I layed in bed once again, listening to the yelling of my parents. Wishing I could get sleep for once. I rolled over and looked at the clock. It's bright red color gleamed "12:01". The yelling had been going on for almost 2 hours. And didn't seem like it was going to let up anytime soon. You would think parents would care about letting their kids hear, but no not mine. I was preparing for yet another escape to the park. My sanctuary in my world. This fighting had been going on for a few months. Ever since my dad lost his job and could no longer support us, as in pay the bills. So I went to the park. It's pretty sad when you don't even like living in your own house, then again it wasn't my fault I didn't want to live here. There was a divorce in the future. It was perfectly obvious. Not even love can bypass money and the need for it. Love. Such a funny feeling. And such a stupid, stupid thing.

I managed to get out of my thoughts and out of my bed. I went into my bathroom and brushed my short, pixi style blonde hair. Which was sticking up in multiple directions. And wiped the smudged makeup from my face and the mascara out from under my blue eyes. I glanced at the mirror for a second, and took in what I looked like. Not that it mattered. It was going to be dark there anyways.

On the right side of my mirror was a picture that I glanced at everytime I walked in there. It was of me and my best friend. She had died almost a year ago in a car accident when she was visiting her family in New York. That's when everything started to fall apart. I missed her, but she was gone. And no one could ever replace her. We had done everything together. If one of us was sick or going on vacation or even just taking a trip to the store, the other one would be beside her. On the back of the picture was a phrase she use to repeat to my all the time. "Always be strong Mikki, no matter what."-Crystal. Well my strength was running very short. Tears threatened to fall but I ignored them and continued on.

I went out and into my closet to grab a pair of jeans and my favorite pink jacket with a white peace sign on the left side. I also grabbed what I called my "getaway" bag. Which was basically a small brown backpack. And was packed with a couple of health bars, money, a notebook, knife, and a map. Just in case I wanted to run away for good. There was also a my favorite charm on the side. It was a small fairy figure that was used to keep me safe. Or so the lady at the store told me it would. The fighting was still going on, but had settled down a bit. Which was very surprising. "Maybe I shouldn't go out tonight", I thought. But I ignored my head and was going anyways. I went over to my bed and dragged the sheets off and tied them together to form a rope. I checked to make sure they were tight and threw them out my window. We lived in one of the many tight little line of condos going down "West Street Boulevard", in the middle of Augusta, Maine. My room was towards the alley that was the back of the condos. I lowered myself down and looked around. The back of the building didn't look near as good as the front. They were dark and damp with vines going everywhere. And the stench of garbage hit your nose as soon as you came out the back door..or window. There was barely a moon out so I didn't have much light. So I blinked my eyes a couple of times so they could adjust. A small tom cat was digging through one of the trash bins. And I made a mental note about feeding it something later. I checked my bag to make sure my phone was there. One thing to understand before going out at night, always bring a phone. It's not a good thing to go without it. Then again, going out this late isn't a good thing at all. I started walking down the alley that quickly turned into a swift jog.

It didn't take long to reach the park. And when I got there it felt like a weight had been lifted. The park had always made me feel better. It wasn't a park as much as a garden. The "park" went on for a mile in every direction, and was a major tourist spot in our city. It was basically a maze of flowers that all led to one direction. The large, beautiful tree located exactly in the middle. With benches and small ponds surrounding it. It was a perfect place to think. I glanced around and nothing was there except the small street lamps lighting the stone path. There was some legend about the large tree but I always had forgotten it. I made another mental note to check into it later. I made sure no one was around, why would they be anyways? It was pass midnight. But you can never be too careful. People catching you out this late at night doesn't go over very well, I would know.

After a small walk I finally reached the tree and sat down underneath it's branches. It was the beginning of spring so the leaves were as green as ever. Besides the pollen that had taken it's shades on the leaves too. I looked around and saw nothing but lighting bugs. Which I swore hadn't been there when I was walking. Even so it was a great sight. The wind started to blow and the sweat against my head started to disappear. I layed my head against the trunk and worked on clearing my head. Or at least, forget about my parents fighting.

It had only been a good 20 minutes, before I was awoken by a loud "crack" noise from the tree. I jumped from my spot and saw a dark figure dart from the branches. I threw my bag down and withdrew my knife. "Who are you and what do you want!" I looked around frantically and tried to make out anything in the tree. I yelled and kicked but nothing happened. The figure was gone just like that, and I was alone. My fingers were sweaty again and I was on full alert mode. My feet felt like they were glued to the ground and I couldn't move. A small ball of light came at me and knocked me to the ground. It hovered around me and then what seemed to be pull my hair. I let out a loud "yelp!" and the ball of light flew off. Figuring that couldn't have been a lighting bug I panicked and ran. Fast. Pass all the flowers and light that now cast evil shadows, and past all the flowers that once had calmed me down. Not on this night though. It wasn't long before I had reached my house and managed to shimmy up the rope and into my room. I fell on my bed, exhausted. "Never again" I told myself. I looked over to the clock which now gleamed "2:15". I rolled over and tried to forget about what had happened. It was working too...until I realized I had left my bag at the park..