You know, grass isn’t half bad. It’s quite ergonomic and functions as a bed, and is even home to many overlooked creatures.

Yeah, this isn’t bad at all.

I spread out my arms and made grass angels.

After Arthur and Olsted left, I stayed on a cool bed of grass. For how long, I’m not sure. Until I started to itch and realized ants had gotten on me.

The sun had gone down hours ago. That fool Trent, who’s mistaken me for his son, should have come looking for me by now. If I hadn’t been so damn tired, I might have made an effort to escape.

But as fortune had it, I was right where I needed to be and nowhere else. On a soft patch of grass across from the plot of land I’d cultivated for over ten hours. That plot was like a child to me now.

Snap out of it.

I somehow found the strength to stand up. I needed to get out of here. For some reason, I’d lost any desire to take revenge against Allen. All I cared about now was getting off this farm and back to civilization. I’d left my phone in the dorm, so I had no map of any sort or means of calling for transportation. And at this point, there was only one day left of my weekend, and I’d be damned if it was spent here!

I took off on a slow jog, trying to conserve my energy. I was starving, and there was no food anywhere. Arthur didn’t even give us any during our breaks. Apparently, food was scarce. They gave a lot of it as tax to some lord guy, which sounded like extortion to me. I’m pretty sure the state government doesn’t take that much from people. But anyway, most people around here only ate one meal a day: dinner.

As I passed by some cabins, I could see families had lights going inside. Some fancier-looking ones had chimneys and the smoke left through the top. The windows in a lot of them were so large they were goofy. I mean, I could see practically everything they were doing!

A mother was changing a baby’s diapers in one. Two kids were fighting over some wooden doll in another. A family of four were holding hands and singing in front of the fireplace in another. It’s like these people had no sense of privacy.

Maybe I should ask someone to use a phone.

I’d heard Amish people shunned modern technology, but surely you’d need at least a telephone line here. Though come to think of it, these people even deliver stuff on horse and cart. I hadn’t seen a single truck or car since I got here.

Whatever, I’d still try my luck. I knocked on the window of the house with the happy hand-holding people and then knocked on the front door. One of them broke off from the group and answered it.

It was a pretty lady with ginger hair wearing a white night gown, maybe ten years older than me.

“My, Alster. What can I do for you?”

I was taken aback for a moment. “You know me?”

“Of course, Mr. Trent is the chief’s assistant. I’d be more surprised if anyone didn’t know you.”

Fuck. Another person that thinks I’m that guy’s son.

“Alright, well anyway. I was wondering if you had a phone I could use. I know it’s late, and I’m sorry for the interruption, but I really need to make a call. I’d appreciate it.”

I bowed my head in respect. There was no way she could say no to me now.

“I’m sorry, but I have no idea what a phone is.”

Gah! What did old phones look like? Uh…

“You don’t know what a—it’s a… you know. The thing you use to talk to people over long distances. With a wheel that marks each number, and—”

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I stopped because she was visibly confused.

“You know what, never mind. Just tell me where the nearest ranger station is. Please.”

Another blank stare. “Ranger station?”

“Cops? Sheriffs?’

She grinned wryly. She had no idea what I was talking about. I gave up. These people were completely isolated from society. I was a fool to expect anything out of them.

“Forget it,” I said. “I’ll find them myself.”

“Oh, but it’s very late. Mr. Trent must be worried about you.”

I waved my hand. “It’s okay. Thanks.”

I left that place and tried to look for an exit.

Okay, here’s what I know. These people are in the middle of nowhere. And they know jack squat. Which means I’ll have to leave this place and find out just where I am all by myself.

Good.

I had a new plan.

Let’s get the hell out of here.

* * *

The village was spacious. I didn’t know it was surrounded by wooden walls until I managed to find them blocking my path. I walked along the edge until I spotted two guards standing beside a closed iron fence gate in chainmail, each holding spears,

The medieval roleplay is getting ridiculous.

