《The Great Escape》 The Great Escape She left the door open!My great escape is set intomotion! I carefully open the door wider, looking down the hallway in both directions. Tiptoeing, I make my way down the hallway to the front door. I look up at my greatest nemesis; The Chain Lock. It sits just out ofmyreach, staring at me hauntingly. But I am ready for its evil! I hold my staff of destruction up against the lock and using the itsgreatestweakness,¡°Imagination¡±I slide the lock open. Once the door is open, I look out on a vast wilderness, full of monsters and magic. I hear the footsteps of the great ogress, and I know that the time is now!Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. I set out into the unknown, my charming companion, Paws, held tight in my arms. Hurriedly, I run towards the fence, the lastdefenseagainst my escape.Whatis this? The evil ogress locked the gate too? I shake the gate, knowing that I am so close to freedom. ¡°Thereyaare luv. I was worried when Idin¡¯tfindyain your room.¡± The ogress says, as she picks me up in her brute arms. Noooooooo! My escape has been foiled again. Paws, my companion, slips from my arms as I am lifted into the air. At least he will be free from the ogress¡¯s clutches.Live free Paws! Live free! ¡°Sorry luv, didn¡¯t mean to make you drop your teddy.¡± The ogress picks up Paws, cutting off my last hope. No! I will not give in.As long asI live, I will at least see that Paws escapes from the Ogress¡¯s clutches. This I swear. The Ogress takes me back into the dungeon, but this is not the end. I will escape again! The Grandfather I sat on grandpa¡¯s knee as I watched the nice man put his photo high on the wall. He looked strange in the photo, like he was trying to smile, but he¡¯d forgotten how. ¡°Why doesn¡¯t it show your wheelchair?¡± I asked curiously, leaping off of my grandpa¡¯s knee to get a closer look at the photo. The man who had come to the house to put grandpa¡¯s photo up smiled down at me from his ladder. ¡°They wanted to make me look completely healthy.¡± My grandpa spoke in a gruff voice, a hint of humor in his voice as he watched me walk around. ¡°But the wheelchair isn¡¯t bad.¡± I said with certainty. ¡°No. It isn¡¯t. But some people think I look nicer without it.¡± Grandpa said, a tired look flashing over his face. ¡°That¡¯s a weird thing to think.¡± I responded, looking at him with confusion. A real smile crossed grandpa¡¯s face, lighting him up in a way that couldn¡¯t be shown in the photo placed on the wall. ¡°It is weird.¡± We both watched as the man walked down from his ladder and quietly exited the room. I wait quietly, knowing that if I stood still for long enough, grandpa will let me play with my friends. I immediately moved to leave once I couldn¡¯t stand it anymore. At the doorway leading to the next room I glanced back at grandpa, making sure I could leave. He wasn¡¯t watching me. Instead, all of his focus was on his photo. He looked sad. I didn¡¯t like that he looked that way, so I stomped back into the room and sat in front of him. He looked down at me with a raised eyebrow.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. I turned my attention to the ground, unsure what to say now that I¡¯d walked back into the room. After a moment of terrifying silence, I spoke the first question that came to mind, scared that I might get into trouble if I didn¡¯t break the silence soon. ¡°Why did papa make me come over here to watch the photo be put onto the wall?¡± ¡°I was wondering why you¡¯d come here for such a small event. I should have known he put you up to it.¡± Grandpa paused in thought. I didn¡¯t speak up, knowing better than to interrupt grandpa¡¯s thoughts. ¡°I did something stupid.¡± Grandpa said finally. I looked up at him confused. He chuckled at my expression, turning his attention back to the photo. ¡°I learned that some really bad men were going to do something terrible, and I tried to stop them with the help of a couple of friends.¡± He stopped, his gaze caught on the photo yet again. ¡°Did you win?¡± I couldn¡¯t stop myself from speaking up when I realized that he wasn¡¯t going to continue. ¡°No,¡± Grandpa said quietly, his gaze unmoving. ¡°But we stopped them. Your father thinks I¡¯m a hero for doing it.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you a hero?¡± I asked, making grandpa¡¯s attention turn back to me. ¡°You stopped the bad guys after all.¡± ¡°Three good people died. But I suppose I can¡¯t expect you to understand what that means.¡± He responded, his expression hard. ¡°I understand¡± I said, angry at him for thinking I wouldn¡¯t. ¡°You did what you had to, so that you could stop the bad guys. I¡¯m not a baby! I know that people die sometimes. What matters is that you stopped the bad guys. Plus, papa says that you¡¯re a hero, and he¡¯s right.¡± Grandpa sighed, kissing my forehead. ¡°Your papa is often right isn¡¯t he. Even if I am a hero, that doesn¡¯t make those deaths ok. I still have to live with them.¡± I frowned, unhappy with leaving at that. But I couldn¡¯t think of an argument against him. I opened my mouth to say something, but stopped when I heard mom calling my name. ¡°You¡¯re my hero Grandpa. I love you.¡± ¡°Love you too. Now hurry on to your momma. I¡¯m sure that whatever she needs you for, it¡¯s important.¡± I hurried to the door, taking one last glance into the room. Grandpa sat in his wheelchair, still staring at the photo on the wall. This time, there was a whisper of a smile on his face.