Maple City
Chapter 1
It was the gloomy lights and the tall grey walls that kept everyone. It was the cries of the children that made it hard to fall asleep and the hopelessness that everyone had in their hearts. No matter how we tell the tale, the grown-ups never listen. They think that everything they say is right, no matter what.
It wasn’t fair. Nothing was fair inside here. Nothing but the truth that the doctors say that we’re all ill. Nothing but being trapped inside our small rooms every single day.
Hopeless it is, Elizabeth White was the bravest among all the children. She was the most sensitive among all, but also the prettiest. Elizabeth White had smooth grey hair that was the light of the moon when it shines down on the ground. Elizabeth’s eyes were the colors of the blue ocean, every time you stared into her eyes, they would tell the stories of the big blue ocean and sink you deeper and deeper until you stopped to gaze at her.
Elizabeth was also the oddest among all the kids, she never shouted or cried like the rest of them, which shows her odd personality. Not many kids dared talk to her or become friends with her, that is the reason why no one sat at the same table with her during lunch.
Biting through her usual plain sandwiches, Elizabeth never said anything about how the kids treated her, or how she wanted to escape out of this prison. She just gazed through the windows, and pictured what it was like to be free again.
Although Elizabeth was lonely and never talked much, she once did have the thoughts of escaping the hospital so that she could have a day outside to enjoy herself. Everything inside the hospital was boring and scary, she would see the doctors every day, telling her to take her pills and giving her medication as she was strained on the stretcher. Elizabeth hated the doctors, she never thought anything was wrong with her.
Elizabeth got sent to the hospital three years ago. She was 12 years old the day she got sent here. It was the last time she saw her parents; Elizabeth still could remember how heart-broken she was when she saw her parents leave her, and the last kiss they gave her when she was taken away by the doctors. Elizabeth’s parents turned their heads without even giving her one last glance. It was when Elizabeth realized that her parents never loved her.
Spending the rest of the time here, Elizabeth felt empty inside. Nothing cheered her up. While the other kids here in the hospital still could get messages and visits from their parents, Elizabeth didn’t get anything. Not even a word about her parents was mentioned.
Elizabeth waited daily, hoping for a sign about her parents or the chance to let her leave the hospital. But nothing happened. She was still repeating her life, nothing new happened to her.
Elizabeth was done waiting, if they weren’t giving her hope, she was going to make it herself. She would escape this place that had trapped her for three years, she wanted freedom again, and not being trapped in these dark rooms. It’s time for Elizabeth to make a choice of escaping this place. There’s no waiting left and no more decisions to make.
Chapter 2
Coray Gray, a lady that wore glasses and always changed on her green dress was the oddest among all the woman that you would ever have met. She was not popular and popular at the same time, having lots of money and power. You would often hear of her name between famous people during parties or at the ball. You could also see her face in the newspapers.
You could admit that Coray Gray was everywhere, but not everyone was fond of her. She didn’t have a good personality that everyone would say is the best, but she also didn’t pay any respect to anyone.
Under Coray Gray’s glasses was her mean look when her sharp, dark green eyes stared at you. She also had a very sharp snout and lips that looked pale like a flower that was about to droop. Coray Gray had a black cane with her every day. The black cane was finely made and is very elegant. On top of the cane was a beak of an eagle that was polished in shiny gold. The beak was curved and sharp at the tips of it. The other part of the cane was polished in black and showed reflection of the surrounding around it.
The favorite thing that Coray Gray likes to do with her cane is to poke it at people that was in her way. Coray gray had many servants, but they were all terrified of her. Not because Coray Gray looked stern and her gray hair made her look like she was about to die, but because she not only looked scary, but also was scary when she randomly started to attack you with her cane that was her weapon.
Money is part of what Coray Gray has the most, but also what she loved the most. It gave her joy whenever she spent it on weird things and made her feel like she had a lot of power. One of the proudest things that Coray Gray had bought was a hospital that locked up patients that were mostly kids, but they were all mentally ill.
Coray Gray pays her visit to the hospital once a week. Her tall black high heels would make large, sharp sounds that broke the silence the hospital should have. All the kids here were afraid of her, except for Elizabeth White that lived in room 801 all by herself.
From what Coray Gray has known about Elizabeth White, she has the illness of depression, delusional disorder and anxiety. But one thing that was weird about Elizabeth White is that she looked and acted nothing like she had mental illness from the rest of the kids. Coray Gray thought that Elizabeth would shout and cry all day long, and nobody ever knew what she wanted to express, but things turned out that Elizabeth was the smartest and calmest than the other kids.
Whenever Coray Gray pays her visit in the hospital, she would check on Elizabeth to see how she was doing. Every time Coray Gray steps into Elizabeth’s dark, empty room with only a small bed in the corner and a wooden table, Elizabeth would always smile and greet Coray Gray while she was reading a book that the workers in the hospital had provided her.
Sometimes Coray Gray would rest her gaze on Elizabeth for a long time. In her heart, she feels like there is a strong connection between her and Elizabeth. Coray Gray thought for a long time about what is the connection that is pulling her curiosity towards Elizabeth stronger and stronger. Elizabeth’s eyes were beautiful and there wasn’t another pair of eyes like hers that Coray Gray had seen before. Coray Gray wanted to know more about this kid, after all, she caught all Coray Gray’s attention and curiosity.
Chapter 3
It was half past midnight. The hallways are silent and quiet. There isn’t any sign of people walking around the hospital or sound footsteps to be heard. It’s the perfect time to
escape out of this prison and step into freedom again.
