Chapter 19 - A Way Out

As I ran up the stairs, I could hear the screaming stop. It looks like their panic and fear have faded away. I don't know if this was good news or bad news since I knew nothing about elephants.

When I arrived second floor, multiple shelves welcomed me. Most of them had toys that were staring at my soul with a slight smile. Well, it was kind of scary, but I had another matter to deal with.

Before doing anything else, I bent forward, hands on my knees, and forced myself to take slow and steady breaths. Running with all my might has tired me, so it would take at least a few seconds for me to control my breath.

After a few seconds, I slowly lay down on the floor, trying to relax a bit.

"I thought I was gonna die again," I whispered to myself.

I knew that I was lucky. If I messed up the timing, I could have died again.

I lifted my hand to look at the paper I was holding. The text on it hasn't changed. It is the same text, calling me a crybaby.

It just hurt my pride a bit, but I couldn't blame either him or myself. The most dangerous thing I have ever faced was going home with an F on my test before.

After 2 minutes of resting, I heard a familiar noise from downstairs. It was elephants, of course.

I got up on my feet and thought about checking the 1st floor to see how everything is, but then I gave up on that idea.

"What if they start to attack the building after they see me?" I said to myself while scratching my head.

Then a sudden thought filled my mind.

"Will you give my family back?" I said, looking around since I didn't know where I should face.

Because of the panic and fear, I realized the promise it gave me. It promised me my family. It indeed said that they are safe, but I can never be sure.

Looking at the paper, I asked again.

"Hey, will you give my family back?"

Since I was holding paper with both of my hands now, it didn't make a noise, but I could see the text changing.

"Sure, as long as you finish the games," it said.

I didn't know what else to say since I was worried about my family. My poor word choice could trigger this person and put them in danger.

After putting the paper in my pocket, I started walking between shelves, looking for something useful. I didn't know what I was looking for. I was just hoping that I could figure out something while I was here.

Usually, the first floor was gifts for adults, mostly watches, souvenirs, and so all. The second floor, which I had never been to before, had mostly kids' toys. Cars, action figures, dolls, and board games lined the shelves in colorful disarray.

Some of them looked interesting, since I would watch cartoons and anime from time to time. Figures from my favorite shows, small accessories, and cool posters were here.

I continued to walk and check things out here because of how relaxed I felt after all that stress and panic.

As I walked, I saw a section that was just for babies. Mostly toys that make noises when you shake them.

I didn't want to bother with them since they are not dangerous and wouldn't be useful.

Then a thought made me doubt myself.

I went to one of the baby shelves, took one of the noisy toys, and shook it.

Shk-Shk-Shk!

This gave me an idea. What if elephants react to this noise? Is it possible?

I had to try it, so I looked for a window. I could both check the situation on the street and also try my idea to see if it works.

There were a few windows on this floor, but what I needed was the one that faced the front of the store. Since I don't remember which one is which, I decided to try them all and find it.

To my surprise, my first try was the right one, which I needed.

I could see elephants walking around and not making too much noise. Probably because there was no reason.

"So they only care about me?" I thought.

I needed to open the window, but the one I was looking through didn't have a handle to open it. I had to go to the other window.

Luckily, I could open this one, and I did.

As I opened the window, I didn't want to waste time, so I threw the toy that I was holding as far as I could into the street.

SHK-CRACK!

The second the toy touched the ground, it shattered into pieces.

TRRRRRMPHHH!

TRRRRRMPHHH!

TRRRRRMPHHH!

Multiple elephants started screaming and running around in fear. Even some of them hit each other in panic and started fighting.

A smile appeared on my face as I saw their actions.

"I can use this," I mumbled to myself.

Then I turned back and started looking for a bag. Specifically, a backpack to put some toys that can be distracting.

As I saw one backpack, on the last shelf on my way, I took it and lifted it to check it out. It was a pink one, made for girls, of course. You could also say that from the pictures it had on.

Barbie. Bunch of them.

But I couldn't be picky now. So I didn't even mind it.

It was big enough to fit some toys.

So I put it on my back to see if it was comfortable. And luckily, it was.

"You wanted to play a game, then let's play a game," I said as I went back to the toy shelves to pick some noisy ones.