Look Before You Leap-Ch. 5

The chapter in which things really get heated up.

Phin took me by the hand and hurried us to his garage. He pulled his bike out of the garage, hoisted himself upon it, and told me to get on. As I confusedly hopped on, I said, "Are you sure you want to get married this soon?" Gazing into my eyes in what appeared to be disbelief, Phin replied, "Of course! Carolina, I am in love with you. I want you to live a more enjoyable life-with me." He began to pedal. "Where exactly are you taking me?" I inquired. "I know a great priest who can marry us," Phin answered.

I was very flattered and excited by the fact that I'd found true love and would soon be leaving my painful home life behind, but I got heavy thoughts when Phin suddenly made a sharp turn and entered a forest I'd never been in. More than a little scared, I asked, "The priest lives here?" Phin matter-of-factly said, "Yes!" Soon, we came across an odd-looking lodge. It was metallic and disc-shaped. Parking the bike against a tree, Phin took my hand and led me inside.

I was stunned to see a multitude of buttons and robotic equipment when I entered the lodge. 'What kind of priest lives here?" I thought to myself. I knew I'd made a mistake when I saw Phin's parents, dressed in strange material, pushing the buttons. The automatic door of the lodge closed. Phin's father stated something in a language I didn't recognize. Suddenly, it felt as if the building was lifting itself off the ground. It was! I looked out the window and saw the ground gradually becoming more and more distant. We were on a rocket ship! I screamed and banged on the window, to no avail. Phin's father chuckled naughtily. "You might as well give up now, Carolina. No one can hear you, and the windows are indestructible, so there's absolutely no chance of you getting away," he told me. Phin's mom stepped toward me. "We have been observing the ways of your kind for years, and now that we have a human to perform experiments on, we will be able to determine the best way to conquer the earth and all humankind!" she exclaimed. I screamed once again and banged on the door. The trio grabbed hold of me and pinned me down on a cot. They forced a potion down my throat. Within a few seconds, I felt very drowsy, so I drifted off to sleep.

When I awoke, I was in a new building. It also had a lot of buttons and robotic equipment, but it was much larger than the rocket ship. My heart sank when I saw a large sickle-looking gadget in the corner. I became even more nervous when I saw what appeared to be an assortment of needles on the other side of the room. I nearly fainted upon seeing an open armoire with spikes on the interior of the door. Once again, I hollered. Phin and his parents were there along with some more people I hadn't met yet. The new people had the same horrid eyes that Phin's family had. I then discovered that I was in a straight jacket. Everyone was speaking the gibberish language I'd heard Phin's father use in the rocket ship.

A new man stated something and then went into an alternate room. He returned with a container full of yellowish liquid. He poured it on my arm. It burned, but I didn't cry. Remembering what Phin's mother told me earlier about determining the best way to conquer humankind, I knew that reacting to experiments performed on me would give the aliens hope that they could obliterate humans. Several tests were performed on me, all very painful, but I made it a point not to show distress. Just when I was about to be placed in the armoire I described earlier, Phin made a statement toward his parents in the exotic language. Phin's parents replied in frustrated exclamations, and the experiment was terminated. I was put back in my straight jacket and given some more sleeping potion.

After a while, I woke up and realized that I was on the rocket ship again. Not long afterward, it landed. For some reason, I got a strange feeling that we were back on Earth. Phin's father said something, grabbed his car keys, and pressed a red button that opened the door. He walked out and closed the rocket door. I heard his car start up. Phin and his mom glanced at me and then looked away. They began speaking in the exotic language. After a while, Phin's father returned with a box of pizza. It then dawned on me that I was really hungry. My stomach growled greedily. I sighed. "After all that you guys have put me through, would you be so kind as to let me have a slice of pizza?" I begged. The trio laughed and continued to dine. An idea came to me. The family was so focused on eating that it'd be a good time to see about breaking free. Seeing that Phin's dad had foolishly left the rocket's door open, I knew that getting away would be easy as far as getting out of the rocket. Although I was in a straight jacket, I found that I could still reach my hair with my forearm. I pulled an elastic band out of my hair and, with the best precision and aim I could muster, shot it at the switch that I assumed had control of the straight jacket. The straight jacket loosened from me after my band hit the switch, and I exited quickly and quietly. The aliens were so ravenous about their pizza that they didn't even notice me making my escape.

Author's Note

The chapter in which things really get heated up.