I’m too tired to comment on the state of the world. Here’s more story.

The Fairy Tale Asylum: scene 5

Hannah delighted in the thrill of adventure. Once she and Clem had snuck up onto the roof of the school during a pep rally in the gym. They’d spotted two teachers kissing the parking lot and a boy crying behind the cafeteria. Hannah loved being where she wasn’t supposed to be, seeing what she wasn’t supposed to see. But this, the Asylum, was different.

Hannah left the rope hanging down the side of the wall for a quick getaway. The dingy gray rope blended into the concrete of the wall, almost camouflaged. Almost.

She looked up towards the roof. The angle was wrong to see if the boy was still up there. Maybe this place let children out on the roofs at night. Who could say a place like this didn’t? Maybe the inmates ran the Asylum. What did she know?

The night air was cold, but she was too excited to feel it. She took a few steps towards the nearest window when the first bird flew overhead. Odd to see such birds this time of night. Another bird came, and another. She leaned back against the Asylum wall as crows filled the sky. They made no noise other than the flapping of their wings, and they flew from her line of vision.

Passing by a window, Hannah ducked down. She planned to find the back entrance and pick the lock. She’d bought a set of lockpick tools online, and she’d practiced on as many locks as she could at home and friends’ houses. She practiced on locks at school, and not once had she been caught.

A great rustling of wings brought her to a stop. The birds soared from the roof in a tight flock. It looked for a moment as if they carried something. The boy? Hannah shook her head. She believed in fortunetelling, auras, and talking to the dead, but crows didn’t carry little boys off rooftops.

Watching the cloud of birds fly away from the Asylum and over the woods, Hannah remembered the boys who’d come with her to the wall and who were supposed to be with her now. She didn’t regret leaving them behind, but would they wait for her or get lost in the woods on the way back home? She turned her attention back to the task at hand. Being lost for one night in the woods wouldn’t do either boy any harm. Might do them some good. Might make them more interesting.

Thanks for reading.

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