Escape

For thirty minutes every afternoon

Cleo and I

have been chiselling

chipping, and hammering

at our back wall, in the corner,

near the largest camellia bush.

Today is the fifth day

and we work even harder.

We’ve chipped away the mortar

and the sandstone blocks are moving.

Cleo holds the steel rod

level between the stones

as I gently hammer it into position.

It slides in easily,

taking the weight

of the stones above ... we hope!

Cleo and I move each stone.

We wriggle

through the gap and stand

in a field of long waving wild

green grass that smells of

spring and

freedom.

There are cows in the distance.

They wave their tails in the heat.

We wave back.

Cleo and I shake hands

and do a little victory dance

then quickly crawl through the gap,

and move the stones back into place

before Arnold and Barbara get home.

We plan our Saturday:

yabbies at the creek.

The first day of freedom.