No turning back | Teen Ink

No turning back

December 18, 2018
By cockbreath, Foristell, Missouri
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cockbreath, Foristell, Missouri
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The room was dark, in fact, it was pitch black. If you were there, there would be no way you could tell it but young Eren Black was perched Indian style on his twin sized mattress, thinking. Why did everyone hate him? Why did everyone leave him? His mom, his dad…, nobody wanted him. That was the reason he was in this hellhole of an orphanage. He hated it there, he had no friends, he didn't even have acquaintances. No one talked to him, not even the counselors or lunch ladies. They all thought that he was weird and different. And on top of that he never got any sleep. What he did on most nights was sit in bed and think like how he was tonight. Recently the only thing on his mind had been leaving, the orphanage, the state, life, he didn't care he just didn't want to be where he was. However, tonight especially he had set his mind on leaving the orphanage. There wasn't a single thing he liked about it. And it wasn't just that he had no friends, the food was garbage, no one ever even considered him for adoption, and the place was like a prison, you weren't allowed to leave for anything besides school or adult guided trips. And don't get him started on school, he slept through most days because when he was awake all he ever did was watch the clock and wait for something, anything to happen. Maybe he would get a call from 

the orphanage saying a couple was finally considering him, but he never did. So he just slept. Of course he had nothing to look forward to either besides the lovely orphanage he called home.


So he was going to do it. He was going to run away, forever. He knew it sounded rash, but he really did put a lot of thought into it. At this point, to him, it seemed like the best option. So he packed his bag full of his bland, recycled clothes, and some of his other belongings. One thing he made sure to pack was his journal, he used to write in it everyday from the age of 8 to about 11, he’s 15 now. But the journey was truly the only thing that kept him sane back then, it provided the support and listening ear he needed at the time. But he eventually filled it up and after that he thought it'd be silly for someone of his age to be writing in another journal, so he didn't buy a new one. He also packed his wristwatch and a surplus of snacks that he'd been smuggling from the cafeteria for the last few weeks. Now that he was all packed he had one last problem to attend to, the alarm on the window. They say that the alarms are for the protection of the orphans but, he thinks there for scenarios exactly like his own. But he had an idea. He read in a magazine somewhere that burglars had been using magnets to bypass security systems. So Eren swiped one of the strong magnets they use in the kitchen to hold up pots and pans when no one was looking. But there was always the chance that it doesn't work. So his backup plan was just to ignore the alarm and bolt. He slung his backpack over his right shoulder and slowly approached his window, magnet in hand. In the last moments he began to rethink his decision. He came to the conclusion that this, was his only option. 

 He slowly approached the small white alarm mechanism attached to the window with the magnet. As he got close he felt the magnet click out of his hand and grasp firmly onto the box. He prayed that this worked. He decided to fling the window open upon the count of three. One, the butterflies in his stomach started to twist and turn. Two, the butterflies turned into a steel knot, there was no turning back now. Three, he felt like throwing up, he wasn't usually one to blatantly break rules, but he had to do it. He flung the window open in a sudden rush of adrenaline, and his worst fear came true.


 The alarms blared. A screeching noise ran throughout his room and he was sure through the entire building as well. He ignored it and lunged himself out the window, into the night. The moon was in the waning gibbous stage, something that had made it through to him in school. And it was casting an eerie glow on the street. Lamp posts littered the streets, he needed to get away from the orphanage before the police arrived; far away.  


He sprinted across the black, desolate street and headed straight for a narrow alley in between two buildings. The city his orphanage was located in was quite crowded so there were plenty of narrow streets and alleyways for him to make his way through. He sprinted his way through three or four long winding alleyways before before he heard the all too familiar screaming of police sirens. He prayed on his notebook that they wouldn't find him.


Two hours had passed, it looked like he was in the clear. The police did exactly as he had predicted and headed straight for the woods behind the orphanage. "Now what?" He asked himself. Where would he go? What would he do? And for the life of him he could not come up with a reasonable answer. So he finally went to bed. He had the best sleep of his life that night. That sleep was full of potential and the unknown, and he didn't know which excited him more. It was finally time for the start of Eren Black's new life… The end. 



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