Live Free

Comforting the Broken

"Stop worrying about what you have to loose and start focusing on what you have to gain."

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The walk down the sidewalk seemed to take forever, and the grocery bags weighing me down didn't help at all. My sneakers pounded into the concrete as I strode over it. Around me was absolutely nothing. No houses, no other buildings. Just an abandoned gas station and the mini mart. Surrounding me were empty fields filled with cows and horses. How far had we traveled?

Although curious, I never attempted to look for a familiar street sign or anything. Maybe the less I knew the better. The sun was barely out, nearly hidden by gray clouds. A chilly wind picked up, causing me to shiver in my gray jacket.

At the store I had bought a few of those cheap winter jackets, some comfy blankets, pillows and a bunch of socks. I had looked to see if they had a tent, but there weren't any there. I felt exposed out here, like I was walking around naked in public or something. Pulling my jacket tighter to my body, I quickened my pace.

I brought the attention of a cow when I sneezed a couple times. Uninterested, he turned away and continued munching on the thick  grass.

The thought of my parents trying to find me made everything worse. One thing I hadn't told Sky was that my parents had texted me a lot on my phone. It hardly got signal, but the few times it did come through, I felt like a horrible person. They still text me occasionally, things like, 'Where are you?" and "Please come home."

Some of my old friends actually texted me as well, only to ask where I was. My friend Rick even said, "The whole town is looking for you man." I wasn't really sure how I felt about that. On one hand, it was nice to be missed, but on the other hand I never wanted to go home again. I didn't want to disappoint Sky with my drug habits if they pursued further.

The reason I never told her about my parent’s texting and calling me was because her parents never did. Unless she hid it like I did.

After walking far enough, I took a sharp right and practically dashed into the woods. My original plan was that Sky would be at out spot from earlier and that I would have to go back, but surprisingly, Sky was there when I emerged into the woods.

"I followed you as soon as you stepped out of the store. Here, I brought all of our things," she said, handing me my pack.

"Wow, that's a lot to handle. Nice job," I replied, taking it from her while setting everything down.

"I can say the same for you," she muttered while ogling the bags of food. She dug through them and complimented me on my shopping.

"You did good! Is that a new back back I see?"

"I figured we'd need it with all this new stuff. Hey, next time this is on you," I joked, shoving her lightly into a tree and tickling her sides. She squealed in delight and tried to shield herself from me. It's amazing how food can make everything better and turn us into happier people. Now that this stress has been taken off our shoulders, I might as well break the news to her.

"Sky, listen," I told her, trying to calm her down from our tickle fight. "There's something I probably should inform you of."

"What is it?" she asked a smile still on her face. I loved that beautiful smile. Shame that it was about to fade away.

"When I was buying the food, I saw a missing children sign. The two kids in the picture were us. They've been looking for us. For both of us."

Her smile disappeared just like I predicted.

"I mean, I knew it was going to happen. Obviously your parents want you back. But mine?"

"I bet they miss you."

"Come on, that's impossible. My mom never paid attention to me and I hardly even knew my dad existed until two years ago when he showed up to give my mom child support money. Let's be honest, it probably wasn't them that put my picture there," she explained, but didn't look convinced.

An awkward silence hung in the air, and I sat there next to her when she lowered her head in between her legs and started to softly cry. Instinctively, I wrapped my arms around her and gently rocked our bodies together back and forth. I could feel her wet tears drench my jacket, but I could care less. Her pain was my pain.

The only thing I could do for her was clutch her tightly. Whether her parents loved her or not, what mattered was that I did.

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