Summary
Michael "Digger" Griswald was in Cliffside Youth Detention Center for only a month of his nine month sentence before he decided to break out of the prision to try to get home to protect his mother and siblings from his abusive father. His plan to get out was to tell Mr. R, One of the counselors, That he forgot to take out the trash as the garbage truck was coming up the steep road to the detention center. Mr. R said to go take it out but hurry and get right back to class. Digger ran into the kitchen and grabbed the garbage and took of for the dumpster outside of the gates. He threw the bag in and then got the shovel he hid and jumped in. The garbage truck picked up the dumpster and tossed it into the back of the truck. Digger used the shovel to jam the compactor, It failed and he got knocked out. He woke up at the landfill and started running to the woods. He found a shallow stream and followed that untill he ran into a truck stop. His dad drove a tractor-trailer and he went with his dad everywhere when we was younger so he knew pretty much everything about them and his dad let him drive a little too so he knew what he was doing. He watched a guy get out of a Kenworth truck and headed inside for some biscuits & gravy. Digger ran over to the truck and hot wired it and took off. In the truck he found three dollars and a jack knife along with some other items. He started going through a really elevated part of the interstate and while going down one of the big hills he lost control and started speeding. He locked up the brakes but he was going to fast to stop, he knew the breaks would heat up and catch fire. He saw a Runaway Truck Ramp at the bottom of the hill and immediately turned into the gravel pit. As soon as the truck stopped he took off running for the woods. When we finally looked back he saw that the brakes started a fire and it caught the cab on fire. He ran through some woods and an open field and reached a bike path. He later found out that the path was a part of a campground on the Potomic River in Paw Paw, West Virginia. He stole a bike and rode a while untill hitting a tree and the took of again on his feet. He later stole a canoe and headed with the current up the river. He woke up when he heard the sound of rushing water and found out it was a dam. He jumped out of the canoe and drug it to shore while walking across boulders in the water. He sat for a while and took a nap. He woke up to a dog barking that later followed him. He was sitting on the side of the river when a little boy named Luke found him and brought him back to his camp with a girl named Nora. He had posion ivy all over his face and it swoll his eyes shut and he sprained his ankle. They toke care of him and later they told Luke's dad about Digger and he gave him a tent to stay in and they feed him. They got really close and Digger started liking Nora. He got a job at the horse shelter where Nora and her mom worked on the weekends and worked there for a while a saved $750. He later found out that Woody was a gambler that didnt know when to stop and a couple nights he didnt come home. One day digger went to his tent to find that Woody took all his money from his pillow case and also found the card from the detention center. Digger waited for him to get home and when he did he ran out of his tent and started yelling at him and clenched his fists. Woody punched him in the jaw and pinned him on the ground and said he would get the money back but if he told anyone he would call the police on him. The next day Nora came running over and yelled the barn is on fire and they drove down there. They got all the horses out but three but he thought he could save them. He ran in and unlatched all three stalls and two ran out but the wild stallion, Nora's favorite wouldnt move. Digger crawled out and the barn collapsed. Later that night there were police outside the tent and Digger thought they were there for him so he took off running and crossed the river by the big boulders and hid. Then Luke was following him with a cop chasing him. He got halfway across the river and fell in, He cant swim either. So Digger jumped in after him and saved him. As they came to the end of the river there were cops waiting. They asked what his name was and he said Michael Griswald. He told everyone that his name was Gerry back at the campground. The police noticed that he was the kid that escaped from Cliffside. He said he had to go back and do his time. He found out that Woody was a kidnapper and Luke wasnt his son, Luke's real name was Andrew and he was kipnapped at a young age. They returned Andrew to his family and sent Digger to court. They were in court and they came up with another 10 month sentence in a detention center and he also had to pay off the damage to the truck. The owner of the truck came up in court and said that if Digger worked for him for a summer after her got release he would drop all the dept. So he accepted and went off to serve his time.