I love a good writing prompt. Every 2 weeks I give myself the challenge to grab a writing prompt online that sparks an idea and try to write a piece of fiction from the prompt in and around 500 words.

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WRITING PROMPT: 

Write about a famous character that has just evaded their own security detail.

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Evaded

By Jess Knaus

Lianne clicked the button for the privacy shade. She turned her jacket inside out, switched heels for sneakers, put a cap on her head and prepared for the car door to open. Like the warm up to a running race she breathed deeply and heavily. ‘Chill, chill, chill,’ she thought.

It wasn’t uncommon for her to change in the car, but it wasn’t common to be planning to bolt, like she was about to do.

The car moved agonisingly slowly through the festival crowd, and every time they stopped in the dawdling traffic she was sure the door was just about to open – her chance to get away. But they hadn’t yet reached the hotel. She needed to sit tight just a little bit longer.

She peered out of the window, looking for the shadow of the tall hotel building. On a day like today the valet should be buzzing, and she should be able to run out, weaving her way through the large crowd in the park opposite. ‘Should’ being the operative word.

The car rolled into the valet and Lianne shuffled closer to the door, her breath stagnant in her chest. A valet team member stood courteously next to a member of her security team, who’s eyes were locked on her. She tightened her grip on her clutch bag, which was about to become her key distraction for escape. 

The tension was finally broken as the door was opened. She stepped out and tuned out the world as she timed her moves. Moving toward the back of the car, pretending to head toward the hotel doors, she gave it two metres before she dropped her bag. The valet driver opened the boot, preparing to grab her suitcase. She had to do it now.

Thud. 

Run.

As the security man reached down for her bag, she turned and slipped away toward the main street, ducking under the arm of another security team member. She targeted the bustling crowd in the opposite park, running through the slow lines of traffic that choked the street.

She ran toward the train station. Her plan had been to use the bottleneck of the subway stairs to lose them, and it worked just as planned. She knew the subway entrance connected to another opening on the other side of the park, so she legged it until she’d made it that far. Behind her the security team had become tangled in the commuting chaos, trying to decide which train she’d boarded.

But she hadn’t boarded any of them. On the other side of the park she hailed a cab, and left.

Her plan – it had worked.

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