Figueroa 6
Jacqueline Figueroa
Ms. Thornburg/Mr. Jones
Introduction to the Humanities
1 November 2013
Execution Day
After a moment the bacon began to flutter and dance in the pan and the sputter of it filled the morning air with its aroma.
"This bacon smells amazing! And it is all thanks to Ellie!" said my mom.
Well the part about buying the bacon plus all the food is true. But, my mother thinks I got all the money by selling cloth and sewing supplies. That's not true. I got so much money because I did something really bad. I stole money from someone's house. I had to do it! I just hope no one saw me. If I did not do it, then my family would be thrown out to the streets and starve to death.
"Mom, you don't have to keep on saying it" I replied.
I already had enough guilt.
"I will keep on saying it because I am so proud of you. You have worked so hard for all of us".
"I have to go to school" I mumbled.
I could not keep on hearing this. Hearing her words right now was like someone stabbing my heart over and over again. She should not be proud of me. Then again, she does not know what I did.
The next day, while I was walking to my sister, Clara Oswald-Smith's house, I felt someone following me. I turned around and saw nothing.
"It's just me being paranoid" I said to myself.
I kept on walking. I heard a bottle crunch. The sound echoed around the silent street. I stopped. I turned around, and again, there was no one there.
"Ellie, what's wrong?" asked Clara.
I had just arrived at her place. I had many reoccurrences of what happened while getting closer to Clara's house.
"I'll go get the Doctor" she said.
"No, I am okay, Clara. I am just a bit scared that is all. Nothing to worry about" I said.
"But you are pale! And you feel hot! I am getting the Doctor" she responded firmly.
The Doctor, actual name John Smith, is my sister's husband. Clara and the Doctor have been married for about three years now. He's the doctor in but he is almost never busy.
"Did you feel okay when you woke up?" asked the Doctor.
"Yes. I told Clara I am fine." I responded.
"You do not seem okay. Are you sure?"
"Yes Doctor. I am okay."
"Okay. I believe you. But if you are not feeling well, you know you can come to me and I will help" he said.
"Thank you" I replied.
But on the inside I was not okay. I know what is going to happen. I just hope it is not too soon…
It is Sunday and I am terrified. I should have been more careful. I should have looked behind my back one more time before I entered through the window. Maybe I would have seen it. People following me, getting suspicious notes in the mail. Oh, no. My death date has been moved up and the government will come for me soon! My death date was set for when I would get to the age of 48! Now half my life I could have lived will be cut short.
Today is Wednesday. I did not think it would be so soon. There was a knock on the door. My mother went to open. I heard the entire conversation.
"Oh, hello officers. What do you need?" she asked.
"We are here to collect Ellie Oswald" the officer replied.
The words that came out of his mouth were like a person walking towards me and saying 'you got caught! You got caught!'
"What is going on?" asked my mom.
"Her execution date is near. We need her to come with us"
"No that is not possible. Her date was scheduled for when she reaches the age of 48. Is this some kind of joke?"
They pushed her aside. They came in and pulled me away. My mother was sobbing. She knew there was nothing that could be done to help me. I kicked and screamed as much as I could. But nothing worked. I knew it would not work. I broke the law. I was not happy with what I had. I was not content. And now I am going to be punished for it.
On Thursday, I arrived at the detention center. I was pushed into my cell. I was shocked at what I saw. The Doctor and Clara were there, too.
"Why are you two here?" I asked.
"They say that we are connected to a burglary that happened a few days ago and that we help you steal" said Clara.
I immediately felt guilty. They were going to be executed because of me. They could have lived a happy life, but then I had to destroy it.
"I am so sorry." I said.
"Why did you do it?" asked the Doctor.
"We needed the money. We needed the food. If we did not pay the rent, we would be thrown out. Yeah. I was not happy with what I had, because I had almost nothing. How am I supposed to be happy?" I replied.
Everyone went quiet.
Since the executioners did not work from Friday to Sunday, our date was moved to Monday.
"How about we escape? I mean, we do not have anything to lose" said the Doctor.
"Escape! How crazy are you?" I asked him.
"Clara and I decided that we would try to get out. We want to know if you want to" he said.
"But where will we go No one will want to help us." I said.
"We just run. We leave. No one will care." Clara said.
"But they will shoot us on the spot! I do not care about getting shot, but you two should not suffer because of my mistakes." I replied.
"Well do you have any other ideas?" asked Clara.
I stayed silent. I couldn't let them die. I would never forgive myself if they did.
"Okay. We escape on Sunday. Not many guards should be here. So, we have a better chance of being successful" I said.
We began to plan and discuss every little detail of the escape. Little did we know that Zeus, the dictator, was a fly on the wall, listening to every single thing we said…
We are running. We just unlocked and we are running as fast as we can. We are so close to the exit. We get there when-
"Stop right now or I will shoot!"
We froze. It was Zeus. He was the one who called all the shots in the government. He ruled, and when he said to stop you obeyed.
"I did not think you were really that stupid. But, I guess I wrong. Ellie, I though you knew better. I thought you were clever" he said.
"What are you talking about?" I said.
"I was listening to your conversation. Very interesting. But, now it sped up your execution. Which is right now."
Three shots are fired. Clara runs in front of me and the Doctor. She got the impact.
"Clara!" I screamed.
"Run! Both of you run!" she said.
"No, I cannot leave you behind!" said the Doctor.
"You have to. Just one thing though. Do not forget me, please?" she said.
"I would never do that because I will not leave you behind" he said.
"You have to. Now go" she said.
"No" he said.
More shots were fired. Two hit the Doctor. He fell by Clara. There was so much blood. I was panicking. I knew this would happen. But it still hurt. It hurt so much. I just wanted get shot and die beside them. But, I knew Clara and the Doctor would not want that. So, I ran out the door. I ran and ran I never looked back. I reached the forest and I still kept running. I felt like I just could not get away from the city. That it was all around me. I could not stop crying, and I did not want to. I tripped and scratched myself, but I kept on going. Once I felt like I was as far away as possible, I sat. I sat down and I cried. During this, I felt like everything that happened to me was leaving. I was like a phoenix rising from the ashes. I was finally free.
