One night the quiet community was disturbed by the shouts of a high paced pursuit. The victim, a thirteen year old boy named Matt, was on the run for the third time that night. He searched in desperation for a place of refuge among one of the spreading trees that filled the area. He spotted a suitable tree and quickly adjusted his course for it. When he arrived at the tree, he checked to make sure he wasn’t being watched. He scrambled up the tree and onto an overhanging branch just as his pursuers arrived at the scene.
It all started when one of his friends had teased the local authorities, and all involved had been arrested. Everyone, that is, except Matt who had stayed a fair distance away to avoid too much attention. He could have easily run away without intent of returning; however, he was the only one left of his gang and he knew the others would be counting on him to rescue them in some way. All he had to do was avoid the cops at all costs and get back to his buddies.
That was where we left him earlier. He was in a never ending circle where he would frantically run to find a hiding spot, wait until the police passed him, and then venture back to the jail to see what could be done. In the process of dodging between houses, he would be rediscovered forcing him to continue running.
This time will be different, he thought. He quickly weaved his way to the other side of the tree and thought of what his next move should be. He considered crawling part of the way back to the jail to avoid notice, but that seemed unrealistic now that he was nearly three quarters of a mile away. After a few moments of thinking, he devised a better plan. He would sprint from one tree to another, and if needed, climb into it and hide. This wouldn’t be a problem because he was an experienced climber.
He waited for a few minutes until the cops had cleared out to execute his plan. He leapt from the tree and rolled onto the grass below. Taking care not to be found, he dashed to the closest tree. When he reached the tree, he scanned the area for another. He found one, but it was beyond his range of comfort, so he set his mind to finding a way to reach it. He got a lucky break when he noticed a large building running parallel to the two trees. Thinking quickly, he sprinted to the wall and plastered himself to the side to avoid being seen. Then he proceeded to slide along it until he was perpendicular to the next tree. After checking for any sign of pursuit, he darted to the tree. He repeated the process until he was within sight of the jail.
He glanced around to check his progress. All that lay between him and the jail were thirty or so meters of grass, a cluster of thin palm trees, and a few guards with their backs turned away from him. From his vantage point, Matt could see some of his buddies hunkered down in a circle, waiting for him to come to their rescue. Matt sat under his tree and contemplated what his next course of action should be. He scanned the ground for something to throw to create a diversion, but nothing presented itself. He thought about running to the cluster of palms in front of him, but it was pretty risky. He realized the cops would probably start looking for him closer to his destination because of his obvious intent to try and free the rest of his gang.
He finally decided to try his luck and see what the palms had to offer. He waited just long enough to gather up his courage, and then sprinted to the palms. Just as he reached the trees, a group of policemen burst out of the cover of some trees in his direction. The people guarding the jail ventured a little ways from it to meet the approaching cops.
Matt saw his opportunity and rushed to the jail while yelling at his comrades to prepare themselves for freedom. Unfortunately the cops had already spotted him at the palms, and were closing in on him at a rapid pace. He realized he would never make it to the jail without being caught, so he decided to try and take out one of the cops before he was captured. He adjusted his course so he was at a ninety degree angle to the jail and abruptly stopped in his tracks. Before the cops could slow down, he turned around and plowed into one of the front runners resulting in a large jumble of people.
One of the slower runners, who had just arrived at the scene, grabbed Matt’s wrist and walked him to the jail. “Boy, you sure gave us a lot of trouble,” he said. “We might have gotten our turn a long time ago if it wasn’t for you!” Matt smiled to himself and joined his buddies in jail. “Well it’s about time you show up!” the oldest one said. “We were considering just quitting and going home for the night, but whatever. You’re back now and it’s our turn to play cops. Anybody got a stopwatch?” Ahhh, Matt sighed happily to himself, I love “Cops and Robbers.”
Matt lay down on the floor and was just getting ready to fall asleep when a loud voice shouted above his head, “Come on Matt! You’re gonna miss round two!” He sat up and stretched his legs for the next run. Well it was fun while it lasted… I guess we all have to take turns, he thought. It’ll be a wonder if they can run after the pile-up I caused earlier. But they did run, and the game lasted long into the night.