Snippet #2435912

Jared woke up that morning with a plan set in his mind. He was ready to break out of the place he once called home. He had been for a while actually, but now was finally the day.
He woke up at a quarter past three this morning, when barely any guards would be out and searching for stray wanderers. He had been researching their times and schedules for a while now. After donning his typical clothes and placing his familiar cloak around his shoulders, he determined he was ready to leave. He gazed into his mother and father’s room briefly as he closed the door to his own room, but felt only a small tinge of regret. He attempted to brush aside that though and reminded himself that he could never be what they wanted him to be. He took a step away and ran off to the front of the house. It was now the time to act, as he had only been given a small window of time before security tightened. He grabbed a small bag of strawberries from the table and nimbly leapt up to the sill of a window that faced the direction of the forest. According to the calculations he had made over a billion times, he only had to run about a quarter of a mile to reach the edge. With one final look back towards his home, Jared bolted from the window and was on his way to the forest and hopefully his new life.
The problem came when he was about halfway to the forest’s edge and he heard the whistle of a guard. Panicked, Jared ran harder than ever as the heavy boots of the guards fell to the ground behind him. No matter what, he kept running and soon he was met with the thickest trees he had ever seen. After running a little bit further through the trees, he shifted into his small chameleon and tried to blend in with the surrounding foliage. The footsteps of the guards were coming closer and closer until all of a sudden, the steps simply ceased. Jared took a deep breath and waited for what felt like an eternity while the gruff tones of the guards rang out through the area.
“Sure ya’ saw something?” a very deep man voiced out into the forest.
A young female voice rang out in response, surprising Jared significantly, “Positive! It was a boy! He was---”
Before she could finish a youthful man’s voice interrupted her, “Sure, sure. How about we blame it on a rookie mistake and let it go. I’m sure you’re just tired.”
The girl tried to protest but the sounds of their boots were already going off into the distance. As the sounds grew softer, Jared waited and eventually they were gone all together. He crawled out from his spot and grew back into his human form. After looking around briefly, Jared began to run in the opposite direction of his former clan.
For the next few hours, he ran as far as his legs would carry him with few breaks. When he would stop, he became transfixed with the world all around him and the new things he saw. That mere thought kept him going as he became less frightened of capture and more eager to see what would show up next. Eventually, though, Jared grew tired and decided that walking was probably in his best interest. He didn't know how much ground he had covered but he did know that his legs were killing him. He slowed down and stopped to take a breather when all of a sudden, he noticed a large stone cave out of the corner of his eye. Hearing tales of what lurked in caves made Jared nervous about going inside, but his curiosity was not tamed. He decided to wait outside and see if anything came out before investigating the cave further. Jared then climbed a nearby tree and waited impatiently for any signs of activity.