The Day it all Changed

A long long time ago, one very cruel man did a very cruel thing to the people of Bushington. The people of Bushington tried to stop him, but Abaddon De Hatman was just too overpowering. This thing that Abaddon did was so wrong that people refused to talk about it. Abaddon De Hatman made it impossible for people to do the things that they loved.

The poor kids never had the freedom to celebrate New Year’s or stay up past 9:00 o’clock. But the one that struggled the most was Koda McScoon. Koda McScoon is a senior in high school or shall I say was. One sorrowful Saturday, the innocent girl was sick with the flu and needed to stay home, but Abaddon De Hatman did not care. Miss McScoon worked at the gas station in Bushington and she did the best she could to call in sick, but her phone was not working. Abaddon De Hatman locked her up in the dungeon below his castle, and Abaddon’s servants only brought her chowder once a day. Why would people work for the horrible Abaddon De Hatman you may ask? Well he hypnotized them into thinking that he was the most amazing person ever, which is another very grim thing that he did. 

Every week the people of Bushington were forced to go to a town meeting where Abaddon De Hatman talked and talked while the citizens listened, and if they didn’t go then they’d end up like Koda. During these unusual meetings Abaddon went over the laws as if they weren’t already drilled into their brains. 

On the 361st day of Koda McScoon’s sentence in the gross, dirty, and scary dungeon, Koda thought of an incredible, yet awry plan. During the next town meeting Koda McScoon was going to escape the underground cell….

While thinking hard over her plan for nearly two days Koda didn’t even bother eating her chowder. Even though it was gross, she was so dialed in on her plan that she didn’t even hear her stomach growling. 

You may be wondering how she is going to escape this chamber without the horrific Mr Hatman seeing her? Well you just wait because Koda’s plan is pretty devious. 

As Koda was so tired and oblivious a loud creak of the door startled her off the chair. But she knew that it was just her daily chowder so she wasn’t concerned. Koda hadn’t gotten a good night’s rest in three days. The determined girl was so worked up on getting out of the cell that she didn’t realize that today is the town meeting. She couldn't make a getaway when she was as tired as she was…..or could she!

Out of nowhere Koda McScoon felt something cold and wet run down her cheek and into her lap. Koda was crying, she was crying because she had missed her family and her friends. The last time she cried was nearly 100 days ago! She realized at that very moment that she wasn’t crying because she missed her family, she was crying because she may  never see them again. Once she escaped the castle she had to escape Bushington for good…

Koda grabbed a frayed, dirty cloth from the ground and wiped her face off. She was so upset that she didn’t even care that the dirt from the cloth was getting in her eyes. The young woman’s tears started to dry up , but then she began to think back to her childhood, and she began to cry again. She thought about all the holidays that she had celebrated with her family, and all the times that she and her friends had gone to the mall and had dance and karaoke parties. 

Koda had slept all morning and just about missed her chance to escape, but she was awoken by the loud bang that shook the castle. The girl wasn’t frightened though, because this was just a little thunderstorm, the huge castle just made it sound more intimidating than it really was. 

Many seconds later, Koda heard a glass break from the upstairs of the castle. What was it?! she thought. Now this made her scared. When something broke of Abaddon De Hatman’s he would get furious, and when he got furious he would take it out on his prisoners. Koda wanted to break out of the cell and go see, but of course she couldn’t.  Shortly after, she heard a loud shriek from above.

“My one of a kind chandelier broke, and it's all your fault,” yelled Abaddon De Hatman.

It turns out that Thomas Gulligan, who was one of Abaddon De Hatman’s servants, had broken the last thing that Abaddon had of his Grandma’s before she had died. The majestic chandelier that hung above the ruler’s throne was now broken into millions of pieces.

Koda was clueless, but she wasn’t too worried, as long as it didn’t ruin her chance to escape the castle. A loud buzz went over the town of Bushington, and Abaddon De Hatman started to talk. 

“The weekly town meeting will be canceled,” he growled, looking at Thomas, “Due to an incident that needs serious punishment.” Thomas tried to run away, but Abaddon De Hatman told one of his servants, who was Thomas’s brother, to get him and put him in an empty cell. Thomas’s brother, Gregory Gulligan, hesitated, but he didn’t want to go where his brother was going, so he listened to his master. 

Back in the cell underneath the castle on Koda's 363rd day of her sentence, she heard Gregory and Thomas walk down the aged, creaky stairs. Koda wasn’t very alarmed by the arrival of a new prisoner, but she was startled by the opening of the old, worn out door.

“Hello.?” Koda whispered

No reply..huh? Koda wondered, and at that moment she thought over what had just happened and she realized that she couldn’t break out on a Saturday with no town meeting. She sat in deep thought for nearly 3 hours when she heard a quiet sob from the next cell over, but from who?! 

It was Thomas Gulligan crying in the corner of his cell, “Hello?” Koda mumbled.            

“Umm..Hi? What did you do?” the man quavered

“I missed work one day and I’ve been in here ever since.” uttered Koda sorrowfully. 

