Chapter Three – The Plan
For a couple hours, all that could be heard in the cold, hollow room in which Kailey slept was her soft, rhythmic breathing. She awoke suddenly and silently. There was no apparent reason that could hint anyone to why she awoke, but it was normal to her. She was never able to get much sleep. She figured as long as she got a couple hours of sleep, she should function well.
From the soft, almost invisible light glowing through the small window, Kailey could tell it was still night time. Her family members would still be sleeping. The snoring she heard confirmed that. Slipping the small cover off of herself, she dragged herself quietly over to her teddy. A funny name for such a thing, for it looked nothing like a teddy; perhaps a soccer ball – or a frog, at the most. But definitely not a teddy.
"Fuzzy," she whispered – ironic, really. The texture from which it was made was perhaps the roughest. "Do you have any suggestions?" Silence. She spoke again. "For the plan, I mean. I need to get out of here. I hate it here. I'll bring you, of course!" Once again, no response. Kailey sighed.
"Do you want to see what I found in the attic?" Her face lit up as she pulled the picture out of her sock. She held it in front of the "teddy's" head. "Isn't she pretty? I don't know who it is, but it sure is something nice to look at once in a while. I hope Damon doesn't find it. He'll rip it up for sure." She looked at it one more time before slipping it back in her sock.
"Alright, Fuzzy; I don't know what time it is, but if we want to get out of here, we need to hurry and think up a plan. Damon locked the front door, so we can't get out there. The window in my room is too small and too high off the ground. I could maybe make a rope and let you climb down it. Then you could look around outside to see any ways out, and climb back up the rope. It's not that easy though, because you're plarlalyzed. I found that out yesterday when Damon was watching a show – I don't know the name of it. But there was a man who acted a lot like you; he didn't move. They said he was plarlalyzed – or something like that. But he could still hear and talk. And I know you can hear me. I just wish you would talk to me." Kailey stared at Fuzzy for a few seconds. He didn't move at all.
"Never mind. You don't have to talk. I'll figure something out." Kailey lifted herself and stared out into the cold night. The moon remained high in the sky and the wind played gently with the leaves that hung off of the old maple tree in the backyard. Of course! The backyard! She could escape through the backyard! It had always been off-limits, but that worried her no longer. Not as long as she could escape. She examined it thoroughly. There was no sign of a door that led outside of the backyard; only the old maple tree, a small bunch of flowers in a corner and a gardening shovel. Kailey's mind wandered unwillingly as she remembered an old movie that her father was watching. It was about two men who were trapped in jail, although they were innocent. She had missed the middle of the movie, but caught the ending. They had dug a hole that went under the walls that surrounded the jail. They ran away and never returned, and the police had never found them. This memory brought Kailey back to reality.
"Fuzzy!" she whispered excitedly, "I have an idea!"