Middle Of Nowhere
Entry by: EmmaM
7th September 2016
Middle of Nowhere
The preparation for tonight had taken months. It had started as the whisper of an idea, darting around in her head with no form or substance, and she had been too scared to acknowledge it. But the misery of her situation had eventually given her the courage to capture that idea and carefully begin to hone and mould it into a realistic plan.
She had taken advantage of any outside chores to check all the gates in the villa complex, only to conclude that there was no way she could leave at any time of the day or night without the guards opening the electric gates for her. The only way was over the walls. There were lots of trees in the gardens and she had found one at the back of the villa, away from the gates, whose branches extended nearly to the wall. Anne was confident that, by using the step ladder she had found in one of the garages, she could haul herself up the trunk, slide along one of the branches and then leap to the top of the nearest wall. There was then no choice but to lower herself down the other side of the wall and let herself drop to the ground. It would be risky, especially in the dark. The walls were around five metres high, so she could seriously injure herself if she fell. But at this point Anne felt she had no other choice.
She had been approached by an agent in her native Manila, who promised her an easy life with a kind family, and more money than she had ever dreamed of. In a couple of years she would be able to save enough to put her children through school and ensure that her parents were cared for in their retirement. She had bid her family goodbye, sad to leave but full of hope at what her new life had to offer her.
Her hopes were crushed within days of starting her new job. Her mistress, Clara, was a cruel woman, who unleashed her own unhappiness on her staff members. Unable to direct any of her misery at her dominant husband, she punished her employees instead. Anne was forced to work 18 hour days, given barely enough food and water and had to sleep in a room with no windows and no air-conditioning. When the temperatures rose to nearly 50 degrees during July and August, she lay awake all night in a pool of her own sweat, dragging thick, hot air into her lungs. A couple of times, when Clara's wretchedness peaked, she had grabbed a fistful of Anne's hair and dragged her across the room, screaming wild abuse. After a couple of weeks, Anne had asked to return home, but Clara had taken her passport when she first arrived and had flatly refused to give it back.
Anne struggled through nearly a year of terrorised employment, before deciding that she had to escape. She was sensible enough to realise that her plan needed to take her further than the other side of the villa walls. The villa compound seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, surrounded on all sides by endless sand dunes that rippled into the distance. She had not left the compound since she had arrived, in the middle of the night, nearly twelve months ago, but she recalled hours of long, empty roads on the journey from the airport. She needed a co-conspirator and, knowing the other servants as she did, there was really only one option – Rajesh, one of Clara's drivers.
It had taken many weeks to build a close enough relationship with Rajesh, before she had felt she could ask him to help her. Rajesh was a good man who saw clearly Anne's despair, but his desire to help her was pitted against the paralysing fear of being caught. He came from a brutally poor village in rural India and he felt the weight of his entire extended family bearing down on his shoulders. If he lost his job, they would all suffer. Eventually, logic succumbed to what had always been his greatest weakness – kindness - and he reluctantly agreed to arrange for someone to meet Anne on the other side of the walls and drive her to a bus station, where she could get on to a bus to the capital city.
So here she was, finally taking the steps she had been planning for so long. She lay awake for hours after everyone went to bed and eventually, at 3am, slid out of bed, grabbed her small rucksack and the step-ladder she had hidden under her bed, and left her room. She tiptoed along the hallway, down the back stairway and through the kitchen to the back door. She gently twisted the door handle and tugged the door open just enough to allow her to slip outside, pushing the door closed behind her.
It was a hot, still night, the humidity draping itself through the air. The moon was nearing the end of its cycle, just a dash of silver in the sky which gave almost no light at all. Murky shadows sat motionlessly on the lawn, daring Anne to approach. She breathed in deeply, drawing on all her reserves of courage, and then began to creep soundlessly across the garden. Peering through the darkness, she saw the tree she had selected and hurried towards it, a shadowy glimmer of freedom within her grasp. The last year had been the hardest of her life, at times intolerable, and now she could finally feel the gentle tug of happiness.
Reaching the tree, she set the step ladder beneath it, secured her backpack and climbed up. As she was reaching for the first branch, the garden was suddenly drenched in light and the guard dogs started barking, crushing the stillness of the night. The shock of the noise made Anne lose her balance and she tumbled to the ground, directly into the path of a stark security light. Panic biting frantically at her, she scrambled to her feet and crouched into the shadows. She heard shouting from all sides of the garden as the security guards were propelled from half-sleep into a frenzied state of action. One voice was heard yelling instructions, and then Anne heard them all running, calling out "Who is it? Who's there?". As their voices grew louder, Anne realised that they were running towards her, and they were approaching from both sides of the garden. She glanced around desperately for somewhere to hide, knowing already that is was hopeless.
In the seconds before she was caught, Anne glanced up and saw a shadowy outline in the window above her. She didn't need to look closer to know that it was Clara, watching the scene like a queen in her castle.
