I hate that mother fucker! That bonehead keeps trying to fuckin' take credit for shit I've suffered through to help him. Why the hell does my older brother have to be such a glory-hogging pussy? The parents are always like 'Be more like, Linebeck!' or 'How could you try and accuse your brother of lying?' and it's complete bullshit!! Oh great, now mom's crying again. What the fuck is happening now?

Glaring furiously at my door, I stomp over and open it. I look down stairs to see Mom huddled at the bottom of the stairs sobbing. The front door opens and slams closed. My eyes widen marginally. Where was Dad? Where was Linebeck?!

"Mom!" I cry stumbling down the wooden stairs.

She looks up at me with her almond-shaped caramel eyes overflowing. She couldn't speak and she sunk to the floor sobbing even harder. I jump up. Without a second thought I tear from the house. I could just see the silhouettes of my father and brother at the end of the trail up our Cliffside home. There, at the end of the docks, was my father's boat prepared to set sail. Tears threaten to flow. I sprint forward down the hill, praying.

'I'm sorry for everything I said! Please, God, don't let them leave us! Please don't let them go! I'm sorry for what I said, what I wrote! I'll burn my entries and I'll always respect them! Oh God, just don't let them leave!'

I made it to the docks just before Linebeck was about to walk the gangplank. I launch forward and latch onto his coattails. He glares down at me.

"Linebeck!" I cry. "Please, don't leave us! Big brother, please! Daddy and you have to stay! PLEASE!"

He simply shrugs with a disapproving snort . I couldn't react quick enough as the thick heel of one of his boots knocks into my cheek, sprawling me onto the pier. He boards quickly in my shocked state and the gangplank is retracted. The boat starts to leave and the whistle groans tiredly, snapping me from my stupor. I scramble to the edge wailing futilely.

"Brudder! Daddy!"

They never looked back.

It had been a few years since then. Mother and I never saw them again. But word of their travels spread across the island like wildfire over those years. Apparently, the two were elaborate con-artists and thieves. Mom was heartbroken when the news reached us. Everyone on the island blames me for their reputation. Saying I shouldn't have been the one who was left to burden my mother. Only one family on the island trusted me still, the ranch family on the far cliffs. They allowed me to work there without the rest of the residents knowing.

"I finally earned enough money to leave the island and get started wherever I chose to reside after the trip today," I tell them somberly. "I'll be gone in a night."

The elderly couple stare at me sadly. It was obvious they didn't want me to leave. But I was going to go to a place where no one would ever know about my family. I was going to the place of a future for me. I was going to…wow, I sound like an immigrant from WWI…America.

I hug each of them muttering, "I don't want anyone to find out you two have been helping me. Mother is too gone to notice me even being there, she's too attached to Dad and Linebeck. She keeps saying they'll come back and I'm going to help her get them back. I'll find them somewhere beyond New Zealand and Australia. I'll find them and send them home!"

"Not a very modest goal yet so modest and humble it brings joy to my old heart," Mr. Samson grins wearily.

I grin goofily. I waltz outside and start down the dirt path. I turn back and wave good bye for the last time.

I got home as the sun set behind the horizon and look at my packed bags. They stood by the door solemnly. Like guardians waiting to be taken on a journey. Mom was bustling around in the kitchen again. I sigh and walk in.

"Bye, Mom," I whisper to her busy form.

With one last glance at her fly-away fiery red hair, I stiffly grab my things and jog down to the dock. A single boat was drifting in the calm waters with a foreign man from Austria waiting onboard.

"Ready to go, M'am?" he asks kindly.

"Yes," I respond quietly, "please try and get me to Australia as fast as you can."

This time, it was my turn. This time, I would leave her to wait a little longer. But, however, I will always look back for one last glimpse of home.