A/N: This story contains characters such as the "Girl" from "Girl" and Jane, from "A Yellow Wallpaper." This was written due to an assignment for my Intro to Lit class. Take two characters (one parent, one non-parent, and a setting in one of the readings that was neither chosen characters' setting) and just write a story. Basically, my professor assigned fanfiction for homework. Enjoy.
Jane had just escaped her prison. The cell with yellowed walls. Running. She was free. She could finally write as much as she wanted. Abandoned by the side of the road was a beat up looking truck. She climbed into the bed, surprised to find blankets there. She laid back and breathed in the air, watching the blue sky that she had forgotten existed.
"Well, who are you, then?" Jane heard a voice coming from her right. Did the person trapped in the wall follow me? "I was heading over here just to see what this was doing here, but I suppose you're the owner?"
"Hello. I'm…Jane. I think. Don't exactly know much anymore."
"What happened to you?" A teenage girl climbed up and into the bed with her. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Yeah, ghost, suppose that's one word for it. Don't you know that there're creatures living in the walls, calling to us? They just want to be free."
"Free from the wall?"
"Yes, I suppose. But it goes deeper than that." Jane turned to look at the girl. "They climb about at night, trying to scare people who don't understand."
"Wish they'd scare my mother then; she doesn't seem to understand anything. Thinks she's always right." The girl sat up. "You seem like you know a lot, but can't see much."
"Wasn't allowed to see much of anything. All I could do was lay in bed. Going mad, I was. Bored out of my mind. I'd forgotten what the sky looked like, without glass in the way. I escaped! And now I can write as much as I want; maybe help the people in the walls." Jane stared back up at the sky.
"Don't know about that, but I can help you. Come with me." The girl climbed down the truck, grabbed Jane's hand when she climbed down, and ran towards the movie theatre on the other side of town.
"Jane! Jane! Where are you?!" he shouted.
"Calm down, she can't have got far."
"She was supposed to stay in bed! She was getting better!" John panicked. "I made sure to give her medicine, have her rest! Now, now we can't find her!"
"Maybe she's gone for a walk. It's not something we should be worrying to death over. Come now, let's take a deep breath and start by checking the grounds."
John took a deep breath and marched straight for the door. "I love her. I'd do anything to make sure she'll get better. And if that means going to find her, then I will do it. And I will do it myself."
And so, he took off running in a direction he hoped was the right path.
"Where are we going?"
"To see a movie! You said you hadn't gone outside in a while. People can't seem to understand us. Figured let's do something fun together." The girl turned corner after corner until coming upon a street corner, with a marquis visible just down the road. Gorilla, My Love. Jane didn't argue as she was pulled into the theatre. There were shadows calling out to her from all sides. It was dark.
"I can't do this. I can't. I'm sorry." Off Jane went, running from the shadows all calling for her help.
John spotted a beat up truck up ahead, with people running off about 200 feet in the other direction. Was that Jane? "Jane!" he called, but she didn't turn around. He ran after the two figures, in the hopes that maybe they'd've seen her, at the very least.
Several times he'd almost gotten lost, following the twists and turns of the two of them. Once, he almost caught up to them, but he was too out of breath to speak. Eventually, he saw them go inside a movie theatre. He was just about to pull the door open, when someone ran past him. She was crying, so he caught her arm. "Are you okay…Jane! Jane, is that you?"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" repeated over and over until they diminished into sobs.
"It's okay, I've got you. We'll get you better, somehow." John hugged her tight. "Let's go home, yeah?"
Jane nodded, and that was the last crazy adventure she ever went on. John kept a closer eye on her after that stunt, but he did allow her to write some. Not much, only a few minutes a day, but it did help prevent another incident such as this.
