Escape

Butcher's knives, builder's knives, clasp knives, pocketknives, even a few machetes and blunt table knives. The room bristled with knives. They weren’t supposed to have knives, but they did. Lifted, pinched, and pilfered from wherever they could lay hands on them. The tall kid in the corner was haranguing a small group of devoted followers, while the rest milled about uneasily, waiting to see what would happen. Whispered rumours moved to and fro, leaping from huddle to huddle. Today, something was different. Maybe the bossy kid was going to let them do something. They hoped so. They were sick of pretending, sick of waiting. They wanted out, done, free. But the bossy kid and his gang were not to be messed with, if they said wait, you waited.

The huddle in the corner broke up and the kids spread out across the room, going from group to group whispering instructions. “Hide the knives.” “Pretend nothing’s different.” Silently, the knives disappeared. The room looked normal. Footsteps sounded in the hallway. The bossy kid sniggered and grinned. “Do it.” Quickly, the individual huddles merged into one big one facing the door. The bossy kid stayed right at the back, but no one noticed. From the other side, a key was thrust into the lock and turned. The door opened. A white-clothed nurse entered, carrying a large pot of oaty porridge. As she set it down in the middle of the room, the huddle closed behind her. There was a glint of metal and a rush. The scream came too late and the bossy kid laughed maniacally as he grabbed her keys and led the rush down the hallway to freedom.