Dreams Ltd

  Why am I so unlucky? Why?

  Jenny sobbed and bowed her head. Why doesn’t life want to provide me with at least one winning lottery ticket? Why do I always have to fight, struggle, snatch something and keep hold of it as tightly as possible so she doesn’t lose it? Why doesn’t anybody want to help me? Is there any place in the world, where I would feel good, loved, understood and accepted?

  Jenny raised her tired, tear-stained face up to the sky, but saw nothing except the lonely moon, gazing back down at her - a fat and ugly girl - with disapproving silence.

  If before she had some energy to fight, it was gone now. There was no longer a desire to argue, fight, and strive to get or put anymore efforts into getting anything. This night laid bare the essence that Jenny was carefully guarding her insecurity from prying eyes her, her low self-esteem, her helplessness and vulnerability in front of anyone who’d point a finger and say something harsh to her. Only bitterness and brutality were helping Jenny to survive. Jenny - a girl who actually was neither strong nor particularly talented nor as life has shown recently fortunate.

  Jenny knew she wasn’t pretty. And ugly people never got easy gifts from life. Pretty girls get everything they want with their hands down while she’d always had to wrestle her way through, relying on her brain, lucky circumstances or intuition. But at times even these qualities would let her down, as they have now.

  The immaculately conceived plan had failed so rapidly that there was no time to question even her mental abilities, and that was the last stronghold Jenny based her self-respect on. Now that was destroyed as well.

  So she kept on sitting with her back pressed against the wooden barrack’s wall - quiet and depressed, little and lost, tucked away somewhere in the depths of the ranch, ringed by the mountains, far from home, away from the normal world, away from the knowledge of what to do next. Gradually her tears dried out and Jenny began nodding off; her head lowered and her body crooked as she fell asleep.

  After a while she woke up from hearing someone’s irritated voice - somebody was muttering and swearing.

  Jenny shivered from the cold and woke up completely - her body stiffed and numb hands covered with goose bumps. She was scared. Something was wrong. Whose voice forced her to wake up?

  She quickly looked around and realised that she fell asleep on the ground behind the barracks. The moon was still hanging in the black sky, but it had now surfaced to the right and almost rolled over the wooden roof.

  Jenny twisted again, and suddenly heard a voice - familiar, low and creaky.

  “Where is she? Where can she be at night, damn it!”

  Greg! Jenny gasped convulsively. Greg came after her because he wanted to punish her for betraying him at Hulk’s. Why else would he come to the barracks?

  She froze in fear, listening. One of the women said irritably,” How can we know where she is? She came back after dark, we were sleeping.”

  “Turn on the light and show me her bed!” The guard growled, “If I find out that you’re hiding her...”

  “See for yourself if you want to!” Someone snapped in reply, and then floorboards creaked.

  Run! She must run!

  At first, Jenny couldn’t think, speak or move - why did he come after her in the middle of the night angry as a mad dog? To kill her? And if not to kill her, then to cripple her anyway. She must run away as soon as possible - who cares where...

  She jumped up, cringing from the pain in her shivering knees and frozen groin, and rushed to the nearest bush. As soon as she reached it, she darted through the branches and halted with her heart pumping. She scratched one of her knees and it was now hurting, but Jenny just gritted her teeth.

  What next? How to get away from Greg? This vindictive devil is not about to leave her alone that easily, he doesn’t give a damn that tomorrow she’ll disappear from the ranch; he wants to give her a good beating before that happens. What a maniac!

  Feeling like a hounded fox, Jenny looked around, trying to figure out which direction she should move in. Soon Greg will realise that she’s not hiding in the barracks and will start searching for her all over the ranch. If he didn’t want to get any help from the others in catching her, then he didn’t want them to know his intentions; rather bad intentions, obviously.

  The tree branches blocked the view completely and she had to rely on her memory. The first thing to do was to get away from the barracks as far as possible. If, God forbid, Greg notices her t-shirt in the bush, no neighbours would help her then. After choosing a direction, Jenny quickly and quietly made her way through the scratching thorns to the opposite side of the bush and got out of the thicket. To the field! It’ll hide her for a while. She ran across the deserted footpath, which separated berries from the corn plantation, and darted into the tall thick grass, which rustled and closed up above her head.

  This shelter was good, but not for long, because the leaves crushed on the ground would provide a hide-out better than any rocket flare and anyone with a flashlight would immediately locate the “prey”, and Greg had definitely got a torch.

  Ignoring her panicky pounding heart, Jenny frantically tried to gather her scattering thoughts in a more or less acceptable plan.

  Where can she hide?

  It can’t be the fields - any movement will be detected by the shaking leaves and tree tops, it can’t be a stone-pit either - as soon as she appears on the uphill road the other guards will raise the alarm.

