Dear Diary

Chapter Two

 Dear Diary,

The sun’s almost up, and I need to leave the city before my parents realize I’m gone. In about an hour, they’ll be waking me up for school, only to find me absent from my bed. I don’t even want to think about what their first course of action will be. Call the cops? Report me kidnapped in order to pass up the possibility that I ran away (which would cause them “endless humiliation”)? Put a private detective on the case?

I almost forgot about school, but I think I can manage missing the rest of the year; it’s not like they’ll be teaching something I don’t already know. I’ve been tutored my whole life, not because I needed help, but because my parents wanted me to always be 3 steps ahead of my class.

Education has always been important to me. I thought if I knew enough, I could, as cheesy as it sounds, help the world be a slightly better place to live in. I remember once, when I was little, I had seen an advertisement on TV asking for donations. I remember seeing the children that were around my age, whose families had barely enough money to survive each day. Many of the children had lost their smiles. As a 6 year old child, I had wanted to make those kids smile again, so I told Dad I wanted to travel to places where children had lost their smiles, and sing them my songs to make them happier; I knew that songs made me happy. He told me I was going to be a business woman and would have no time for these things.

Mom and Dad, although you thought you were making my future better, I still have some other aspirations. They may not bring me all the money in the world, but I think they’ll make me happier, and I hope you will be happy if I am.

- Aislin.

I leaned against the counter at the gas station as the shabby haired teenager who got stuck working the early shift counted my change. A chocolate bar was all I allowed myself to get at this point. I had enough money to last me for a while, but I wanted to be prepared for anything. I knew where my credit card was – at home, underneath some papers on my desk. I’d barely used it, despite my parents urging me to buy whatever I wanted. The only money I took with me was what I’d earned working part time at my dad’s office this past summer.

I thanked the cashier and smiled as his brows furrowed at the sound of my voice – he was clearly hungover. This was good; if anyone were to ask him if he’d seen a runaway girl, he would probably not be able to put two and two together considering he was in too much pain to even look at my face properly.

I took a minute to watch the sunrise as I munched on my chocolate bar. They had always been my favourite part of the day, even better than the sunset.

I forced myself to move – I had to leave. I secured everything in place again, and ran in the direction of the highway. My knees were becoming weak from carrying my guitar and my backpack but I sucked it up. Better to toughen up now rather than later.

I had one stop to make before I crossed the highway and was engulfed by the trees. A house, a few hundred meters from the edge of the road. It didn’t seem like a house to me, more like a shed, probably the size of my room at home. It was located in the middle of emptiness, surrounded only by a garden that grew vegetables with names I’d never even heard of. It was not too close to the road, nor was it a part of the nearby neighbourhoods.

The wooden shed had white paint peeling off the sides. There were two flower pots at the small front door in an attempt to give the place a homey feel. I prepared myself before walking up to the door and softly knocking.

In an instant, I saw a pair of eyes appear in the tiny window full of curiosity and fear. I saw a flicker of recognition in the eyes and then they disappeared, followed by the sound of loud footsteps approaching.

The door swung open, and a little boy of about 5 years old stood there with a huge smile on his lit up face. “Aylin!”

The first time I’d met him, he was much younger and couldn’t pronounce my name; I guess it stuck.

“Hi Isaac!” I held my arms out for a hug, and he eagerly rushed into me, and buried his face into my stomach.

His voice was muffled, but I think he told me that he missed me. He looked up at me, his bright blue eyes filled with hope. “Verina isn’t here right now, but she should be back soon. Will you come inside, or do you have to leave. I understand if you have to leave, you have an important life, don’t you? Yes you do, but I’m so happy you came to visit, Aylin! I never ever forgot you!”

I couldn’t help but laugh at his babbling, and hugged him tighter; he still had the same hyper energy in his little body. “Of course I’ll come inside, Isaac. Lead the way!”

The little boy yelped in delight, his bright blonde hair falling onto his face. He grabbed my hand, led me into the shed, and sat me down on the one chair that was present.

He wriggled his hand out of mine and scurried to the other side of the shed to a cardboard box covered in dust. “I made something for you, all by myself!”

“You made something for me?” I asked him.

Isaac bobbed his head up and down, excitedly, his messy hair flopping all over the place. “It isn’t very good, and Verina helped me with it. She said I could give it to you if I ever saw you again, and that you’d keep it. That’s okay right? It’s okay if you don’t want it, but I’ll keep it with me forever and it’ll be yours only! I won’t ever, ever give it to anyone else, not even Verina!”

There was something about this boy that always kept me smiling. His bubbly nature was refreshing from the seriousness that surrounded my parents, and even my few friends from school who were constantly stressed.

Isaac was digging through his cardboard box, searching for my gift while talking away. “You know Aylin, Verina told me that if it weren’t for you and what you did for us, I might not be here right now. She said that you were brave and that you were scolded because of us and that you took it because you knew that would keep us safe.”

As he continued to talk, I recalled the events of that painful week.

A/N - Let me know what you think. This is my attempt at adding some intrigue and depth to the story, but if my attempt is failing and the story is becoming boring, please let me know so I can fix it!