Fresh Start

Chapter 23
Hidden Away

Ryan had seen enough to know he had nothing to lose by trying to escape. Like Matt he was fully aware the line they were fed about growing up stronger and smarter the second time was a total lie. He’d only stayed put this long because he’d hoped to make it to the end with his mind intact. The only reason he hadn’t been taken away like Matt was that he’d managed to conceal his intact mentality.

Two days earlier Ryan had woken up, squatted down and forced himself to wet his pants. With his little bladder it hadn’t been that hard. What was hard was sitting around in it till it was nice and cold and squishy before going to Gwen and crying that his pants were “Awll icky.” Since then he’d been doing his best to act like a dumb little kid. That had been a real challenge.

To give credence to his act he’d been forced to do several very childish things. During a dress-up game he’d stripped buck naked, smiled like an idiot and skipped around the room that way for half an hour. He just had to keep reminding himself that none of the other idiots cared that he was showing his tiny package off. While playing with toys he made an effort to always jam one of the filthy things in his mouth right in front of Gwen. In the sandpit he took whole handfuls and jammed it in his pockets.

In the end though his look of total horror when Matt wet himself and subsequently stripped off his undies gave Ryan away. He saw Gwen looking not at Matt, but right at him. He knew the jig was up. She knew that he was acting and even though she didn’t say anything then, he had to assume he’d be getting taken away for special treatment the next day. It was time to go.

Night had already fallen when Matty’s mummy and daddy said their bye-byes and headed out the front door. Gwen went out to see them off, giving Ryan his chance. Two nights earlier he’d spent nearly an hour disabling the lock on the window at the far corner of the cabin. Now he dropped his toy train, rushed across the floor and shoved the toy box up to the window. He climbed atop it and thrust the window up, climbing out and dropping to the ground below. It was a long way down for his little body but luckily he landed in soft water-logged grass. It was dirty and squishy but forgiving.

Ryan hurried across the darkened lawn as fast as his little bare feet could carry him. He could see that Howe and Belton were talking with Gwen on the porch, Matty’s parents already well on their way to the car park. Ryan rushed ahead, knowing he had to reach the car park before Gwen went inside and discovered he was missing. It wouldn’t take long, everyone had stopped to watch his daring escape.

He reached the car park without being spotted, looking back into the darkness to see if anyone was following, if the alarm had been raised. It hadn’t. He hurried forward, the gravel car park painful to his tender little soles. A car door opened a few metres away, illuminating the cabin. It was a VW station wagon. He could make it out perfectly. Ryan dashed towards the car, ignoring the pain in his feet, needing to get there before they closed the doors, or opening the boot would trigger the light.

“You got everything?” Gerald called to his wife, standing in the open drivers’ door.

“Yeah, I’m set, let’s get going,” she replied.

As they spoke Ryan reached up to the boot handle, popping it and letting it open a crack. He pulled himself up into the crevice, ducking inside the rear of the station wagon and grabbing the interior handle of the boot. He waited as he felt the weight in the car shifting as the two adults got in. He waited a second then yanked the handle hard, closing the boot at the same time as the drivers’ door swung shut, masking the sound. Then he nestled back into the luggage and held on tight for the ride, praying these people were headed back to the city and not some rural farm-house.