My name is Uffie. Weird name, whatever, not like I chose it. I'm 14 now. I ran away from home Yeah, sad, isn't it. Want to know why? My parents both went to a great college and met in law school. Their dreams for me? A high-level prosecutor. That's all they think I'm good for. Getting them my money from being a civil lawyer. Well, you know, what? Law is stupid.
I got all F's the last semester of last year. I just can't do the work. My mom and dad are just too lazy to get me some help; I'm clinically depressed. I just eat and get fat and play video games all effing day. I don't even care about getting yelled at at this point. I bring in the homework with wrong answers as I never even tried. Getting all F's this semester, my parents excelled to abuse. Hitting me. Slapping me with a leather belt. I have bruises. I have band-aids all over my body. The next day, they hit me again. They said they'd always do it, everyday, until I get straight A's. Like I could do that.
The third night I couldn't take it. I got all my money, stole some food and water and a large bag, and ran away. They're not even searching for me. I doubt they're even sad, and if they were, I wouldn't care at all. I wandered a lot, sleeping on a shady bench. Occasionally, nice people would let me sleep in their shop at night or nap in the daytime. I found myself much more active at night, sleeping throughout the day. Local libraries were really nice about that, they said it would be fine if I slept on one of the staff couches. I was doing fine, for a homeless teenager.
I checked my bag and saw that I had quite the lot of money, 150 dollars. Saved it up, I guess. I decided, if I could afford it, to buy a train ticket and leave this terrible place once and for all. Far away, my parents wouldn't be able to track me down and bring me back to their terrible place. I walked to the train station, luckily we had one in town.
The schedule was pretty bleak. I was looking for a place where it wasn't too busy. New York City, Philadelphia, Jersey City, et cetera. I just lived in Albany, New York, so I'd like to get out of the state. I found one town on the board, one I'd never heard of. Some place called Rustleaf? Never heard of it so I assume it's small. I went over to the ticket master.
"Uh, how much for a ticket to Rustleaf, sir?" I asked, trying to sound polite. He probably judged me for my gross sweater, ripped pants, and worn sneakers. I smiled the fakest smile I could've ever smiled. He flipped through a train schedule and blinked.
"Twenty dollars. The train will leave the station in twenty minutes. Would you like to buy a ticket?"
"...Do you accept cash?" he nodded. I sighed. "Yeah, I'll take a ticket." I fished through my bag to find my old wallet I got when I was six. It was the most portable thing I could keep my money in. I shuffled around my wallet, looking for a twenty looked like a fool as I added up the money while there was a huge line looming behind me, and handed it over. He counted it much faster than me. A ticket was printed and he handed it to me.
"Over there, on platform three, is the train. Thank you," I nodded and smiled. I gave a nice thank you and ran over to the platform. I handed my ticket to the conductor and fancied myself a seat.