Three minutes went by with silence, then five, then ten. Finally Thomas said something that made Koda think for many seconds, then silence again.

“How are you gonna break out?”

      “H-how did you know?!” 

“Well I just figured..”

The girl sat wondering too many questions that her head hurt. How many people have actually escaped Bushington successfully? What if I can’t escape and I’m stuck here forever? She thought.

The whole rest of the day went by with no more conversation. When Koda got up the next morning, and looked through the nearly microscopic window like she had everyday she wished that she could be out there playing games with her friends, but of course getting her hopes up didn’t help. 

After she thought for several minutes she decided to get up from the nasty, brown chair and once she did she looked in Thomas’s cell, but no life appeared. Koda was appalled, she started to walk around her scanty cell when she stumbled on an empty chowder bowl. Koda grabbed onto the cell latch, but it did no good when it swished open. Koda’s cell was open, and she had no idea. 

Koda walked out of her cell and onto the dirt in the basement of the castle. Koda tiptoed closer to the stairs interrupted by a white piece of paper in her path. The curious girl picked it up, wiped off the dirt, and smoothed the creases. Koda unfolded the paper and found nothing except small lettering at the bottom. 

You can thank me later-Thomas

The girl read over Thomas’s note several times till she finally understood it. Thomas was the saint that had unlocked Koda’s cell. But why!? Thomas must’ve escaped when she was sleeping and unlocked her cell. 

While she continued to ponder what Thomas had done she slowly moved up the stairs, but when she was almost halfway up she heard a quiet squeak from below. She looked down and when she saw the black shadow pacing along the step she almost screamed, but luckily covered her mouth to hold it in. Koda just about stepped on it before she realized that it was a small mouse. 

Koda almost picked it up, but then she heard a latch and the dungeon door opened. The girl was so frightened and she didn’t know what to do, however when one of Abaddon De Hatman’s servant appeared at the door Koda was gone. 

The man was gone. Her heart still pounding began to slow. She decided that she was gonna try to escape again, however it was a different plan. Koda was gonna break free out of the window. After making a quick plan in her head she gingerly opened the door and stepped out of the cell.

The brave, adventurous girl walked up to the path that led to the window and found a large brick to lay her hand on and began to climb. Koda was near the window when she heard a deep voice start to say something. She was so fearful that she almost fell, her heart started to beat hastily, her hands started to sweat, and she felt light headed. The fearful girl looked behind her head, careful not to fall, and she was astounded by the figure that stood there in the dark room. Thomas Gulligan… 

They smiled at each other, not saying anything for a few seconds when Koda uttered,  laughing for the first time in a year, “W-what,”she paused, nearly crying of gratitude, “what are you doing here? How did you get out of punishment?!”

“Well..Abaddon said that I had 2 minutes, he’s really become a better person over the past few weeks, oh who am I kidding he just wants some privacy, so he can eat his breakfast.”

They both force a small laugh both knowing that Thomas had to leave in a matter of minutes or Koda was done for. The two of them said their goodbyes and Koda continued to climb and Thomas walked up the stairs to distract Abaddon De Hatman. 

Koda knew that once she got out of the window she had to be sneaky and run to another faraway place, because if not when Abaddon’s servants came to give her her daily food they would notice that she was gone. 

The worried girl was one brick away from the window when her foot slipped, but luckily she was somehow able to get her grip back and then continued to climb.

She gently opened the window, but it didn’t budge so she jerked it and it finally gave out and opened. The radiant sunlight, for the first time in a year, shined in Koda’s eyes and blinded her. She tried to open her eyes, but all she saw was darkness. Then for a brief moment she wasn’t sitting on the ledge outside the window, she wasn’t sitting on anything, Koda was falling. 

Many seconds later she hit the lush grass with a loud thud. Koda was fortunately not injured too badly, because she had just fallen from a few feet off the ground. 

Quickly Koda grabbed her dirty coat and took off for a town on the other side of Qatar named Illis. After running for almost an hour Koda was finally out of her home town and into a dark forest. The runaway girl was tired and thirsty so she took a seat on a tree stump for a few minutes to catch her breath. 

Moments  later she got up and limped along the beautiful river across the country of Qatar. Many hours after Koda reached Illis, she had that feeling of guilt in her mind, but she had to let it go if she wanted to get her life back. Koda looked around at people selling apples at a farmers market, others walking with their family. She saw kids at the park playing groundies. Koda was about to go over to play with them when she realized she was 18 and she couldn't go up against 5 or 6 year olds. 

When Koda was imprisoned she had forgotten everything about the world, she had forgotten everything about her. She was clueless when her birthday was, she didn’t even know what she looked like anymore. But the one thing that Koda had remembered were the names of her family members. 

“Vincent, Getty, and Hylands,” she whispered to herself. 

Koda started to tear up just thinking about them, so she went to hide in a dark alleyway between two shops.

    Koda will never forget her hometown of Bushington, and all her friends and family that she missed, but now Koda was a citizen in Illis and she needed to look forward on her road ahead. 

She missed one day of her job and it caused years of trouble, that one day had changed her life forever.