Chapter One:

Blue jumped out of his bed as soon as he heard the door close. "Ma!" He called, running down the hall, and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Why are you still awake?" Ma scolded, but wrapped her arms around her five-year-old son. "It is far past your bedtime."

Blue frowned, "I wanted to finish our story..." He murmured and his mother chuckled, pinching his cheek.

"Fine, but not for long. You gonna have to go to sleep soon, little man," his ma decided. She brought her son the small rickety bed they shared, and sat him down.

"So, the pirates captured the boats!" Blue began immediately, "And they men cried 'oh no, they're gonna kill us!'"

"Kill them?" Ma mused, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but then the Captain of the pirates came forward and said, 'We don't wanna kill you, we wanna be your friends!' Then, they had a big party and-and-!"

"Maybe," his ma suggested, "They went to go get ice cream." Blue's dark eyes practically glowed with excitement. Blue's Ma always said that she loved his eyes. She said that when he was born, she thought his eyes were so dark, that they almost looked blue. That's where his name came from Blue, after his black-blue eyes.

"Yeah! Yeah! They went to have a big, huge, party with ice cream and hot dogs and cake and cookies and-and brownies!" Blue loved brownies, his neighbor, Mrs. Justine, made the beat brownies in all of East Palo Alto, at least so he said.

His mother laughed. Blue always thought she sounded like the metal woodchimes in Mr. Davis' yard. "You're making me hungry, Blue." Her eyes fluttered despite the dark bags that hung under them. His ma had been at work since nine AM that morning. "What else happened?"

Blue grinned, showing his missing tooth he lost a few days ago. "They came here and became best friends with me and you Ma!"

"Really? How's that?"

Blue thought for a moment. "They found you on the docks, and decided that my ma was the bestest, most prettiest and beautifulest ma in the whole wide world!"

"'The whole wide world'?" His ma parroted, laughing again. "Wow, I'm honoured."

Blue nodded eagerly, "So, they let us on their ship and they gave us a big, huge house, like the ones that are in my books! And we lived happily ever after!"

"That's amazing, Blue," his ma grinned. "That was a great story!" Blue smiled pridefully, and his mother stretched on his bed. "I think it's bedtime, now."

Blue nodded, crawling into the blankets right beside his mother. "Goodnight, ma!" Blue whispered, cuddling close to her as she ran her fingers through his stringy curls.

"'Night, my baby Blue," she murmured, setting a gentle kiss on his forehead.

That night, Blue dreamed parties and pirates and houses as big as the castles in his book.

It was also the last night he dreamed of such fanciful things.

a·z·u·l

When Blue's ma went to work, she would ask his Mrs. Justine to watch him. Sometimes, Mrs. Justine would let him do odd jobs for her in exchange for spare change. Blue collected it, and saved every penny. He put it in a jar, and kept in under his and his ma's bed.

One day, Blue would have enough money to buy his ma a house as big as the ones in his story books. He would have so much money that his ma would never ever have to work again. He was going to collect as many jars of coins as he could, so he worked extra hard.

When Mrs. Justine would go to sleep, he would go to his other neighbours, doing jobs for them too.

One day, Mr. Davis, the man with the metal windchimes in his yard. He gave Blue a trash bag and gloves and asked him to clean out his yard. He promised Blue a whole ten-dollar-bill when he finished. He even showed it to Blue - he had never seen a ten-dollar-bill before.

Blue got to work, picking up bags and broken soda cans kids in the neighbourhood kicked in his yard. He dumped dropped them in the large bag, not taking a second for a break.

Blue worked until it was nearly 2 PM, he was almost completely done! He sighed for a minute, wiping his sweaty forehead. It was getting hot, but he didn't dare take a break.

Blue continued to pick up trash - the bag he used had gotten too heavy for him to pull around. He stopped when he suddenly heard a loud scream, followed by a girl shouting. "Help! Help me!"

Blue looked around, there weren't any adults outside. He didn't want this girl to be hurt.

Blue looked back at his trashbag. If he left, even for a minute, would Mr. Davis still pay him?

The girl screaned again, and Blue began to run. He wouldn't be long anyway, maybe an adult had heard and came to help.

Blue ran out of Mr. Davis' yard and down a few houses. He heard the scream again between two of the small houses. Neither of them had cars in either driveway.

Blue ran in-between the house, looking around. He didn't see anyone. "Hello?" He called out. Was he too late?

Blue turned around, hoping to find an adult, when something heavy hit him in the back of his head. Blue went flying, slamming into the concrete, his eyes rolling into his head.

с·и·н·и·й

When Blue woke up, his head was hurting. He moaned, tears escaping his eyes. He tried to wipe then away, but he couldn't move his hands, his feet. There was something covering his eyes, but he felt his surroundings move and jump. He was in a car?

Blue tried to cry for help, but all he managed was muffled gasps. Where was he? Where was his Ma? Blue continued to cry until someone hit him upside the head. Blue gasped, his head hurting even more, and he curled up. "Quiet!" A female voice snapped. "God, they're all so irrating!"

Blue sniffed, tears staining whatever was keeping him from opening his eyes. He wanted to go back home, where were they taking him?

Blue laid in the shaking car, crying softly. The only sounds he made were little gasps and hiccups.

The car finally stopped and Blue smelt the salty air of the ocean. It smelt like the docks where his Ma worked. He called, hoping she would answer him, wishing she would come for him.

He felt someone yank him to his feet, and Blue kicked and squirmed, screaming for his mother to come get him.

Someone scowled and let go of his shirt. Blue felt for a second, waiting for him to hit the ground, but instead hit the cold, freezing California water.

Blue gasped, water filling his mouth, as he struggled to stay afloat. He squirmed, trying to swim, but his arms and legs were tied. He couldn't even see where he was, much less swim away.

Someone grabbed the back of his shirt, lifting him out of the water. Blue gasped and coughed, vomiting over the wooden boards. He heard someone shouting before he was picked back up and shoved somewhere new.

Blue immediately smelt waste around him, followed by the muffled cries of other children. Blue fell on his side and he tried to take the blindfold off, grunting and struggling as he tore at the duct tape.

He managed to get a corner free, and saw a woman with fair skin and dark hair. She wore a shirt with a weird symbol on it that looked like two triangles together. She was glaring at all of the other children before slamming the truck's doors shut.