I know where your parents are

A school bus turned onto a side street and opened its doors. A boy who looked to be about 12 got out. He was the only one who got out of the bus at this stop. The bus closed its doors and drove away. This stop was a foster home, and Alex Grant, the boy who got down, was a foster child. It never was clear what happened to his parents. His dad simply ran away when he heard that Alex's mom was pregnant, not wanting to face the consequences with his family. Alex's mom never forgot him and always moaned for him. Not having the will to live, she had died while giving birth to Alex. Alex, in turn, had been put up for adoption at an agency meant for doing such things. No one, however, accepted the frail boy. He had eventually been sent to a foster home, and he had stayed there. He had few friends at school due to this, and he was always bullied.

Alex opened the doors and walked onto the greasy floor of the foster home. "Hey, Alex." said the janitor. "How's it going, Bill?" replied Alex. He took the stairs up to his room. One two three four five six seven eight nine steps. He counted those steps every day as he got down and went up from his room. Opening his room, he walked inside, threw down his backpack, and jumped on the bed. He was so tired today. Jim had stolen his lunch, saying he was a "nobody". He had had nothing to eat. Going down to the cafeteria to get a bite, he saw Griffin, the caretaker. "Hey Alex, somebody called for you around 2:00." "That was an hour ago, wasn't it?" ventured Alex. "No, 2:00 in the morning. It slipped my mind while you were eating your breakfast. He didn't leave a name, but he said something about knowing your mom." Alex perked up. If this man was kind enough, he could get him out of this place and give him a fine life. It was what he had always dreamed of. "Said he'd be back around 5:00. Better look your best, Alex." and the discussion ended. After having some cookies, Alex went back upstairs to finish his homework. His mind kept wandering off to the man, however. Would he finally get out of here? It would be unbelievable. His homework seemed to take forever, but the clock finally struck five. Alex dressed in his best clothes and went downstairs.

He spotted him right away, sitting in the reception room meant for those who had come to see a child. He had no name tag, which was strange. Alex walked over. "Hello, sir. I'm Alex Grant, the boy you wanted to see. What's your name?" The man eyed him closely. "Hello there, Alex. You're a fine lad, aren't you? You may call me Etim. Please come with me, as I have something to show you." so saying, the man led Alex out the door and into his car. "There's nothing to fear, Alex, I assure you." He drove out the street and moved directly onto the highway. "So, how did you find me?" inquired Alex. "All in due time, son." was the reply. All this time, the car had been accelerating. Alex was getting a little suspicious. "Sir, what are you doing?" said Alex, frightened. "You're about to find out." said Etim, smiling slyly. As they hit 120, Alex felt like he might throw up. Suddenly, the highway and everything else was gone. They were just in blackness. "Alex, you are traveling back in time at this moment." said Etim. "What? That's ridiculous. I probably fainted from a car crash and have begun to hallucinate." "Alex, believe it. I'm taking you back in time 15 years, to a very special day. In fact, it's your mom's birthday." Before Alex could respond, the car had landed and they were driving on a street straight out of a Jaws movie, something from the 80s. Etim motioned for Alex to come out of the car. Alex, curious and shocked, got out and found himself at a backyard party. Everyone was having fun. Somebody grabbed him and shouted for him to join in. For hours, Alex played party games with everyone. He met his parents, and found they were very nice people indeed. It was straight out of a storybook, a happy scene. When the party was over, Alex walked back to the place where the car was packed. Etim was waiting. "So, do you want to stay here?" "Of course! I love this place. My parents say that they'll take me in. They really took a fancy to me." said Alex. "Great! Now, I do need something. Your disappearance may cause the space-time continuum to get a little funky. I need some life energy to prevent that form happening." "What does that mean?" thought Alex out loud. "Basically, I need to remove the energy of life from someone to power a machine that will cancel out any possible paradoxes formed from your disappearance." "So you mean kill them?" said Alex. "Yeah. It's not much. How about Jim? I bet you don't like him. Or maybe one of the parents that refused to adopt you. They were mean, weren't they?" "But I don't want anyone to get hurt." said Alex in a small voice. "It's nothing. They hurt you, they get hurt. Come on!" Alex saw it in him. He was not kidding. Alex had made his choice, however. He suddenly kicked Etim and got in the car. Starting the engine, he immediately revved down the road. As he hit 120, the place vanished and he was back on his side street. He ran up the stairs and back to his room. "Where did he take you in that car? We were so worried." said the receptionist. "Oh, it was fun. I went to a place that I'll probably never have the chance to go to ever again." said Alex, lost in his own world. Then he disappeared from existence, the victim of a paradox.