Todd clutched onto his mother as he whimpered behind her.
She patted his head,and casually scooped him up into her arms.
She gave him a slight kiss on his forehead as he craddled into her shoulder for comfort.

There was a rather large brown bag with brass buckles and thick straps laying beside the door.
His father entered ratteling his keys in his hand,as he gathered up the bag,and the papers that had been laid on top of it.
Todd might've only been a youngster,but he knew what a passport looked like.
The tall man only gave his wife and child a passing glance as he rushed through the kitchen and exited through the back door.

Todd's mother stroked his mousy lot of light brown hair as she heard an engine turn over,and watched through the window as the car rolled away.
Ripping her heart in two,as it went firther down the street.
Rain began to pour,and slide down the window,as if trying to get inside.
She sighed,and cuddled the lad in her arms.

Todd was a small boy,about the age of six.
Long,thin light brown hair,which hid his eyes from the world.
His eyes were large,and sparkly,the color of emerald green.A tiny nose on his face which was speckled with little brown freckles.
She sat him down at the table,as she whipped up some hot cocoa.
No matter what was wrong with him,a scraped knee,a monster,or bad dream,hot cocoa always lifted his spirits.
She calmly joined her son at the table.
He sipped at the beverage,then looked up at his mother,and stared deeply into her eyes.
Her eyes began to water when she saw the hurt expression on her son's face.
She stood straight up and rushed behind a counter.as to wipe away a spill,or wash a glass or some other dish.
She lowered her head and wiped away a tear or two with her shirt,then returned to the table.
He burped quietly as he finished off the last of his cocoa.
He stood up and kissed his mother's cheek,and waltsed out of the room.
Once he was out of sight,she rested her head on her arms at the top of the table,and began to sob quietly,as to not allow the boy to hear her.


Todd climbed the stairs to the very top,and sat down on the floor next to the bookshelf.
He pulled one out and crawled back over to the staircase.
he sat on the top steps and let the words wash over him.
He was young,indeed,but very bright.
He liked to be taken away to different worlds,become different people,and escape his own morbid reality for an hour or two.
Taking the bold and adventurous roles of whatever heroe he decided to portray in the book.
This was how he would spend most of his days,since he was homeschooled anyway.
His mother was horrified of sending him to a school in the city,of whatever dangers her imagination tossed around in her mind.
They lived in a small house,green,with white shutters at the end of the road.
it was a small neighborhood,on the outskirts of the city.
If he were to take a class at the public school building,he would have a long ride to get there each day.
Most of the children in the district were homeschooled,so he was among freinds.
On days he was permitted to exit the house,he would climb trees with other boys that lived in the town as well.
They would speka of their dreams,their favorite usper heroes.
Food,how icky the girls were,and even their parents on occasion.

The night passed as Todd read away his emotions toward his pop.The way he rushed away.No matter how much he tried,he couldn't figure out why.He was awe-struck,and uttermost fowl.His eyes remained dry,however.He wasn't that hurt by the man's abandonment,he didn't even like him.It was the third father he'd had.he didn't care,but he was worried for his mother.

brrrrr-ring. brrrrrrr-ring. brrrrrr-ring.
His mother wiped her face and classily collected the phone.

"Hello?" She asked.Trying to keep her voice from cracking.

-"Mirage?Is that you?" The other voice added in.

"Yes,who is this?"

-"Its Ben,I just saw the hubby board a train across the way,is everything okay?"

Her voice began to break,and she began to explai what was going on.

-"I'll be right over." She barely caught it as the phone clicked on the other end.

A knock at the door,Mirage rushed to answer,as she did,she was greeted by a familiar face,whom she swung her arms around and sobbed into his chest.
Todd,who was curious at who on earth would be visiting at ten-thirty at night,had tip-toed down the stairs and sat a few steps above the last,eyes beaming at the man at the door.
The door clicked as the stranger approached the dining room,hand intwined with his mother's.
Infuriated,Todd marched up to his bedroom,and slung himself onto the bed.
INcohereant conversation between the two,prickled at Todd's ears.
He threw the pillow over his head.
Steps were now coming up the stairs,and laughter with the famimiliar sound of his mum's hush.
He replaced the pillow under his head,and snuggle up in his blankets and pinched his eyes shut.
The door cracked open,his mother whispered a goodnight,and walked to her own bedroom with Ben.
A yelp,and laughter began to fill Todd's head with hatred.
He was tired of this,one leaves,another just comes right in and whisps her away,then breaks her down again.
He didn't know how much more he could take.
He threw his blanket to the floor.
He ran to his closet and pulled on his jacket and grabbed a flashlight.
He collected his sneakers and ran down the stairs.
He slung the door open and dissapeared into the night.