They dreamed of birds flying high, and joining them. The thought of soaring above buildings and clouds… it amazed them. And the fact that they could do this was extraordinary… Or so they thought. They roughly awoke from their daydream to the sound of a fight. Polk county jail. How charming. They slithered their way through the crowd to the front, where the cause of the ruckus was taking place. Two prisoners had started a “punching match,” and of course the guards got involved trying to stop it.”Hey Robin!” They heard an eerily familiar voice shout from the back of the room. “How’d you get way up there, in front of the action?” The behemoth behind the shouting started pushing her way to the front. It was Jasper. Jasper was about 6 feet tall and 200 pounds, with long dyed orange hair. Robin however, was only about 5’6″, 153lb, and had short red hair. Someone like Jasper had no reason to talk to someone like Robin, but she did anyways.”Hello Jasper…” Robin said with an embarrassed tone of voice.”Wow, they really went at it, didn’t they?””Yeah, they sure did.”They looked down upon the gruesome scene in front of them. Blood was spued on the walls from one of the inmates’ mouths, and teeth were lying on the ground. It smelt of freshly scooped manure, and no one seemed to be enjoying it.”That’ll teach you to double-cross me!” One of the deranged inmates yelled.The other inmate laid unconscious on the concrete floor. Robin wasn’t sure what they had done to “double-cross” her, but they knew it really must’ve been bad. The guards hauled away the yelling prisoner and had the unconscious one taken to the infirmary. Robin rolled their eyes and walked back to their cell. Jasper followed closely behind.”What are you doing?” Robin queried. “Coming to your cell with you, duh.” She said this like it was obvious. Robin ignored the oaf, and went on with their day as usual.When they went to bed they decided they had enough of jail life. They knew how to get out, they just needed some manpower…. or more accurately womanpower. The next day during their freetime they found Jasper in the yard. They knew if they ever wanted to get out of there, this was the only way.”Hey Jasper…?” Robin spoke nervously, concerned what Jasper might think of their plan.”What is it Robin? You sound kind of nervous. Is everything alright?””I’m fine. I was just wondering…. how badly do you want out of here?””Why?””Well- I-i mean… I was just wondering-“”Oohh I get it.” She winked.”Quiet down!” Robin covered Jaspers mouth, and looked around. She turned back to Jasper and took her hands off her mouth. “I-i’m so sorry Jasper.””It’s fine kid.” She said even though she was only a year or two older than Robin.”Anyways, here’s the plan.” They thoroughly explained how they were to escape. Jasper asked a few questions here and there like, “So what will you be doing,” and “Wait- doesn’t that mean.” The sort of questions Robin expected from someone like Jasper.A week passed. Jasper and Robin gathered their strength.”So you’ve told the plan to Alex, right?” Alex was a 6’2″, 265lb beast. She complained everyday how much she wanted out of there. Robin knew she’d be perfect for the plan.”Of course I did! Have a little more faith in me alright?” Robin doubted they’d be able to do that.”Alright, I’ll try.” They lied.A few more days past, and then it was finally time.When it came time for roll call, Robin pulled Jasper and Alex to the side.”Everything ready?” They were already imagining real food, all of the things they had missed so much they would finally get to see and experience again. All the excitement was basically pouring out of their body.”Yup. We’ll distract the guards.” Alex and Jasper approached the front of the group. Robin followed closely, but not too closely as to accidentally get hurt in the midst of the plan. Jasper pretended to trip and fall into Alex.”Hey, what’s the big idea!?” Alex did her best to act angry.”I just fell! Back off man!” Jasper pushed Alex.”Why you little-” She threw the first punch.Jasper returned the favor. They threw punches hard enough to make it look like they were really getting hurt, when all that was really happening was a big show. This continued until both of them threw enough punches that they could fake unconsciousness. Jasper went down first, as in a real fight between the two she would be the loser. Alex gave off a few snotty remarks, and then collapsed. She was quite the little actor.As planned the guards had them hauled off to the infirmary. Robin was so small they could slip away, and follow the guards without them noticing. They knew this and used it to their advantage.Once they got to the infirmary, one of the doctors spotted Robin. Robin had anticipated this might happen.”What are you doing here? You don’t look injured.” She adjusted her eyebrows into the fixatition you might see someone in a movie do.”I’m friends with one of the unconscious fools. I saw her getting in a fight, so I stepped in. The other one didn’t seem to notice me, and continued swinging. I got out of the way, but I wanted to come with my friend…” They hoped their lie would pass.”…Alright then. Just don’t go trying to cause any trouble.” Robin nodded.The guards went back to their posts, leaving the infirmary. And by doing this, they left it vulnerable. Jasper and Alex opened their eyes. They slowly sat up and held their heads as if they were really hurt. The doctor approached them to attempt to inspect their very fake wounds.”Jasper now!”Jasper jumped off the bed, grabbed the doctor and headbutted her, putting her to sleep.”That actually hurt my head a bit.” She said now grabbing her head for real. “Well that was the easy part. Now we have to get past the guards.” A worried expression crossed Robins face. This scared Jasper a little bit.Jasper set her hand on Robin’s shoulder. “Hey, we got this.” Sheesh, you two done with your pride fest over there?””Excuse me?!” This actually insulted Robin. Robin had only been to a few pride marches. Being non-binary and all.” I was only joking kid. I don’t got anything against you. “That’s not what-“”Tell me about it later. We gotta break out right now. “She was right. Even if Robin didn’t want to admit it, they knew they could yell at her about it all they wanted later. Getting out was what was important right then. They burst through the doors alarming the guards stationed outside the infirmary.” Stop!” One of the guards yelled. The other grabbed their radio.”Prisoners have escaped! I repeat, prisoners ha-” Alex picked him up and threw him into a nearby wall.”Bad design making all the walls so solid.” Yeah…” Is something wro-“”We have to keep moving!” Robin started running knowing Jasper and Alex would follow.They turned down hallway after hallway. Robin knew the jail like the sound of Jaspers snoring.It seemed like every turn they took there were more guards. And the alarm blaring through the jail was getting annoying too.” ALL PRISONERS RETURN TO THEIR CELLS. THOSE WHO DO NOT OBEY WILL BE DETAINED.”Robin did their best to ignore it, but it was kind of hard when it was everywhere they went. “This way!” They could tell Alex and Jasper were getting tired, but it was only a little bit further.” I’m not sure how many more people I can throw Robin.” She said it so naturally. It actually made Robin chuckle a little bit. “Why are you laughing? I’m serious!” I know… don’t worry. It’s just a little further.” They really hoped this was true.They all kept running and running. Finally. Freedom was in view. The doors were right there.”Halt!” 10 guards ran in front of the doorway. They could feel freedom slipping away.” Never!” Jasper and Alex gained a new look upon their faces. They looked determined to escape. Like if this didn’t work…. they would just up and die.They ran forward throwing punches left and right. Robin swore they could feel their eyes sparkling. Their plan had worked. The “armor” the guards wore couldn’t have been more useless. They fell to the ground, and the three prisoners reigned supreme. They grabbed a keycard off one of the guards, then grabbed their confiscated clothes and belongings. They stepped through the doors into the blinding light, in their normal clothes. The citizens would never know the glory of this feeling. This… was truly perfection.
