When Jim was twelve, Sam left.
(No note, no goodbye, no warning.)
Jim wakes up to hear the back door slamming shut, and bolts out of bed and down the stairs, hoping to see Frank finally storming out, only to find that it was not Frank, but Sam. Frank, much to Jim's displeasure, is standing in the kitchen, looking entirely too smug, but Jim pays him no mind as he runs out after Sam, calling as he goes, "Sam! Sam! What's going on? Where are you going?"
But even Jim's cries do not make Sam turn back. Jim keeps running after his brother for as long as he can, but Sam is older and taller and a faster runner than he is. When he finally stops his pursuit, Jim collapses on the ground, kneeling on the barren dirt road, watching as his brother's shape disappears on the horizon. There is only one thought running through Jim's head, and it drowns everything else out, loud in its simplicity. "No," he whispers. "No, no, no, no! No!"
How can Sam do this to him? How can Sam, who has always been his protector, just abandon him like that? How can Sam just run away and leave him to endure Frank and his anger? How can Sam, his idol, leave him behind? Why didn't Sam take him along? Why was Sam allowed to escape when he is still stuck in Riverside? Why did everyone important to him always abandon him? First his Dad (before the man had even met him, for Christ's sake), now Sam, even his mom tries to get away as much as she can. What has he done to push everyone away?
As Jim kneels in the dirt, his head aches with all the whys running through it, and he cannot come up with a single answer, no matter how hard he tries. Instead, he balls his fists, slamming them into the ground and steadfastly ignoring the tears that are making their way down his cheeks.
So... It seems there are these things called "Normal-length chapters". One may be up next. If you guys want one, that is.