A Life Changing Decision

by Lucas Wright

Craziness had taken hold of his day. Nothing had gone as planed. Jack's usual attempts at escaping from his persistent stalker, plan number 32A, had been thwarted by the untimely arrival of four wheeled blur. He, whom had never before become acquainted with an object at such a high velocity, was thrown flat to the floor, and it took him several moments for him to pull himself back together. He looked up from his position on the ground into the face of the old lady.

A moment of silence passed, before Jack addressed her, "Why are you following me!" he demanded.
The elderly women responded to his statement with a continued silence and an empty stare. Her quiet eyes burned into him. Jack retreated into the forming crowd, knowing that he would still have a follower.

He made a good attempt at ignoring her as he traveled back towards his neighbor hood and home. Occasionally, though, he would catch a glimpse of her in his peripheral vision. "Would he ever escape?" was the question that ran through his mind as he walked up the steps to the front door of his house.
Jack's leg made a loud, awkward thump sound as he plopped down on the sofa in his bedroom back at home.

Jack's room was an odd sight. The walls were covered with papers and sticky notes centering on the details of a route, an incident, or a plan. A single old lady had consumed the past few years of his life.
Each time was a little bit different. Jack would head to school and everything would run smoothly, but after school and work he would always see small glimpses of the same woman. She would lurk in the background of his life. He would see her at the mall, when he went on a trip, and even at his own basketball games.

It became an obsession of his. Who knows how long this had been going on? But after he became aware of it, he desired to figure out who this lady was and what she wanted. All he knew was that he had to escape from her constant watch. Today, though, was the closest he had ever come to escaping, and still he failed. The plan was, as soon as he was sure that he'd lost her, to escape to another town with money he had saved up. He would have to try again another day.

The thing that Jack worried about the most though, was that no one else had ever seen her. His parents worried about him for a long time, but had seemingly given that up shortly after he had stopped letting them come into his room. That was just after Jack had made the life changing decision to secretly investigate his shadow.
It was time for plan number 32B. Jack's plan, 32B, was simple and desperate. If, in fact, that this lady was in the least bit normal, which he had his doubts about, he would travel until he was sure that she would follow him no longer. In this manor he would escape to another town and state or even country to start a new life.
Jack grabbed what supplies he needed from around his room: his already packed suitcase and his money. He headed for his window and made his quick escape. Once outside, jack began sprinting. The only thoughts in his mind were of his freedom.

As he reached the far block and the bus stop, he was surprised two see two large men sitting on the bench wearing lab coats and gloves. They stood up and began approaching him.
Suddenly they rushed him, swiftly and silently, Jack was forced to the ground. Panicked and winded, Jack shouted out, "What do you want?"

No one answered him.

"People must not think that I deserve answers", Jack thought to himself, as the Larger of the two men pulled out a syringe filled with a clear liquid and injected the substance into Jack's neck. He quickly lost consciousness and was transported across town to the closest facility for the mentally disturbed.

Jack's parents received a new phone the next morning. Usually they got a monthly phone call from the Arkem Mental Hospital in California, where there son was being cared for. The caller was quick and to the point, "Jack seems a little more unstable lately," said the kind voice, "so maybe you and your husband should plan a visit sometime soon. It may help calm him down."

Jack awoke to the familiar sound of a ringing bell, similar to his alarm clock at home. He was in a small white room with a bed, a bedside table, a clock on it, and a television up by the ceiling. Where was he? After a few seconds of investigation, he noticed a door on the other end of the room. Within moments it was opening, in came his usual nurse. With just a single glance at the woman coming in the door, and Jack new that Plan 32B had failed.