Escape

“Finally he’s asleep.” His body suddenly jerked, half-awakened by the bed as she moved to her side. Frozen, she eyed the bedroom door in front of her with anxious anticipation. Her eyes fixated on the door in the darkness.

“Not yet,” she scolded herself. “Wait!”

Her heart pounding, she carefully lifted herself up with her elbow in slow motion, sliding her legs to the side of the bed, being careful not to shake it. Her toes felt the hard berber carpet.

“Focus,” she reminded herself, standing up, tiptoeing and praying that she remembered exactly where the creaks in the floor were.

“If he wakes up, I’ll tell him I had to pee.”

Shaking, she got to the bathroom, where a set of clothes, a cell phone, and car keys were secretly hidden in a cabinet.

“Hurry up.”

Fully dressed and ready to bolt, she knew this was it. If he woke up now, there was no tomorrow.

Gripping each key between her fingers tightly, she made it to the front door.

“Almost there…..Concentrate!”

Slowly unlocking the door with her free hand, she planted her feet firmly outside.

“Run!”

Slamming the car door behind her, she looked up to see his face in the doorway, shouting obscenities as he ran towards the driveway.

“Too late,” slamming the car into reverse and then flooring it down the street.

“He thinks the kids are at my brother’s,” she said out loud, smiling. Susan’s house was 5 miles away.