“Excuse me, gentlemen. I was just visiting the village. I think I’ve overstayed my welcome. If you could just open the gates, I’d be much obliged—"

They burst out laughing.

“Nice try, Alster,” one of them said with a half-smirk. “Talking like a grown up’s not gonna work.”

“Yeah,” the other said, messing up my hair with a leather glove-covered hand. “Mr. Trent would kill us if we let you wander off on your own.”

“I don’t need that guy’s permission. Come on, please. Just let me through. I’m sick of this place.”

One of the guards was considerably taller than me, so he leaned down to pet my head as if I was a child. “Aw, come on. It ain’t so bad here. You do an honest day’s work and you get food inside your belly. What could be better than that? Besides, it’s rare but there’s been monster sightings around these parts, you know.”

I snickered. Monsters? Do they think I’m twelve? I bet someone ran into an animal they’ve never seen before and turned it into a local legend.

Still, I knew I wasn’t going to get through. As stupid as it was to use spears as a means of defense in this day and age, I had nothing to contend with. I had to trick them somehow.

“Ah yeah, of course You’re right. Alright, I was being cheeky. But Trent really did want me to leave. I’m supposed to—uh, fetch something from the mountains. He’s trying his hand at cooking, and… he wants me to find a rare herb that only grows there.”

They looked at each other with toothy grins and a raised eyebrow. Figures they wouldn’t buy it.

“Tell ya what, Alster,” the taller one leaned in and whispered in my ear.

“We’ll let ya through if…”

“If…?”

My heart started to race.

“If you can hop on one leg with your eyes closed, both hands behind your back, shouting ‘I’m a beautiful princess, kiss me!’”

I clenched my fist. Then walked away with a red face.

They started laughing behind me.

“And don’t come back! Only real men should be awake at this hour!”

I walked off to a small hill where I could keep an eye on them.

Damn it. I need a distraction. Something big enough to get them away from the gate.

I lay down on my back to think of a plan. My eyes wandered, and I picked up a rock from beside me and started throwing it up and pretending it was a football. Instead of pacing, throwing and catching something always helped me think.

I could always throw this rock at them. Have them chase me, then slingshot around at head straight for the gate.

No. I was too slow. The drugs Allen stuffed me with still hadn’t worn off. They’d likely catch me.

I stood upright for a moment and examined my surroundings. There was a small trail to a tiny forest in front of me. Closer to the gate, below the hill I was on, there were two cabins with glass windows. The furthest one was about fifteen feet from the gate. The lights were out, so the inhabitants had probably gone to sleep.

Suddenly, my brain hatched an idea.

I grabbed the biggest rock I could find, ran around to the rear windows facing the forest and hurled it with all my strength. The glass shattered at the spot of impact, leaving a large jagged hole.

Inside, chickens and roosters started squawking an alarm and panicking.

Perfect. I wasn’t even counting on the chickens, but they sure are loud!

Before long, the owners woke and started yelling around, wondering what was going on. The noise reached the guard, and as it was a slow night, they both abandoned their post out of curiosity, since they’d heard the window crash. One knocked on the front door asking if the people inside were okay, and the other started running to the back to catch any perpetrators. I ran for the gate through a blind spot and was there in no time.

It was locked, of course.

Shit! How do you open these?

A chill ran down my spine as I began to realize a key was needed to open it. There was no other choice. Compared to the high walls, the gate had gaps you could use as a stepping stone and was a lot shorter, so it was climbable. I was up and over in no time.

In the dead of night with no lights, I was easily able to hide in the many trees. I could barely see anything, but I’d figure I’d find an open spot that allowed the moon’s light to shine through soon, so I ran off.

They’ll figure out it was me if they’re not stupid. But I have no intention of going back there anyway. Time to find a Sheriff. And if I’m lucky, a convenience store.

I wanted to snag some chips or a pretzel and calm the storm in my stomach.