— MARA |
I waited three days.
Three days of playing the good prisoner. Eating meals. Taking walks in the garden with guards watching from a distance. Smiling at Mrs. Kovac. Acting like I'd accepted my fate.
Three days of planning.
Because I'd noticed something.
The guards at the southern edge of the property were different. Lazier. They smoked cigarettes behind the garden shed. Checked their phones when they thought no one was watching.
They were bored.
And bored guards made mistakes.
So on the fourth morning, when frost still clung to the grass and the sun barely cleared the horizon, I went for a walk.
No one stopped me.
The gardens were beautiful in the cold light. Everything crystalline and sharp. My breath misted in the air. My feet crunched on frozen ground.
I walked the fa
