AWOL

One evening I decided it was time for me to leave Chestnut Lodge Hospital...  I had already escaped from several other mental facilities and was becoming adept at finding cracks in the security.

I had been there for over three months and the "anger provocation" therapy from Dr. H. was wearing on me.  I was becoming increasingly depressed (much more so than I had ever been), and I
credit this to the iatrogenic effects of an abusive staff and unit psychiatrist, not to mention the frequent suicides.  

So, inspired by Escape from Alcatraz, I fashioned a "dummy" (stuffed clothing plus a teddy bear head with headphones on it), and placed it in my bed in a sleeping position beneath the hospital pale-orange bedcovers.  
Then dressed in black so I would not be seen outside.  My running shoes were white and had reflectors, so I took a Sharpie and colored them black.  

In my fanny pack (also colored black with the Sharpie) I had my credit card which I had secreted past the staff's "contraband" check by hiding it in the heel of my shoe during the initial admission process.

To attempt AWOL (a.k.a "elopement") was risky, as I was on Level-2 20-minute checks.  

My room was on the first floor, so defenstration would be relatively easy if only I could get the window open. This I did by prying up the metal with a pair of scissors (also contraband because it was a "sharp" which presumably I could use to "harm myself or others"...) 

So I succeeded in opening the window about 6 inches - just enough to squeeze through my semi-anorexic body.  I slithered out, and once my feet reached the ground I sprinted across the campus and toward the highway.

Upon reaching the highway, I flagged down a cab and headed toward BWI airport, whereupon I purchased a ticket for my plane ride home to Cleveland.  

Stay tuned for a quote from my chart on the "elopement."