  Think... think... think...

  Again and again she was glancing towards the women's barracks, horrified of spotting Greg coming out of there.

  Where to go? Where?

  She couldn’t get too close to Hulk’s mansion since it was constantly patrolled; moreover - once in the house, where would she go in there? The infirmary was shut at night. In order to get to the berry plantation, she had to pass the damn barracks once again and Greg was still hanging around there.

  Jenny felt that she was starting to freak out. Time was running out - it was the moment to finally decide where to go, and she just couldn’t pull herself together. Any place within the ranch territory was now potentially dangerous, and Greg wouldn’t go beyond the fence...

  She froze intensely, thinking. Is there any way to get out of the ranch? Can she find her way out of here?

  Jenny was startled and suddenly recalled something and this “something” gave her a weak hope.

  In order not to waste time, she moved to the far edge of the corn field, thinking as she went - if she crosses the road, she’ll dive straight into another field, closest to the woodland belt. If she can reach that point, it will give her a chance to get to the old cargo gates, which have not been used for the past few years. And from there...

  The hard corn stems were reluctantly opening up to the sides, giving way to the charging human body. That body was particularly persistent; there was boiling blood mixed with fear running through its veins. Jenny was surging forward scratching her hands, hissing and cursing. After a while she stopped and listened to the surrounding sounds - was she being chased?

  But the night around, as if mocking her fears, was silent. Not a single sound other than cicada’s chirring. Only a slight gust of wind was occasionally touching the leaves which would rub on the cob and then freeze.

  No, she wasn’t being chased as yet, but this will change soon. She knew Greg too well to think that he’d give up on his wish of revenge.

  As soon as Jenny decided to move forward an unpleasant thought pierced her mind - she forgot to dig out the gems! The one she stole from Shereen’s room! If she’s really going to escape from the ranch, she must find them because these could help her to get rid of the bracelet; if that was ever possible....

  Her thoughts were flying around, trying to form a flimsy solution to the salvation - if only she could find someone who would help her to get rid of the bracelet then neither Hulk nor anyone else could track her. But was there anyone who could do that? And how much would they charge? In any case, the
gems could be exchanged for some additional points.

  But was it really a smart idea to return to the barracks?

  That forsaken bush was growing not far from the spot where she sat. Right there under its roots Jenny buried the whole fortune. Damn it!

  Before Jenny had time to make a decision she heard a strange sound behind her. Was it just a rustle or was it a muffled cough? She went numb from fear and listened again. Was there a sound or wasn’t there? What if Greg is already near?

  Fuck the gems! If only I’d stay alive...It’s not the time to be greedy!

  Jenny began wading through the tall grass.

  The wide leaves were clinging to her clothes and slapping her in the face; the resentment and anger was gurgling up in Jenny’s throat - the gems were too good to leave behind, most likely they were rare and expensive - she was almost howling that she had to get out without them. But there was no choice – most likely in the morning she’ll have to face an execution or a penal servitude, and if she comes across Greg first, she may not even see the morning.

  Finally, after the painfully long last thirty meters, with cut hands and legs, Jenny ended up on a deserted moonlit road - there were trees growing on the other side.

  Phew! She’s pulled it off so far! It wasn’t easy, but still....

  Suppressing a strong desire to scratch her itchy skin, she quickly ran across the dusty path, and almost fell into a ditch on the other side of the road, rolled on her stomach and settled there quietly. This place was in the shade - the foliage wouldn’t let the moonlight through - so Jenny could relax for a second. She rubbed her sore skin covered with grazes and grimaced - damn grass! Even her t-shirt looked a total mess now. But her appearance was not as significant as the other problem at hand - how can she get over the fence?

  Having walked on this road a few times before, Jenny knew there was an old gate there, which was previously used for big trucks, but then they built new shiny gates much closer to the house and this one was abandoned. Even though the old dusty metal gate was now rusty and lopsided it still had electricity running through it twenty-four hours a day, like it was designed for the rest of the perimeter. But there was, however, one "but" that made this place different from the others, and this "but" was a chain that was holding the gate’s doors together.

  A few times in the past Jenny thought that this chain was long enough to allow the doors to separate adequately in order for a human body to squeeze through the existing hole. It remained unclear why Hulk didn’t pay attention to this bit, but did it really matter now? The only important thing at this very moment was that she doesn’t find a new shorter chain here and that the gap is still wide enough.

  Jenny swallowed.

  She didn’t really want to go through this - if she touches the metal, she’ll roast and become a dish called “made out of Jenny”. But if she doesn’t try, then she might as well forget about ever getting out of this ranch. The rest of the perimeter had a few rows of twisted barbed wire around it, which you would not want to mess with as it carried a significant risk to one’s life.

  So what would the right choice be? Should she try or not?