The preparation for tonight had taken months. It had started as the whisper of an idea, darting around in her head with no form or substance, and she had been too scared to acknowledge it. But the misery of her situation had eventually given her the courage to capture that idea and carefully begin to hone and mould it into a realistic plan.
She had taken advantage of any outside chores to check all the gates in the villa complex, only to conclude that there was no way she could leave at any time of the day or night without the guards opening the electric gates for her. The only way was over the walls. There were lots of trees in the gardens and she had found one at the back of the villa, away from the gates, whose branches extended nearly to the wall. Anne was confident that, by using the step ladder she had found in one of the garages, she could haul herself up the trunk, slide along one of the branches and then leap to the top of the nearest wall. There was then no choice but to lower herself down the other side of the wall and let herself drop to the ground. It would be risky, especially in the dark. The walls were around five metres high, so she could seriously injure herself if she fell. But at this point Anne felt she had no other choice.
She had been approached by an agent in her native Manila, who promised her an easy life with a kind family, and more money than she had ever dreamed of. In a couple of years she would be able to save enough to put her children through school and ensure that her parents were cared for in their retirement. She had bid her family goodbye, sad to leave but full of hope at what her new life had to offer her.
Her hopes were crushed within days of starting her new job. Her mistress, Clara, was a cruel woman, who unleashed her own unhappiness on her staff members. Unable to direct any of her misery at her dominant husband, she punished her employees instead. Anne was forced to work 18 hour days, given barely enough food and water and had to sleep in a room with no windows and no air-conditioning. When the temperatures rose to nearly 50 degrees during July and August, she lay awake all night in a pool of her own sweat, dragging thick, hot air into her lungs. A couple of times, when Clara's wretchedness peaked, she had grabbed a fistful of Anne's hair and dragged her across the room, screaming wild abuse. After a couple of weeks, Anne had asked to return home, but Clara had taken her passport when she first arrived and had flatly refused to give it back.
Anne struggled through nearly a year of terrorised employment, before deciding that she had to escape. She was sensible enough to realise that her plan needed to take her further than the other side of the villa walls. The villa compound seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, surrounded on all sides by endless sand dunes that rippled into the distance. She had not left the compound since she had arrived, in the middle of the night, nearly twelve months ago, but she recalled hours of long, empty roads on the journey from the airport. She needed a co-conspirator and, knowing the other servants as she did, there was really only one option – Rajesh, one of Clara's drivers.
It had taken many weeks to build a close enough relationship with Rajesh, before she had felt she could ask him to help her. Rajesh was a good man who saw clearly Anne's despair, but his desire to help her was pitted against the paralysing fear of being caught. He came from a brutally poor village in rural India and he felt the weight of his entire extended family bearing down on his shoulders. If he lost his job, they would all suffer. Eventually, logic succumbed to what had always been his greatest weakness – kindness - and he reluctantly agreed to arrange for someone to meet Anne on the other side of the walls and drive her to a bus station, where she could get on to a bus to the capital city.
So here she was, finally taking the steps she had been planning for so long. She lay awake for hours after everyone went to bed and eventually, at 3am, slid out of bed, grabbed her small rucksack and the step-ladder she had hidden under her bed, and left her room. She tiptoed along the hallway, down the back stairway and through the kitchen to the back door. She gently twisted the door handle and tugged the door open just enough to allow her to slip outside, pushing the door closed behind her.
It was a hot, still night, the humidity draping itself through the air. The moon was nearing the end of its cycle, just a dash of silver in the sky which gave almost no light at all. Murky shadows sat motionlessly on the lawn, daring Anne to approach. She breathed in deeply, drawing on all her reserves of courage, and then began to creep soundlessly across the garden. Peering through the darkness, she saw the tree she had selected and hurried towards it, a shadowy glimmer of freedom within her grasp. The last year had been the hardest of her life, at times intolerable, and now she could finally feel the gentle tug of happiness.
Reaching the tree, she set the step ladder beneath it, secured her backpack and climbed up. As she was reaching for the first branch, the garden was suddenly drenched in light and the guard dogs started barking, crushing the stillness of the night. The shock of the noise made Anne lose her balance and she tumbled to the ground, directly into the path of a stark security light. Panic biting frantically at her, she scrambled to her feet and crouched into the shadows. She heard shouting from all sides of the garden as the security guards were propelled from half-sleep into a frenzied state of action. One voice was heard yelling instructions, and then Anne heard them all running, calling out "Who is it? Who's there?". As their voices grew louder, Anne realised that they were running towards her, and they were approaching from both sides of the garden. She glanced around desperately for somewhere to hide, knowing already that is was hopeless.
In the seconds before she was caught, Anne glanced up and saw a shadowy outline in the window above her. She didn't need to look closer to know that it was Clara, watching the scene like a queen in her castle.
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