Anywhere But Here

Packing

Sawyer Kinlet laid in bed, loosely gripping the corner of his pillow, mouth slightly ajar, eyes closed effortlessly. The ten-year-old was asleep, chest rising and falling with ease. His dreams consisted of him on a plane, overlooking the world he was just being introduced to.

    This world expanded well away from the walls of his small apartment right outside of Boston. It was made up of endless oceans, tall mountains, and people who genuinely wanted to know about him. All the wonders he could imagine -- pirates, dragons, superheroes -- anything.

    However, the most important trait of all was that these places were safe.

    A door slammed, causing him to jump from sleep for just a moment. In his tired state, Sawyer repositioned himself and drifted off once more. The keys being thrown on the countertop, the irritated sighs, and the anger that boiled in the woman's veins who entered didn't wake him any further.

    A breeze drifted in through the window as this woman twisted the doorknob of his bedroom door and allowed it to swing open. Still oblivious, the boy was peaceful.

    The sight of him angered the woman. She set her jaw as her frustration grew. Her own son didn't even care to greet her when she came home. He didn't seem worried about where she had been. There he was sleeping when she much rather would have preferred to find him missing, only to find out he was looking for her.

    The thought didn't occur to her, however, that he was only a kid. He did what he was told; went to school, came home, did his homework, and slept.

    Maybe it was because her thoughts were warped, or maybe it was fury. Whatever was stirred inside of this woman grew and consumed her, as it had many times before. She marched over to the window and shut it. Then, going to the bed, her hand came down harshly on his shoulder and he jerked awake.

    His eyes went wide when he met her blood-shot stare. His clean breaths clashed with her intoxicated ones, causing his dreams to turn into his worst nightmare.

    Her fingers grabbed the front of his faded t-shirt.

    "M-mom?" he whispered, his voice full of fear. But no tone could match the terror he felt inside.

    Without speaking, she yanked him out of bed and threw him to the floor, disgusted at the sight of him. She did everything for him, and he was nothing more than a child. A child who didn't care about where she was, who didn't wait up for her, who wasn't perfect like she wanted.

    She didn't understand that humans were born human. Expecting impossible traits was a trap to condemn those to cross her. Children were innocent, and harming them over nothing was irrational in and of itself. Her heart had been calloused years earlier, leading her to feel nothing and care for nothing.

    The boy scrambled, pushing himself back toward the wall as she loomed over him. He covered his face with his hands, biting his tongue to keep from screaming.

    Sawyer fought the urge to cry, knowing that would just cause the hits to be harder and the insults to be harsher. In these moments of torment, he often thought of his father and how he wished he would return for him. He wanted nothing more than to feel secure again.

    But that night, he realized something. It had been a year, and his father hadn't come back for him. If he hadn't yet, why would he? He was stuck in his room with a woman, who was hardly fit to be his mother, beating him.

    For the first time since his father left, he felt angry. Why didn't he love his son enough to rescue him? Why wasn't he good enough for his mother? What was wrong with him, when he did everything he was supposed to?

    "You're worthless to me!" the woman hissed, kicking him in the side, which knocked the air out of him. He gasped as she slapped his face.

    She grabbed his shirt and lifted his face to meet her's one last time. He looked into those insane eyes, fear taking over his expression.

    "If you left and never came back, I would be glad," she growled.

    She let him fall to the ground and stumbled out of the room, slamming the door.

    Every part of him throbbed. A tear slid down his cheek as the reality of the pain came down on him all at once. He sniffed, trying to hold it all in. Looking around the room, he was trying to find some source of comfort. His eyes landed beside his bed.

    He inched over to his backpack and pulled out a map of the world he had received the previous day at school. He scanned it, wincing as another door within his apartment was shut. For a moment, he paused. His chest was restricted with fear, instinct, and fury all at once. It was almost too much for him to handle.

    Shaking, he pulled a pen out of his bag and began planning the great escape like he had dreamt of.