ALEX & THE ESCAPE

By K.Vernon Davis



      "What's the escape story you ask?" 
      A voice begins,

 "A long time ago, Alex
 sat alone on the hill and looked longingly
 across the beautiful, lush green of the
 valley.  The bright sunlight penetrated even
 the thickest grove of trees, making them
 sparkle and warming everything it could
 reach.  Alex sadly watched two small
 girls having a picnic in the clearing by the
 river.  He slowly put out his hand, half
 hoping it wasn't there and touched the cold,
 unyielding, unbreakable glass in front of
 him.  Alex turned and glanced back at his
 friends down the hill, playing without a
 care or concern as to why they couldn't
 leave this place to live free and happy like
 everyone else.  Alex closed his eyes and
 thought back as far as he could.
 
      He was very young and his grandfather
 told him stories of a time when none of them
 were prisoners in this camp.  They were
 free to hunt for food, have a family and
 build their homes anywhere they wished. 
 It was so long ago that no-one in the village
 knew who built this prison, or why.
 
      Alex looked across the fields and
 groups of dwellings of the community and
 wondered who brought the tremendous
 amount of food for all of them every week. 
 It was left in huge stacks at the wall of
 the prison for everyone to carry off to
 their homes.  None of them had ever seen
 a guard or anyone in authority.  He also
 wondered why none of his friends ever
 tried to find out why they couldn't leave
 this place.  It seemed they weren't really
 concerned with these things because they
 were all born here.  Perhaps, since
 everything was taken care of for them
 without having to do anything, it didn't
 matter that they couldn't leave. 

      He thought about Annie and how much
 he cared for her.  She was the most
 beautiful thing in the world to Alex.  He
 wanted to be free to start a family with
 her, away from this prison.  He hadn't
 done anything wrong.  Why should he be
 locked up here because of something
 someone else may have done a long time
 ago?  Sadly Alex stood up and slowly
 walked down the hill toward home for
 dinner. 
      "Later that night, Alex was not able
 to sleep.  He tossed and turned for a long
 time, then decided to find a way to escape
 with Annie. 
      "Bright and early the next morning,
 Alex packed some food and started out on
 his journey.  He went to his favorite place
 on the hill to begin the search for a way
 out.  Alex walked, always keeping the wall
 to his left.  He stopped occasionally to look
 around.  Sometimes, he sat or lay down
 to rest and stared up thinking.  It was a
 very tiring journey for Alex, but he didn't
 mind.  He was possessed with ideas of
 escape and freedom.  He needed freedom
 more than anything. 
      "Alex walked for two days, stopping
 every so often to bang on the wall with a
 heavy stick he'd found.  Just before dark
 on the second day, he was back where
 he started and could see his house.  Alex
 was puzzled.  He hadn't found even the
 slightest crack in the wall.  There was no
 door for anyone to ever leave there.  How
 did anyone bring in that food every
 week?  Why would anyone build a prison
 with no hope of being released?   He must
 have missed something from being tired. 
      "Alex went into the house and went
 to bed.  He would try again later.  Alex
 was very tired and discouraged.  He slept
 for a long time.  Finally he woke up
 and began to prepare for another journey,
 hoping a clue was out there for him to
 figure out this bizarre place. 

      "Later that afternoon, he began once
 more from the hill, keeping the wall
 beside him.  This time, Alex stopped and
 examined everything closer than before. 
 Finally, he decided to find a place to sleep
 for the night.  He didn't want to be tired
 and miss something like before.  Alex lay
 there quietly.  Suddenly, he felt a breeze. 
 He looked all around and couldn't see a
 way for a cool breeze to be here.  Then
 he looked up.  There it was.  The door
 was on the roof.  It was right in the
 corner of the wall.  Alex couldn't believe it,
 there was a gigantic round door above his
 head.  Alex realized that there was no way
 to get to it.  The side of the wall was much
 too slippery to climb.  He couldn't get a
 hand or foothold anywhere.  It was very
 steep.  He decided to go back home and
 talk to Annie about his discovery and
 try to figure a way to get to the door. 

      "Instead of taking the complete two-day
 trip, as before, he turned back the other
 way to the village.  Alex was back home
 before dawn and wanted the daybreak to
 hurry so Annie would be up.  He wasn't
 tired, just excited.  Alex got something to
 eat and waited patiently. 

