Age 9

I sat on the couch of rejection. Beige and boring. It's made of rough cheap leather, and it has permanent butt indents. Once again I'm forced to wait for no reason. To get my stupid hopes up for them only to be crushed by reality.

No one wants me. Why would they? All the reports from the past call me unstable, broken, not worth the time and effort. Also (apparently) I also killed my mom on purpose by starting a fire and locking the door so my mother could not get out. So she either burned to death or gruesomely suffocated before the flames got to her. Not something one wants to think about often. So I'm also called a sociopath. (I mean I am a bit crazy, but everyone is. Just not in the way they think.)

Every time I try to defend myself no one would listen so I just stopped trying.

Who would want a kid like me when they could get a handsome little boy who likes sports and gets good grades. Or a girl who would play tea party and dress up.

Why Martha (my social worker) keeps trying to get me adopted is beyond me. Most people don't even last a month.

But really, the couch was just outside of the "Meeting room" where the adults looking for a child would get to know the kids before adopting them. It is the rejection couch to me because every time they got to know the possible kids I would be sent here to "wait" for an answer that would never come. 'Cause they always picked the "Normal kids" Not a kid like me.

Leo swung his leg back and forth. Wanting to go back to his room. He knew this couple would not pick him. He read their list of wants. They wanted a kid that was small and sweet. That got good grades in English and did not mind traveling that much 'cause they were an actor and a journalist. Most of those he could do. (Not really but whatever.) But there was one thing that most people wanted that he could not oblige. They wanted someone with all of their limbs. Which is not something he could do, (I'm was not a starfish.) Leo did not only lose his mom in the fire. He lost his mid-thigh down on his right leg as well.

"Oh dear, where on earth did I put my keys? I swear I had them a second ago" Leo's Mom muttered to herself in an exasperated tone. "Leo, my brave little lion, could you please wait here. I seem to have left my keys somewhere inside. I will be right back. Please, do try not to wander Mijo" She said kissing him on the forehead then disappearing as she walked down the dark hallway leaving Leo on his own. A full minute passed before Leo began to worry "Mama" he called. Frightened by the lack of response he slowly inched his way to the doors leading to the hallway his mother was suppose to be. Unease filled the now ominous room and sent chills down his spine. He was so close to the door relief ran through him.

He was a few inches from having his hand on the door when it slammed close startling him. "Mama, are you okay" He yelled frantically. No answer was given. Next, he tried morse code tapping the same message. Nothing.

Then a sickly sweet voice behind him began "Don't' worry young hero, your mother is fine for now, but not for long" She whispered slight humor resonating in her voice. Leo slowly turned around to look at the (Person?) in front of him. He took a good look at her.

She was wearing a torn up dress. The bottom made from what looked to be thick cobwebs. It reached to about her ankles, but he could not tell from the amount of dust/dirt swirling around her feet. Ironically her toes were painted an emerald green. To match with the slight green tint of the rest of her skin. Leaves covered her chest to her mid-section showing off her shoulders. That led to a thin neck. Her face was tinted like the rest of her body. A sleepy look on her face. Dusty black hair cascading down to her waist. Blood red lips smiled as if she had been waiting for this day her whole life. 'Don't worry little hero everything will be okay." She murmured

"The fates will not let me harm you but they said nothing about breaking your soul." She giggled

Smoke began to spiral out of Leo's curls. He was upset and confused. He was just a kid and was unable to control all this emotional coursing through his veins. So he exploded.

Heat radiated from his small frame rapidly spreading throughout the workshop. Small flames shot of the boy catching surrounding objects on fire. It was spreading fast from on object to another. The boy feeding the fire began to tire as he had never used his power to such extent. But the small smile on the woman's face kept him going. The workshop started to crumble. The woodwork fell around them. Ash dusted everything in a fine layer. With one last burst of power Leo collapsed his energy spent. Laying on the ground he took in the sight around him. The fire was slowly closing in. The woman, with one last sly smirk, let her dust cloud consume her and she was gone.

Leaving a bright little boy with a now broken heart alone as he watched as the world fell apart around him. Dimly aware he had no time to react before a metal pipe fell crushing his right leg searing its way through flesh and bone. Immense pain shot through Leo's small frame. Screaming with all he could muster, agony ripping it's way through his throat. He began to cry. Sobbing until he literally had nothing left. He gratefully embraced the darkness. Where the world of pain could no longer affect him.