Chapter 2
Without my dad home, we had no way to pay for anything. My mom tried to find work, but minimum wage was nowhere near enough. As days went by, we began to lose the remainder of things we had; it wasn't long before we were without a house. I always looked forward to the day I would be let out of the house, but I didn't expect it to be that way. I didn't think I'd feel so helpless. It was a slow and painful death from one life into the next.
However, life outside the front door was amazing. Finally setting foot outside of the place I used to call home was like a dream... and it was. For years, I wanted this. Some kids wish they could go to space; some kids wish they could be part of their favorite TV shows, their fantasies, or their imaginations. I just wanted a taste of reality, and its bittersweet flavor was finally on my tongue.
Finally seeing things from the other side of the window, I couldn't help myself. I felt like a kid again, bewildered, confused and scared, but amazed. If my mom hadn't pulled my arm and dragged me along with her, I might have just stayed in our old front yard forever. Every color, every smell, every minute detail... I was in a completely different world.
We couldn't stay anywhere near that place though. My mom told me that we couldn't be seen in public. I thought she was just embarrassed with our poverty, but I later found out it was because of my hair. The scenery of green lawns and expensive houses soon changed as we reached the heart of Wayfare... the city.
Buildings of all sorts towered on both sides of the street, stretching to the clouds. Cars and people bustled about. I wasn't used to the noise, and I clung to my mom, hiding my head with my favorite hoodie. We wove through the ocean of humans and animals. I wasn't sure if my mom knew where she was going, but eventually she led me down an empty alley where we would make our temporary shelter.
I asked where we were, but she was too busy to look at me, so I didn't get an answer.
My mom looked around, then at me, patted my head and said, "We'll stay here tonight and find out what we're going to do tomorrow." I leaned against my mother, huddled in a corner by grimy walls. Splotches of black and brown covered my clothing, and the lack of light was terrifying. Sounds I couldn't identify echoed down the walls of the alley from the main roads. My nose stung with the smells wafting from the nearby trash, so I buried my face into my mom's clothing, trying to fall asleep.
This wasn't the type of place I imagined when I left my house. This wasn't what I wanted. For once, all I wanted was to be home.
