The Island

(Chapter 1) The Vacation (Revised)

The aroma of palm trees hits my face and works up my nose. It would be delightful if something weren't chasing me. A darkened shadow trails close behind, occasionally stretching out to grab hold of me. In the distance, I can see a cliff, the crashing of lightning and the downpour of rain making it difficult to see any further. My breaths appear in the frozen darkness of night. It's reminding me of the sunlight that will never come. The shadow gains ground and gets closer.

I don't know what is at the bottom of such a massive cliff, but as I arrive, my mind knows it will soon get its questions answered.

My foot lands directly on the edge of a stone, and with it, I lunge myself across the chasm.

I, unfortunately, don't know what happens next, I always seem to wake up before it ends. I've had this dream regularly for a very long time, I don't even remember when it began, but this dream never develops, I can count on it being identical every time.

Henry says that it could be a sign from God, but I gave up on the existence of God a long time ago.

My mother says it could be P.T.S, I don't really think so, though, I can understand where she's coming from.

The horrors started when my father won the lottery and disappeared from the face of the Earth. He sold the house, the furniture, the T.V, and even the toys I played with. He left us with nothing, and when my mother reached out to the police they told her that he purchased a plane ticket to a non-extradition country. Which in layman's terms means they couldn't do anything about it. This left us homeless, the reason my mother didn't have a job before my father winning is that he wanted her to be a stay at home mom. He had a job that upheld that decision and his gambling obsession. Unfortunately, my parents never married. So, I'm guessing it was pretty simple to obtain a plane ticket without my mothers' knowledge.

My mother and father were orphans, fell in love as kids and had me at a young age. So, there was no one to turn to, no one to be there to help us in our time of need. My mom was very anti-social and so was my dad, so we didn't have friends.

A week later the police came, along with child services. Because my mother was homeless, they found her as an unfit parent, so they took me from her and placed me into the foster care system. She couldn't support the 6-year-old child whose life just torn to pieces.

A month later, I began to go nuts, I wanted my mother, and it was like I could feel my mother wanting me. So, late at night, I took my chance at freedom when the lady taking care of me forgot to lock the door and escaped.

On the ride from the police station to the foster care, I made sure to take note of buildings, houses, stores, trees, and even graffiti. I wanted to ensure my way around.

When I made it to the police station, I found no sign of my mother. So, then I made my way home.

I ran long and hard, but as I neared my block, I heard a voice from behind me call my name. I turned around and saw her running from behind. She ran straight to me, I leaped into her arms and gave her a great big hug. She was happy to see me again but also knew I needed to go back.

Short of breath, I replied to her, "Mom, I just ran about 15 miles to get to you. I waited a whole month I don't want to go back. You are all that I know you're my mom." I grasp tightly to her shredded clothes, "Don't make me go back."

She thought about it a lot, then finally agreed to keep me. We got out of the town and headed for the city. The journey was long and hot. We trekked through the desert, catching, cooking and eating anything we could find.

We resorted to eating some discussing things. We stuck close to the road, but not too close. We never knew when a police officer would flash his lights, take me back to foster care and send my mother to jail for endangerment.