5 Pep Talk

Li Xiuying took a deep breath in and began crawling along the fence.

There was a small space about the with of a ruler between the fence and the rose bushes. The space wasn't large enough that she could avoid the thorns but it at least provided a small path for her to maneuver. She had to crawl roughly 15 meters to get to the gap.

The thorns of the roses were scratching her body and drawing small amounts of blood. She tried her best to crawl in such a way that she could avoid being scratched in the face, especially her eyes. This caused thorns to keep getting embedded in the sleeves of her top, forcing Li Xiuying to use more of her strength to crawl forward. She could feel the sting of scratches on her arms.

Bits of rock were prodding into her elbows, knees and stomach. There were dead leaves and small twigs in her hair.

Li Xiuying fought her way through spider webs and an ant's nest. She batted away flies and ladybirds. She felt ants and spiders crawling all over her body. She kept telling herself that these insects were nothing compared to the cold-blooded reptiles that she used to call family.

Li Xiuying was shocked when she saw mice frolicking and weaving in and out of the rose bushes. She fought the urge to scream and get up to shake everything off.

Li Xiuying gritted her teeth and steeled her nerves: "I can do this."

Beads of sweat were streaming down her face. She made a vow to increase her physical fitness after this.

She clawed at the soil and rotting vegetable compost. She felt the dirt under her fingernails. She felt beetles scurrying along her palms causing her to shiver in disgust. Her sense of smell was being overwhelmed by the odor of decaying food and what was probably animal droppings. She thanked God that they didn't use manure to fertilize the plants.

Only her sheer determination and willpower kept her going. Li Xiuying's face was scrunched up as she concentrated.

The adrenaline rush from earlier had long since worn off. Her body was aching all over. Her bones felt heavy. The scratches on her body were stinging more and more. Her stomach growled intermittently and she had hunger pains.

She hadn't eaten or drank anything since 8:30pm the night before and judging by the sun it was already way past noon. This morning was like a whirlwind, she didn't expect to ever see the morning light again. So Li Xiuying didn't even have time to think about anything else except getting her life back.

Li Xiuying regretted not taking the time to properly plan her escape. However, she knew that she couldn't force herself to stay in her gilded cage any longer. She had forced herself to do things against her will in her past life, she had always planned and been cautious but now it was her time to change and to be impulsive and brave. Some people may follow the adage of keeping your friends close and enemies closer but she had been there, done that and bought the T-shirt franchise.

Li Xiuying soldiered on, she knew that no matter how much pain she was in she couldn't stop. If she stopped she wouldn't be able to muster the energy to start again. She wouldn't be able to pick herself up again.

Li Xiuying felt like she was hitting a wall both physically and mentally, her limbs seemed to feel heavy and the ground felt like it was sucking her in. She felt gravity at its full force.

As Li Xiuying struggled to keep moving; she noticed a worm in the soil crawling next to her. It was probably due to her overworking her body that made her start seeing things; she felt that the worm was showing off as it crawled effortlessly and was deliberately shaking its hips at her. She didn't even know if worms had hips. Additionally, her sheer exhaustion and lack of long-term nutrition caused her self-motivating pep talk to take a turn for the weird.

Li Xiuying: 'If a worm can crawl then so can I! Am I not better than a tiny worm?! I'm the king of worms! I'm the sovereign of worms! I'm the emperor of worms! I'm an evolved worm with arms and legs... I'm a F*@$ing centipede!!!!'

Li Xiuying kept chanting she was a centipede in her mind. 'I am a centipede, a centipede...'

A number of chants later, she finally saw the key to her salvation. The gap in the fence.

Li Xiuying pushed herself forward even harder now that the goal was finally in sight. She put her right arm through the gap and then turned to the side as she forced her body through. She somehow managed to muster the energy to stand up and shake herself off. All manner of creepy crawlies and vegetation fell to the ground.

Li Xiuying then slumped down with her back leaning against the fence, her face was tilted up to the sky and she steadied her breathing. There was sweat mixed with soil and blood on her face and body. But Li Xiuying didn't care about that right now.

Li Xiuying closed her eyes and took in a deep breath.

She spoke softly: "So this is what true freedom tastes like."