Prologue
I took a deep breath as I started out the window. Carefully placing my foot on the shingles, I stepped out onto the slope. I held still, fully out of the window. Any slight movement could send me tumbling down the ledge to my doom. Slowly edging my feet forward, I made my way to the end of the roof.
Now comes the tricky part, I thought. I stood up, leaning backwards to keep my balance. Teetering on the edge, I jumped as far as I could.
I spent so long in the air that I thought I’d missed. I opened my mouth to scream, but my hands clasped firmly around a thick branch. Pausing momentarily to regain my breath, I sidled along the branch until I reached the center of the tree.
“Uuuuuggghhh,” the butler turned over in his bed. I held my breath, not daring to move. After what seemed like hours, I finally heard his snoring resume. I let out a long sigh of relief, and cautiously made my way down the tree. When I had reached the bottom, I darted quickly across the lawn until I was in shadow once again. After repeating this process, I found myself in front of the doghouse.
“Growlie,” I whispered. “Grooowl,” he howled in reply. I gently pulled at the door, but it didn’t open. I pulled harder. It still wouldn’t budge. “ Darn, it’s locked!” I concluded.
“Who’s there?” I heard the voice of a security guard. “Show yourself!” Then came the unmistakable sound of a gun being cocked. “This way! Someone’s trying to break into the doghouse!” More guns being cocked.
I bolted. I could hear the heavy footsteps beating down on the ground, and they sounded quite close. My heart pounded in my chest, and I heard the footsteps get closer. A gun went off, and I actually felt the wind off of the bullet. I saw the fence to the estate just ahead, but I had no idea how to get past it.
“We can corner him at the fence!” one guard shouted. His voice sounded so nearby I was surprised they hadn’t caught me yet. The fence was only a few yards away now. 3...2...1... “Yaaaah!” I leapt over it with a cry, surprised at my own strength. I had read about adrenaline at school, but this was the first time I had experienced it firsthand.
“DAMN he’s a high jumper!” exclaimed a guard. I kept running.
“Should we go after him, chief?”
“Nah, he’s gone now. If he comes back, we’ll be ready.”
I ran down our ridiculously long driveway, exhilarated at my escape. I did it! I thought. I ACTUALLY DID IT! NO MORE JESSIBELLE!
As soon as that thought made its way into my mind, it hit me. I would be leaving Growlie behind. I would be leaving….Jessibelle behind.
I hated to do it. I really did. But I had no choice. Jessibelle and I had once been the greatest of friends, always getting along in every way. Then our parents said, “It is time to stop this 'frivolous' behavior, and become young ladies and gentlemen.” Being a young gentleman was dumb. You had to wear a suit and be still all the time and you had to say please and thank you; you had to hold your fork right and eat spaghetti right and even sit right; you had to talk right and walk right and you could never play anything fun anymore! I talked to Jessibelle about this and she said, “Being a young lady is fun. You get to wear a pretty dress and you learn the proper way to do everything.” She tried to show me the “proper” way everything was done, even though I insisted that I didn’t want to. She just wouldn’t give up. Yesterday, she came home with an Oddish and paralyzed me just so she could keep me still. That was the last straw...
Even though I didn’t want to,
I kept running. Only now with tears streaming down my face.