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WHAT MY NEW COMPANION lacked in stature, he made up for in hair. He had a tangled web of yellow dreadlocks that exploded from his head in every direction. As he ran they danced and swayed as if they were real creatures trying to leap from his skull. He was a swift runner, and I was panting heavily by the time he skidded to a halt next to a tall fence. The top of the fence was lined with barbed wire.
“What are we doing here?” I asked, gasping for breath.
“We're going under the fence. I need you to hold it up as I wiggle under. I'm not strong enough to crawl and hold at the same time.”
“Under it?” I asked, dubiously. “This fence looks pretty solid...”
“Of course it does! I wouldn't want to arouse suspicion! But I've been prepping the fence for weeks so I could escape when the time comes. Now help me out!”
“How do I know you won't just leave me when you get to the other side.
The small man eyed me impatiently. “You don't. But I'm your only hope right now. Are you going to help me?”
I sighed and bent down to the fence. Grasping the links with both hands I yanked upward. It lifted surprisingly easily! My friend wasted no time dropping onto his stomach and wriggling his way under.
“Great work,” he said. “Now it's your turn!”
He took the fence from me and held it as I too scrambled underneath. I was a good bit taller and my orange jumpsuit got the bottom at one point, tearing a large hole in the pants.
“Don't worry about that, we'll sort it out later!”
A moment later I was on the outside of the prison, my only injury being a torn pair of pants.
“We need a vehicle,” my friend began. “We have a journey ahead of us.”
“Alright,” I replied. “But can we at least exchange names now? I'm Alex.”
“My name is Calvin. Or Cal, if you prefer.”
“Nice to meet you, Cal. So for a vehicle, what do you say about that car over there?”
I pointed to a red sports car parked down the block. It looked extremely fast.
“Nope, not big enough. Let's use that one further down the street.”
He was indicating a large diesel truck used to haul hardware.
“B-but we can't outrun cops in that!” I protested.
Calvin didn't seem to hear me. He was already racing towards the truck. I sighed and followed behind. Seconds later we were rolling down the roads out of town.
“Alex, I just want to tell you up front, that I'm about to do some very strange things. You may start to question my sanity even. But believe me when I say that everything will make sense in time. I think.”
I looked over at my partner in crime, suddenly beginning to wonder if he was good company.
“Okay, well then perhaps we should just part ways now...” I began.
“Too late for that, my friend. I suggest you buckle your seatbelt.”
I looked from Calvin back to the road. I saw that instead of turning with the road we were hurtling straight at the side of a large building!
“Calvin! NOOOO!!!!!!!”