway. Maybe there I could sneak onto a train or something. Cars blew their horns as they raced past me, swerving to avoid getting too close, but I shut it out. There was still no sight of any flashing lights, which I took as a good sign. Possibly they had given up, coming to the conclusion I simply needed to be left alone for a few hours before I came back on my own accord. Coming to a busy intersection, I sighted the subway over the road. I screeched to a stop and punched the traffic light button, waiting impatiently for the light to go green and say I could safely cross. It would be suicide to cross now. Suddenly hearing sirens, I nervously glanced behind me as the crossing light turned green. Three police cars were lined up behind the cars awaiting to drive through the intersection. Me pressing the crossing button had bought the entire intersection to a halt. I pedalled with all might across the road and up to the subway. I almost sobbed in relief as I climbed off the stolen bike and my shaky legs climbed up to the awaiting train.
Until the door closed shut behind me and I saw the two police officers standing there with their hands on their hips, disapproving looks on their faces.
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Okay, I know, I have missed two now. So I created this super long one that can account for three nights. Hope it's good! It certainly got me thinking of sneaky ways to evade police :).