The Shadow

Part 11

"Yeah, I'm good. Just... thinking."
"Yeah." She looks at me in a knowing way. I've caught Nina a world away with her thoughts too before. She's kind of an awkward person in reality, but she spends most of the time in her head. While I loved Kelly for her encouragement, and ability to talk her mind, I thought that Nina and I just understood one another better. On a different, unspeaking level, however. I hadn't yet asked about their parents. Mine weren't even that high on Link social ladder. Apparently, they haven't even seen the headmaster, or leader of Link. They weren't high up enough. What a good choice to give up your own child for experimenting so that you could climb the social ladder a few more rungs? I only vaguely know what my parents look, anyway. They had only came into my life "When they could." What a terrible excuse! If I had a child, let's just say I would be doing things WAY differently.
I wondered if Kelly, and Nina's parents did something similar to them. Everyone had a reason to be here, and although mine was probably one of the nastiest, other kids had had a lot of heartbreak in their lives, too. At this moment, I actually thought about calling Kelly over, and telling the girls what happened to me as a child. I knew that the teacher had told them that I was a "mutant" but that I was mostly normal. Not how I got this way. Some people thought that I volunteered. Others were closer to the truth. I don't think anyone really knew, however. They just couldn't wrap their heads around it.             "Hey guys?" They both look up at me, and start to come over to the bench where we sat. "I think that I am going to call it a day."
    "Yeah, let's get out of here!" Kelly raises her right arm and sniffs.
              "Oh, yep", She pretends to choke from the stench, "I should probably take a shower also!" 
We made plans to meet up later. We were definitely getting closer as friends. I hoped that our escape would work out OK, but with everyday that passed, I couldn't help but feel a little bit more hopeless. I didn't really have friends outside of Link, so no one would come looking for me. No one in the outside world really even knew where I was. I was just a ghost of a person.
To all of those people reading this at home, or in some sort of safe place I have a message to you:
Please be grateful for what you have. Always, people in the world want that bigger house, that little bit of extra money so that they could go on that vacation or buy the latest technology. Money, and physical things don't solve your problems. If anything, they make them worse. And somewhere in the world, no matter what the situation, some people have it worse. Some people are dead because of their problems, or people who didn't care for them. World peace may never be possible if we are always jealous of other nations. Live your life, but don't feel sorry for yourself so much. Love other people, friends, and strangers, and make them feel welcome. This is the difference that once we achieve it, the world in a whole will be a better place.