  Either because of the long run or her fear, Jenny felt the sweat running down her back. She wiped the droplets from her temple, buried her face in her hands and halted in doubt.

  What if she gets killed? What if she is not slim enough to squeeze through the gates? It was damn scary to even think about that. Jenny closed her eyes for a moment, but then aroused. She must look at the gap once again and then decide what she is going to do before the panic takes over her. She reluctantly got up from the ground and looked around - it was quiet. Wherever Greg was at the moment, he still wasn’t here which meant she’s got a chance to give the fence a closer look.

  Trying to prop herself with her heels, Jenny slid down to the bottom of the ravine, and climbed up on another side of it - there was a narrow path behind the trees. On the other side of the path, there was an electric fence smelling distinctly of death.

  Jenny shuddered as she saw it.

  In fact, there wasn’t any unusual odour around - the air smelled of dust and pollen from the rare flowers, but her imagination was going wild, forcing Jenny’s nostrils to tremble from the non-existent electrical smell.

  Trying to keep in the shade, Jenny was walking along the fence until she reached her destination - the old rusty gate. The doors were high and heavy, with cage-like bars, which could be used for animals in a zoo. There was a chain there - like a fat dead python, it sagged in the middle, holding the iron "ears” together on both sides, and the gap was exactly the same as Jenny remembered it.

  With her breath bated and eyes glued to the metal that could cause an immediate death, Jenny approached the gate. Is the gap wide enough? Will it be possible to slip through it sideways and not touch it? If she inhales and goes through very carefully, it might work out.

  Jenny listened to the sounds around again.

  At first it seemed that there was the same silence, but after a few seconds, she heard something that made her shiver - male voices. Was this area also being patrolled?

  Like a hunted animal she was shifting her gaze from the gate to the empty road behind the trees. They will be here soon - either the guards or Greg, and if she stays here, then her last chance to break free will fade away as if it never existed.

  This thought forced her to make the final decision - Jenny started moving slowly and cautiously, and then froze right in front of the gate with her nose almost touching the rusty bar. She thought she must bend her legs and kneel to make sure that they won’t touch the iron. Damn, that will be hard! But she can only do it once - it may not work. This is it - life or death.

  She took a deep breath, filled her lungs with as much air as possible, then breathed out and made a step forward - turned sideways, pressed her hands against her body, pulled every little bit of herself in, and began carefully squeezing through the gap.

  First the iron bar went past her left eye, and now it was exactly in the centre of her face - opposite her nose. For a moment it seemed that Jenny’s hair touched the chain and her back was almost pressing against the rear rack, but judging by the fact that she was still alive, it has not yet happened. By this time the sweat was pouring like hell - running down her neck, sides, and thighs, but that was the last thing Jenny cared about. She was slowly crawling to the other side - the freedom side.

  The left knee successfully passed the danger area without touching the macabre metal pipe and now it was before her right eye. Then the right ear... Hand... Right knee...

  Don’t touch... please, don’t touch it, just don’t touch...

  I’ve gone through!

  It’s worked!

  Jenny took a step away from the gate, looked at her limbs still in place and fell on the grass - on the other side of the fence.

  She did it! She didn’t even notice that she was lying in the grass and laughing.

  It worked! She squeezed through the hole without being noticed! Could anything be better than this? Greg didn’t find her, the patrol didn’t surface, the night had just begun and she was still alive!

  Life had presented her with a lucky lottery ticket and there was justice in this world. Not willing to spend another minute by the ill-fated gate, she got up off of the ground feeling a new wave of energy after the successful implementation of the plan; briefly looked around and decided to run towards the weald, which stood, like a dark wall, a hundred meters away. The moon coated the tree crowns with silver light - this place will become her shelter until she decides where to move next. To get to the trees, she had to cross a dry grassy meadow - Jenny grimaced, knowing that her irritated skin will not be pleased with new scratches, but that’s alright. They’ll heal. The most important thing was that she was out of the ranch’s territory and from now on there was only freedom ahead.

  Encouraged by her success, she bravely stepped into the grass, then took another step and then... stopped. The feeling of c
alamity close by suddenly loomed in her mind – a very bad, heavy and dark premonition that something terrible is about to happen.

  What’s wrong? There was nobody after her, so why has this feeling come over her all of a sudden?

  After standing motionless for a minute, Jenny shook her head.

  What a dope she is, imagining something and ready to shit her pants for no reason.

  She took a step forward - and this step was to become her last one.

  The ankle burst with pain, as if someone dug their teeth into it, to chewing it in half. Her body jolted with such a force that Jenny got flew backwards, but she did not feel anything anymore. She fell on the grass, like a heavy sack. She did not see the sky or the moon; she no longer felt the dry grass poking her skin.