When hidden from the light

Chapter 3

After my conversation with my boss I tried to repeat what I had done. I tried thinking about the lights turning on in my room, but nothing happened. I didn't really know why I was trying to do this, I mean did I really think the lights would magically turn on?

After 20 minutes I was ready to give up when the lights flickered and turned on. I will say I was surprised for a moment, then supper exited. It worked!

I tried again and the lights turned off. After a few minutes of standing with a huge smile on my face, I decided to take a walk. I exited my house and walked through the main tunnel for a few minutes before going down a smaller tunnel. This one had less lights.

I walked for a few minutes until I reached a door. I stood in front of the door for a long time until finally I made up my mind and I opened the door. Inside the room there were photos on the walls and piles of boxes. I walked up to a photo and looked at it.

The photo was of a little boy and a little girl smiling. The little girl looked a couple years younger, around the age of 6, the boy looked around 8. They were standing in front of a Christmas tree holding hands.

A tear fell down my cheek. It had been so long since this photo had been taken. Around 11 years. The little girl, my sister, would be around the age of 17 now. I remembered when we took that photo, it was snowing outside. We had decided to go sledding after that photo was taken.

I walked over to a box and opened it. Inside was a letter. I stared at the letter for the longest time. It was from my father. I had found it tied to a rock sitting at the bottom of a tree in the park I frequently visited as a child. My family had gone there a lot and after I left they went to the park and tried searching for me, hopping I was there. I had been there, but I was hiding so they hadn't seen me.

One day I saw my father put the letter under the tree, so after they left, I took the letter. On the envelope my name was written in my father's handwriting. I had been planing on reading it, but then later decided not to. I wasn't sure what it said and I was scared to discover what my father had written. I took a deep breath and opened the letter.

"Dear Josiah,

I'm sorry it took all these years to accept you just the way you are. I'm sorry I made you feel like I didn't love you when believe me I love you so much. I love the way you smile when you watch the rain falling on cloudy days, I love when you make little smart excuses when I ask you to do your homework. I love you the way you are, so please, come home."

I stared at the letter. As much as I wanted to go home, I couldn't. My dad didn't know it but I didn't leave because he didn't except me, I left because I knew I was making my family's life worse, and the sooner I left, the faster their life would get better. Tears fell down my cheeks and I wiped them away with the back of my hand. There was no sense crying. Crying wouldn't bring back the lost childhood years I could of had with my family. It wouldn't change anything.

I got up and put the letter back in the box. Then I left the room and headed back to my house. As I sat in front of my computer I noticed I had a message from my boss. I read it out loud.

"Come to the Your News building as soon as possible, I work there so I'll be waiting for you on the 5th floor in my office."

I frowned. That's odd, we've never met each-other in person, why would he be asking to meet me now? I put on my jacket then left my house and drove to the Your News building. It wasn't that far from my home, only half an hour. Outside, rain poured down and clouds covered the sun making the sky darker. The forest on either side of the road looked dark and scary. At 10:40 I got stuck in a traffic jam. I was so close to my destination but I was moving so slowly I knew I wouldn't arrive for another 20 minutes. And so, a half an hour drive became an 45 minute drive.