Escape!

     I could hear the mob screaming as it ransacked the place. Cupboard doors and drawers were being opened and shut, with the clatter of silverware and plates being tossed about creating a frightful din as the mob tore the place apart. Footsteps passed right outside the cupboard where I had concealed myself. I could scarcely breathe. Oh, please, do not let me be discovered!

     Moments later, the clamor subsided. My thoughts were fixed on escaping. I dared not attempt a return to the playroom to retrieve my cup and ball. Trepidation led the way as I emerged from my little hiding place. I slunk fearfully toward the back door through which the others had fled as thick smoke suddenly began to fill the air. My eyes blurred with stinging tears as I made my way through the door and into the backyard. 

     Once outside, a swift glance back caused me to shudder with horror. The asylum was on fire! Flames had erupted in all the windows, resulting in an enormous and terrifying conflagration. I turned, and found myself face to face with a being upon whose countenance was a look of pure evil. It took but an instant for me to grasp that it was a woman! Her red face was filled with rage as she wielded a charred brick. 

     “I’ve got one!” she shouted as I bolted toward the back fence in an effort to catch up with the others. As I clambered to the other side of the fence to escape the madwoman who was now giving chase, something hit me in the back of my head. I fell to the ground, the fence now separating me from my tormentor. Raising myself up, dazed, I stumbled forward. Blood came away when I touched my hand to my skull. 

     I looked around me and realized that I was utterly alone. My home was aflame, the conflagration quickly engulfing the entire structure. I stood a moment, mesmerized by the awesomeness of its swift and total destruction. Where had the others escaped to? How would I find them?

[TO BE CONTINUED.]