It was late in the afternoon. Joe sat on a broad trunk in the national park feverishly brooding over a tiny map. His day had been horrible, the brutal trip trapped inside the cargo bay had surely been the worst experience in his life. At least after the arrival in the national park, his mother and sister had untied him and left him alone to build up the camp together. He had wandered around, cursed the whole situation thousands of times and even cried a bit in self-pity. "My life really is at its worst.", he had thought to himself, "The government will never change and I will be forced to be my mother's and sister's footslave forever!" Just when Joe had been at the verge of giving up and accepting his fate, he ad noticed a showcase for tourists with a map of the national park and its surrounding area in it. At first he had thought that it was nothing special: Like every national park he knew it included some lakes, rivers, emergency stations and a lot of forest. But suddenly he had noticed something unbelievable. He then excitedly had gripped on of the free and smaller copies of the map out of an INFO box next to the showcase and sat down on a nearby trunk to examine more precisely what he unexpectedly had discovered.
Now, minutes later, Joe still sat there staring at the map in disbelief. Could it be true, what he was seeing? He felt how new hope was rising inside him. The map revealed that on a very broad sector, the national park bordered on a neighboring country of Stenchlandia. More importantly a neighboring country with a normal democratic government! This was his chance to escape this whole mess. This was his chance to live a normal life. Maybe the only chance he would ever get. Although it didn't take him long to decide that he would take this chance, the thoughts in Joe's head spun over and over. When would he leave? What would he take with him? How would he survive some nights in the wilderness, since the way was not too short? And once he was there, how would he cross the border? After thinking for a while, Joe at least found some answers to satisfy himself. He would leave as soon as possible, because he could never know, when he would be able to move around freely again. He would only take the most necessary stuff with him, so that his mother and sister wouldn't notice his absence too fast. Surviving and crossing the border was stuff he would deal with, once he successfully had escaped. Having made these important decisions, Joe began to plan his route. In the beginning he would run some miles into the forest in direction south west. "I will leave some traces on this way", Joe thought to himself, "in order to lure chasers south west." He intended to trick chasers by suddenly moving south east instead of south west, without leaving obvious traces from then on. His new direction would lead him to a mountain called "Old Rock" which he planned to circle before turning completely east. The way further in the east would then lead him through a last forest until he would be able to cross the border and start a new and better life!
Having made this "master-plan", Joe stood up swollen with pride over his own brilliancy. His new hope was even whipping up a smile on his face. Now he only needed a good moment to come. Feeling himself like an undercover agent on a secret mission, Joe sneaked back to the camp checking the point of departure for his ingenious blow. The camp seemed to be ready. Two tents were built up around a crackling campfire. All seemed silent, the situation clear, when suddenly Jessica and Sarah came out of the bigger tent and sat down around the campfire. Soon they were starting to talk. "It's really nice here, mom", Sarah smiled, "I really like the landscape and the nature. But even more I like that we are having a family trip once again after so much time. I think we didn't have had one since dad...since the accident...". Sarah noticed her mistake immediately when she saw her mother's face and quickly added: "Ohh, oh, I'm really sorry mom..I really shouldn't have brought this up. It's just..I miss dad so much..and this whole thing remembered me of him." Jessica's facial expression went more bland again and she caressed her daughter's head. "Yeah, sweetheart, I understand. I miss him too, he was such a great family man. And how much he loved you! But let's talk about something more pleasant now, right?" - "Of course.", Sarah said and hugged Jessica.
Watching this scene, Joe felt sad and uncomfortable in his hideout. After all, this was his family and Joe suddenly remembered all the good times he had with his dad, his mother and his sister before the coup. Was it really right if he would just run away and leave them alone? But before Joe could really think about this, all of his doubts were wiped away, when he heard the next part of his mother's and sister's conversation.
"Wow, mom, after all this work building our camp up I'm really exhausted and sweaty. Especially my feet. I know that you don't like it, if I speak like that but I really could use Joe now..", Sarah chuckled to her mother. To her surprise, Jessica didn't react with anger or grump. In fact, she giggled! "Sarah, that was really mean of you and normally I probably would have grumped at you but I don't know. When I made Joe smell my feet this morning, it actually felt..good. Sure I was shocked a bit later, when I saw what my stinky feet where doing to him but aside of that the breathing on my hot sole felt relaxing." Sarah felt as if she was hit by a train. Was this still her mother speaking? She at first stared at her in disbelief and then started to laugh loudly. "Haha, this is exactly why I like it so much, mom! Maybe you're finally getting the taste of it now!" Hearing these words Jessica's face blushed read and she giggled with her daughter until she answered: "Speaking of Joe..where is he actually? I haven't seen him since noon, when we started building up our camp..you know what? I will go search him and when we come back you are allowed to use him a bit, as long as you don't be too cruel with him. And maybe, maybe I will let him have a few sniffs of my feet as well. Deal?" Sarah smiled from ear to ear and screamed: "Deal! I love you, mom!" After having hugged her daughter once again, Jessica went away from the campfire to search Joe.
In the meanwhile Joe, who had seen and heard all of this in his hideout behind some trees, abandoned every thought of staying with his family again. This time once and for all. He was more than shocked, he was utterly disgusted by what he had seen. He wasn't surprised about Sarah's behaviour but the stuff his mother had said really gave him the creeps. He obviously had lost his last ally in a place where he was surrounded by enemies. Swallowing down some tears, Joe knew he had to be strong now. He would need to put his sister away, fast grab some supplies and then run for his life. After having looked around a bit, Joe found a solid branch, picked it up and quietly sneaked at the back of Sarah. Then he raised the branch high above his head, barked "Sweet dreams, sis!" and struck as hard as he could. Although she heard him, Sarah had no time to react. The branch hit her back of the head with full speed and she collapsed silently. Along the way, Joe quickly made sure that Sarah was completely knocked out. After that he entered the big tent, grabbed his backpack stuffed some bread, water and tinned fruit in it. He also threw in a compass, his cagoule and the little replacement tent he was able to bring with him. With a last cold look at the unconscious body of his sister, Joe started running..
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