I didn't get back home until late that night. It was gloomy, but not raining yet. I reached the front entrance to The Hole and the old lady was standing there. When she saw me, she got up off the porch and came over to me.
"Where were you? I was worried!" she said.
I raised an eyebrow at her. "You never cared when I got home before?"
"I know, but I do now. You're the best behaved kid here. I didn't want anything to happen to you."
"Thanks." I walked passed her to get into the door.
I got up the porch steps when she said, "Wait a minute." I paused, looking at her. "I need to confess something: when that police officer first dropped you off here, I was actually going to take you back to the station the next day."
"What changed your mind?"
She smiled. "When you said you wanted to go to school, I realized then that you weren't like the other kids here. I decided that you were probably just misunderstood, and the best way to give you your chance at life was to actually give you a chance. Everyone else in The Hole has a curfew, but not you."
"Really? I didn't know that."
She nodded. "I don't hold you to the same restrictions because I know you probably have something big and important to do, which is why you always tend to come in late or not at all. As long as you don't come in a police car, because then my hopes of you becoming greater than the rest of us won't be accurate."
I smiled. "Thank you," I said, sincerely.
She grinned as well. "I waited for days to see a smile cross your lips. What happened that changed you?"
"Friends," I answered simply.
She came up to me and patted my shoulder in a very motherly-like way. "I knew you'd end up making friends." A short pause. "Now let's get inside and get some cocoa before it starts raining."
I smiled again, and followed her inside. And that night, for the first time in years, I had pleasant dreams instead of nightmares. My life was finally looking up…