     Finally, everyone began to scurry about
 on their way to work.  Alex was just
 about to leave for Annie's when he saw
 her coming to the door.   She looked
 wonderful to Alex and he breathlessly
 began telling her what he'd found.  Annie
 didn't really understand what all of his
 excitement was about, but she agreed to
 help him find a way to get to the
 mysterious door.  They made arrangements
 to leave the day after the food for the week
 was delivered so that they would have
 plenty of time to find a way up to the exit. 
 Alex could hardly wait.  Soon it was time
 to begin the trip.
 
      It didn't take long to get to the door this
 time.  They were both excited and weren't
 stopping to search everywhere like Alex
 had done before.  Annie was speechless. 
 She looked at the way to escape for a long
 time.  Alex thought he saw a small crack
 that let in the light breeze of fresh air. 
 The adventurous pair sat down to rest from
 the strain of hurrying and began to talk
 about reaching the roof.

      Alex laid back and stared at the
 entrance. 
      'Whoever brings the food for us must
 have a long ladder or rope to lower down
 from up there.  Maybe we could wait until
 then and get out while they're busy with
 bringing the food in.' 

      "Annie thought for a few moments and
 answered, 'No, that would be too dangerous. 
 We might get caught.  We'll have to find
 another way.' 

     "'But, how?', Alex replied 'We don't have
 enough lumber in the entire village to build
 a ladder that tall.' 

      "'That's true,' said Annie, "But maybe
 we could build a mountain of stones or
 something to get up there.' 

     "That's it!' Cried Alex.  'There are big rocks
 and stones everywhere.  We can just start
 to pile them up until it's high enough to get
 through that crack.' 

      "'Yes, but we'll have to wait until they
 bring the food again, so we'll have a whole
 week to build it.' 

      "'Okay, let's go back and wait until then
 to start,' said Alex. 

      "For the next five days, the pair talked
 to everyone in the prison and told them
 what was going on.  By the time everything
 was ready, almost all in the village wanted
 to go with them.  There were only four or
 five old timers - too old and set in their
 ways - who didn't want to leave.  After
 the food was delivered, everyone met Alex
 at the spot, but they didn't take the food
 back like they usually did.  They left it right
 where it was, so they could all take some
 with them as they escaped. 

     Laboriously, the mountain began to take
 shape.  Every so often, a few stones rolled
 down, making it necessary to make the base
 of the mountain bigger.  They all worked as
 fast and as hard as they could in shifts, so
 that the work could continue through the
 nights.  They all took turns guarding and
 sleeping.  After four days, they had almost
 reached the top when they ran out of stones. 
      "'So close,' said Alex.  'What are we
 going to do now?  There has to be a way.  I
 know.  We'll take some of the stones from
 one of the houses.' 

      "Alex sent some of the others back to
 bring more material from the houses. 
 Finally, they were at the top of the prison. 
 Alex made the crack in the door a little
 wider so they could get through.  While the
 others were gathering up supplies, Alex
 stepped out onto the roof and took the first
 breath of freedom he had ever known.  It
 felt good.  He just stood for a long time and
 looked all around. 

      "Then the others began squeezing
 through the crack to join him.  After
 everyone was out of the prison, Alex sent
 half of them in one direction while he
 and the others went the opposite way to find
 a way down from the roof.  When they
 met at the other side, the first group
 reported a large structure on one end of the
 building with a long awning or something
 going all the way to the ground.  As soon
 as they all got to the structure, Alex saw
 it might be possible to slide down the cloth
 to the ground.  The only thing that bothered
 him was that they didn't know how fast
 the drop would be.  Some of them could be
 hurt by picking up too much speed on the
 way down.  Alex was determined not to
 go back.  More than that, he didn't have a
 house to go back to.  It had been used in
 building the mountain.  He grabbed onto
 Annie and fearlessly leaped off into the
 frightening unknown with her.
 
      "Faster and faster they went with Annie
 frantically screaming at his side.  It was an
 experience they would never forget.  About
 two-thirds of the way down, their weight
 caused the cloth to give a little and they
 began to slow down.  They reached the
 bottom without any mishap.  They were
 free.  They quickly waved to the others,
 showing that it was safe if they went two
 or three at a time.  Off went the pair into
 this beautiful new world, never before
 seen by any of them. 

      "There were marvelous sights
 everywhere.  There were even real green
 leaves and grass all around.  After walking
 a long time, they decided to rest and look at
 this wonderful place.  Alex looked back at
 the prison and could barely make out its
 name on the front of the building.  He was
 puzzled.  Why would anyone call such a
 horrible multi-generational prison 'Johnson's
 Ant Farm'? 

      'I wonder what an ant is,' thought Alex. 
 He hurried to catch up with Annie, who
 was chewing on a real leaf from a real tree. 


             THE END

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