Prologue
"That one is my favorite!" Hannah said, pointing at one of the pictures in the row. Lana picked it up and smiled, it was also one of her favorites. The photograph was taken back in autumn; it was of a lone swing in the park not too far from where the orphanage was. It had just rained that day and she could see the red and orange leafed trees being reflected by the puddles on the asphalt.
Lana held it out towards Hannah, "here."
Hannah's eyes widened, "you're giving it to me?" She asked.
Lana shrugged before grinning, "Yeah, I am." She shook the picture in front of Hannah's face. "Now take it before I change my mind."
Hannah tentatively took the photo from Lana's grasp and looked at it in awe before raises an eyebrow, "you're not doing this because you think that you're going to be kicked out right?"
Lana froze and took a deep breath; she brushed a few strands of her brown hair behind her ear, not looking at Hannah. "It's inevitable."
"No, it's not." Hannah narrowed her eyes, "they're not just going to kick you out."
Lana turned towards her. "Hannah, I'm almost eighteen. The orphanage won't keep me here when I turn eighteen. I'll be homeless."
"They can't do that!"
Lana had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. Hanna was only fourteen. She still had a chance; a chance to be adopted, a chance to find somewhere to live. Hannah had many friends who let her sleep at their houses all the time, surely one of them would let her live with them if she doesn't get adopted by the time she is eighteen. Lana didn't have that choice. The closest things to friends Lana had were Hannah and the elderly man at the shop where Lana gets new lenses for her camera.
"Yes, they can." Lana turned and grabbed her camera. She shoved it in her old leather satchel and threw it over her shoulder.
"Where are you going?"
"Out," Lana didn't bother to say goodbye as she walked out of the room she shared with Hannah. She knew that Hannah bring up their conversation again when she came back but at the moment she didn't want to hear it.
When she reached the forest almost a mile from the orphanage, Lana began to slow down.
It wasn't as if Lana was completely numb to the fact that in a few months she would be added to the percentage of homeless people state but she already knew that nothing would change that fate. Sure when she was younger she used to think that she would meet some great family that would take her in and treat her like their own but after she turned sixteen, she gave up on the idea. Barely anyone adopted teenagers and nobody would adopt a girl so close to being a legal adult.
College wasn't even an option for Lana. She had no money and she just barely managed to graduate high school, so she couldn't even get a scholarship.
Taking out her camera, she angled it to catch a small bird flying from a tree branch. Snapping a few photos of flowers, trees, and even her own hand, Lana continued to walk. It was very silent as she walked; she was going farther than she had ever gone before whenever she went on her walks. She stopped when she heard leaves shuffling for only a moment, her heartbeat sped up. She was used to hearing birds chirping and deer's gallivanting but today was just so quiet; too quiet.
Hands grabbed her, the camera fell from her hand and she barely had time to scream when she felt the most painful sensation in her neck.
