WE #3 CK

As you are reading this, I am running. Feet padding across the sand covered ground, the echoes resounding off the tunnel walls. Tucked out of sight I hold a critical document in my hands. I have been a wanderer most of my life, a nomad you could say. Making due with things I’ve found in nature, survival has grown easier as the years have passed. I could go several months without any contact to society. But one rainy night, everything changed.

    I was meandering down a lone sidewalk when a glow, illuminating from a store window, caught my eye. I crept closer and realized the source of the glow was a television. The store was empty, but inside the electricity-fused box a newscaster was broadcasting about some national event. I stopped to listen. “Archaeologists have found what appears to be an ancient document written hundreds of years ago. Written in secret by the founding fathers, this paper records an alternative constitution where the government has total control. Investigators are taking a closer look.” the blonde newswoman clad in a red raincoat stops, turning to acquire a better angle of the action behind her. Suddenly, a raggedly clothed man frantically jumps in front of the camera. “Help! The government plans to take over. The end of the world is NEAR!” he screams the last word as he is pushed away by some angry looking officials. For a moment, I struggle to regain oxygen. The government take over? A dictatorship? But why? Is that even legal? My thoughts ran wild as I tried to figure things out. If our freedom as a nation was at stake, then something had to be done. So in that moment, I knew what I had to do. I was going to steal the document.

    So here I am, running through a dimly lit tunnel, trying to remain unseen. My heart thumps in my chest. I count the seconds, wondering how much time I’ll have before the realization that their precious document is gone hits them. But I refuse to stop and investigate; I just keep going, hoping I can make it to safety. And then, that moment is gone. Overheard, helicopters come into view, descending towards the earth. Men clothed in camouflage peek out from the sides of the aircraft, M-16’s pointed towards my head with perfect precision. I was outnumbered. There was nothing I could do but to hold the document close and prepare for the worst.