In room 801 on the third floor, Elizabeth stared out of the window, her mind picturing a map of the way to freedom. Outside of the window, the night was peaceful and quiet. There wasn’t any sound of birds chirping or the wind howling like it usually does on winter nights, but today was odd. The weather and the sky weren’t quite right today. As Elizabeth peered out the window, she caught a glimpse of the violet sky as it slowly changed color back to black.
“What’s going on with the sky today?” Elizabeth whispered as she slowly turned back her gaze inside the room.
Elizabeth kneeled on her bed to watch the view outside of the window, the bed wasn’t as soft and comfortable as it would look like, but at least it was better than sleeping on the ground.
Kids that didn’t obey what the doctor says and don’t follow the rules would receive different levels of detention due to the seriousness of what they have done. Elizabeth would often see kids sleeping on the floor inside the detention room when she was walking outside with the doctors at night to take her medication.
The detention room was at floor level one, the second lowest floor of the hospital. It was two rooms away from the room where Elizabeth took her medication, and every time Elizabeth passed, there was always one child inside that cried as if everything was ending.
Elizabeth had only been inside the detention room once in the whole time she had been at the hospital. The day when the nurses had taken Elizabeth down to the detention room, she remembered that her face was full of tears, and she was begging for mercy to not let the nurses trap her inside such a terrible room. There was nothing inside the room and only darkness surrounded her each and every second. Elizabeth was afraid and terrified. What did she do that made the nurses hate her so much, that they would throw Elizabeth inside a room where it would absorb all the happiness that Elizabeth had inside her?
Perhaps it was the unhappy memory that Elizabeth had with her days inside the detention room, after she was being let out by the nurses, Elizabeth changed from inside to outside. She learned to obey the rules and not to fight against the doctors whenever they were doing something painful to you. With Elizabeth not being a naughty kid as she was before compared to the first day that she was being sent here, many doctors and nurses complimented Elizabeth and said that she was the best kid in the hospital and the first one to get out of here. But everyone slowly realized something, Elizabeth couldn’t get out.
Where are her parents?
Chapter 4
“Ms. Gray? You should check the hospital today!” A sound of a male slowly called from behind.
“None of my business to care about these children. I own this hospital and buy it just to my likings.” Coray Gray said arrogantly as she was stepping across the marble floor wearing high heels as the floor clicked.
“But- a kid’s gone missing!” The man shouted from behind in heavy breath as he managed to catch up with Coray Gray.
“I don’t care about any children in this hospital, the doctors and the nurses should be responsible for a missing child running across the street!” Coray Gray shouted from the front as she slowly rolled her eyes in despite how she hated the kids in the hospital so much. Then she slowly added, “I’m done with the tricks that these kids with mental problems have been playing. They all have something wrong with their brain! I bought this hospital just because I already own too many zoos. Simply watching animals doing tricks won’t make me happy. But watching children acting dumb like animals sure could be added into my favorites list.”
Walking fastly towards the other side of the building, Coray Gray slowly stopped in front of an elevator. As she clicked the sign to go up, she hesitated as she turned her head around, the man still following her.
“Tell me who’s this kid that’s missing.” Coray Gray turned to face the man as she asked about the missing kid.
The man opened his mouth to answer the question as Coray Gray was tapping her high heels against the ground impatiently.
“It’s Elizabeth White.”
Chapter 5
Elizabeth doesn’t know where she’s heading to. All she knows is that she just successfully escaped the hospital at midnight and all she must do is run as far as she could. With heavy breath, Elizabeth ran across the forest where it gave her great cover and hid her perfectly. She enjoyed the moment that freedom had brought her while running across the forest where no one could stop her. The wind blew in the direction of her face and her hair was carried by the wind.
The night was cold, but Elizabeth didn’t care. She loved the feeling that freedom has gave her every second while she might be in danger of being caught by the doctors in the hospital.
Elizabeth said to herself in her heart that she was never going to get back into the hospital again. She didn’t have a house to go to or family members to pick her up, but she didn’t care about none of that. All Elizabeth cared about was the short moment of freedom that was brought to her.
It was a great decision to make to escape the hospital. Even though she didn’t like it, it was still the only place that kept her and gave her food and a place to stay. Elizabeth still didn’t get why her parents had left her while she was so young and crying so painfully when they didn’t hesitate to turn around to leave her. The experience of being left alone by your parents was such a pain in the throat. Elizabeth didn’t accept the truth that her parents didn’t want her anymore.
Before Elizabeth came to the hospital, she lived inside a big mansion with her family. Elizabeth would sit on the couch beside the fireplace inside the living room with her mom and dad, and they would tell her stories about great adventures that were fascinating but also magical. Elizabeth loved the warmth that her mother had given her when she held Elizabeth in her arms. Every time before Elizabeth would go to bed, her mom would give her a kiss on the forehead and wish her good dreams. It was the happiest memory that Elizabeth could remember in her life.
But Elizabeth felt like everything that she just remembered was all from her imagination. Perhaps her mom never had hugged her, and she was never held in her arms. The warm feeling of the fireplace was all the cries and tears that had turned burning hot into hatred but not sadness.
Pulling herself back into the real world, Elizabeth’s hands shook as she caught her breath from running for such a long time.
“No, I shouldn’t think about this stuff right now.” Elizbeth murmured to herself as she put her hands inside the pockets of her coat.