The Escape

            Alan and Minji both stood and stared at the game of Checkers on the floor.  They were so close to the door, but the only space they had to move onto insured certain doom.  Then Minji piped in.

            “So wait, what was that you said?  If there were a piece that it could capture, it would have to capture it?  It would have no choice?” Minji asked.

            “Those are the rules.” Alan sighed.

            Minji got a gleam in her eye.  She took off her blue hat and looked inside it.  The inside had a black lining.  She turned it inside out and tried to make it look as much like a black stone as possible.  She set it out on a black square diagonal from the one where the white piece sat.

            “I hope this works.” She said, crossing her fingers.

            She looked intently as the white dot jumped off the floor and over her inside-out hat.  It landed on a square on the other side, far from their stone.  Her hat suddenly vanished.  With the enemy dot no longer a threat, Alan easily moved his piece to the space by the door.  The door swung open.

            Minji grabbed the stone as it shifted back to its normal appearance.  They rushed out the door and into the hallway.  They were in another nondescript hallway.    They started walking to the right but heard footsteps approaching.  Not wanting to go back into the prison cell, they hastily rushed through a random door.

            They both gasped as they took in an entire room full of control panels.  Lights were blinking everywhere, and several different kinds of beeps were being produced by various machines.  The most noticeable feature, however, was the gigantic screen right in front of them.

            “What is this place?” Minji wondered aloud.

            “I bet it’s the control room.” replied Alan.  “It’s where they fly the ship.”

            Alan glanced over and noticed Minji already at a panel.  She presses a big green button.

            “What are you doing?! Be careful!” Alan cautions as a picture of a big peninsula fills the screen.

            “That’s Korea!” Minji exclaims.  A blinking red dot on the peninsula was connected to a dotted line with a picture of the spaceship moving along it.

            “If I’m right, it looks we’re headed there now.” Alan’s face twisted into a look of concern.

            “That’s great!  I can go home!” Minji seemed about ready to start jumping up and down

            “Don’t get too excited yet, Minji.  We’re still trapped in this ship.”

            “Let’s start looking around at the rest of these buttons then to see if we can find anything else to help us escape.” She bounced around examining various consoles, buttons, and lights.

            Alan halfheartedly looked around.  Even if he found a button, he wouldn’t know what it did.  Everything was written in some strange script that he couldn’t understand.  He looked over and spied a small set of doors in one corner of the room.  He walked over and slowly opened one.

            It was just a closet in which several black robes were hanging.  Above the robes were masks stacked on top of each other.  Alan started searching the robes.  He felt a piece of paper in the pocket of one of them, and he slowly pulled it out.  He looked closely at the shapes on the page, trying to make out what it meant.  There were large rectangles connected by lines and… wait!  This was a map.  More to the point, it was a map of the ship!

            “Look here!” he called out.  “I found a map of the space ship!”

            Minji looked over quickly but she only glanced at the paper he was holding up.  She looked past him and into the closet.

            “What are those?” she asked, her eyes starting to gleam.  Alan looked back into the closet.

            “Oh, those are just the robes and masks those people wear.  But, look, I found a-“

            “Aha, I’ve got an idea!” Minji suddenly interjected.  “Bring me a robe and a mask.”

            Alan shrugged and pulled out a robe and a mask, bringing them to Minji.  She donned the mask and slipped on the robe.  It looked ridiculous with the robe barely hanging on her and most of it on the floor.

            “Now, put me on your shoulders” she insisted.

            He suddenly realized what she had in mind.  With the aid of the wall, Minji managed to sit atop Alan’s shoulders.  When he stood up, they looked just like one of the robed people.  Suddenly a loud beep pierced the room and the ship shook tremendously.  They looked at the screen and saw that the spaceship picture was on the red dot.

            “I think we’ve landed.” said Alan.  “Let’s get out of here.  I hope this works.”

            Alan slowly walked to the door as Minji tried to balance on his shoulders.  She reached for the door and pulled it toward her.  So far so good.  They got into the hall and started walking left down the corridor, following the map.

            Just then, a tall robed man turned a corner and walked right up to them.

            “Nee roh blan da!” He screeched.

            Alan nearly lost his balance as he halted and Minji’s weight shifted forward.  Her arms flailed about wildly as she tried not to fall and, even through his mask, she could feel the man’s inquisitive look.

            She thought quickly and nodded to him as if to say “I understand.”  She folded her hands across her chest as she had seen some of the men doing earlier.

            “Al oop bin dar!” He exclaimed, and stepped in front of them to block their way.  Minji could see by how he was standing, that he was not about to let them pass.