Adam Armstrong is a creative writing minor student at Southeast Missouri State University. When not in college, he lives in Fenton, Missouri. He is writing a four part series called Ascended Summit and has had the honor of being published in a book of short works called Celebrate! Young Poets Speak Out. He hopes to make feature films in the future.

Flight (January 20, 2011. Issue 24.)

She crept along the wall. The sky was brighter than she remembered and she held her arm over her eyes for a second to adjust to the light. For so long she had been trapped, but these vile people wouldn’t keep her locked up forever.

The voices were growing fainter, and she knew it was time to run again. If they caught her, there was no telling what they would do to her. For that reason and more, she darted forward. Twenty feet further, she dove behind a second building before a nearby guard would spot her.

Her heart was racing, the anticipation was staggering. The risks she was taking, her bravery despite overwhelming odds, were the only things that kept her from surrendering. The voices were growing louder, and she knew she had precious little time left.

The ten foot wall was close now; everything lay on the other side. She would go for it because she must. She sprinted with every ounce of strength she could give, and leapt at the wall, her arms catching the edge. She tried pulling herself up, but after being trapped for so long, her strength had diminished.

“There she is!” a guard shouted. She turned around to see a gun pointing at her. The trigger was pulled and she looked away as her back erupted in pain. Instantly she let go of the ledge and fell, passing out.

She awoke in the same white cell she was accustomed to. Though comfortable, she found no solitude in this locked room. “They don’t understand. I must get out of here. There is something I must do, everything depends on me.”

Outside, a man stood watching her from a window. He held a clipboard in his right hand and a pen in his left. A woman in a white lab coat stood at his side. “Ava Franklin. This is her sixth attempt at escape,” the man said, writing on the paper. “Please inform the attendants to keep a vigilant watch on the patient. Keep her restrained and increase her dosage.”