No. 23 At the end of their rope (forced to kneel)
~
He was only a little boy when it started. The others were just so mean. And he didn't have any friends to protect him.
So when the other Roylans started taunting him for being too tall, Keenser didn't stand a chance against them.
His peers were smaller but they were many.
A monster.
They called him a monster and did everything in their power to make his life horrible.
One day they went too far.
Five boys had surrounded him, four of them grabbing his arms.
"Get him to his knees," the leader of the group ordered, a sly grin on his face.
His fellow friends did as they were told. Keenser heard them laughing.
"What should we do to him?" one of them asked and the leader leaned down slightly to be eye to eye with Keenser.
"Maybe we'll see if he'll fit into the old vent of the abandoned school."
Keenser struggled against their grip, but he was powerless against four of them.
Fear gripped his heart as he looked into the dark vent the boys had talked about.
He shook his head, grunting.
"No! Stop!" He begged but they didn't listen.
"On three. One, two, three!"
They squeezed his body into the small duct and suddenly he couldn't move anymore.
He was stuck!
Panic filled his body as he tried to free himself but nothing worked.
He heard their laughter. They were leaving him alone!
"No! Help! Help!"
But there was no one there to help him.
Tears ran down his face. He couldn't breath. He would suffocate! Or die from thirst or hunger.
"Help!"
Why? Why did they have to be so mean? He had never done anything bad to them!
The darkness scared him. Keenser shivered on the inside for his body wouldn't tremble.
He cried and sobbed violently.
Why didn't they help him? Why was no one there? Why didn't he have friends?
When his parents and other adults finally found him after five hours, Keenser was still weeping quietly.
On that day he knew, that if he ever got the chance, he'd leave this planet behind.
He'd find friends. And then he'd never be bullied again for being too tall.