Attempt One. Chapter One. The Escape.

The Escape

From the very beginning God decided that his life would be full of comedy. Even the first story that he would ever tell about his life was out of comedians handbook. The only difference was that it really happened.
He was born in a medium sized city in communist Poland. His father was a taxi driver and on his birthday was supposed to deliver his pregnant mom to the hospital. On their way there he caught a flat tire. But being a good father from the very beginning, he was able to change it and make it to the hospital on time. This way he was not born on the back seat of the taxi cab.
Chris, because that's what his mom decided to call him, had very happy childhood. Although his first years were spent in a communist country he had no idea what that was. He had everything he ever wanted. Or, everything his parents could give him. But that was enough for him. As years went by, he would prove to be a great kid. At the age of four, his parents decided to take him to local market. The market was full of people and all sort of different stuff. The smells from different food stands filled the air. People were wearing colorful clothes. On a child of his age it all made a great impression and soon he forgot that he was supposed to stay close to his mom. His eyes and mind wondered around. Soon without him even knowing, or his mom, his body wondered away following his eyes. He would walk around and look at all those beautiful new things. He was so preoccupied that he could not hear his name over the intercom.
The minutes would pass, and then maybe hours as it appeared to his mom. But Chris was nowhere to be found. Everyone looked for him. His parents, police and people who worked at the market. Then his mom saw him trying to buy some sweets from one of the storekeepers. Poor kid had no idea that to buy something, you actually need money. The storekeeper looked as confused as the boy and tried very hard to explain to the boy the concept of money.
At this point his mom came up, grabbed him, and hugged as hard as only a mom can hug a four year old. She smiled with tears falling from her cheeks. Chris looked at her a little confused, but then smiled as wide as he could. The storekeeper looked even more confused. In that moment it struck him. This was the lost boy he was hearing about on the intercom. And he just witnessed his reunion with his mom. The storekeeper smiled, grabbed a handful of his best candy in a biggest bag he had, and gave it to smiling Chris. A perfect Hollywood ending. Well, not if the cameras followed him home to see all the punishment he got. Not that he got spanked or anything. But taking away his favourite toys and grounding inside the house for a week did the trick. At least for now.
This wasn't the last time that Chris would wonder away. In fact his parents had to stop taking him to malls and markets, because he would always try to escape. It wasn't that he didn't love his parents. In fact he loved them very much. The thing was, that he would just forget himself in these places. All of these new things would pull him away and he would get lost. Even when found he would never realize that he done something wrong. Dangers? What dangers? Everyone was always nice to him. Everyone smiled at him. But to his surprise mom and dad disagreed. This was the reason why many of his attempts to escape did not succeed. But many others were successful.

When Chris was five, he got very upset that his older brother went to school. That meant that he had no one to play with. Being very adventurous he decided that he too could go to school. Lucky for him, school was just five minutes away from his house. He found a favourable moment when his mom was busy and took off for another trip. The building looked huge to Chris. It housed both elementary school and high school. His brother, Jacob, being only two years older than him, went to elementary school. Chris entered the vast halls of the building. He navigated between students, small and big, but nowhere he could find his brother. He went to all the levels, upper and lower, looked in classrooms and halls. Walking all these stairs and levels made him really tired. And he had no idea how to get outside. He forgot which way he walked in. Than someone grabbed his hand and asked: "Are you OK? Where is your class? You shouldn't be on this floor little boy. This is High School part of the building." Chris looked at the High School teacher confused. He smiled at her and said: "I don't know what High School is. I'm looking for my brother." Now the teacher looked a little confused. "What's you name? Do you know where you live?" Chris told her his last name and address. (Chris asked not to give his last name or address here). The teacher smiled. It turned out that she used to teach his father not so long ago. She grabbed his hand and offered him help to get back home.

Lucky for Chris, his mom did not even notice his disappearance. Unlucky for Chris, the High School teacher wanted to talk to his mom. Upon leaving his house she smiled to him and said: "Don't worry Chris. I'm sure we will see each other next year when you go to school too." And this is how Chris's first day in school ended.

For the final note in this chapter. Chris mom was the best mom ever. But it's hard to keep your eyes on a small boy all the time. And Chris would always exploit any occasion to disappear. But his mom always made everything in her power to keep him safe all the time. If you have or had a small kid yourself you probably know how it is.