Micah's Stone

Foreward

Adrian stared ahead blankly, hand in hand with his little sister. "So this is what it feels like to be truly free, huh Sis?" Her young mind was too undeveloped to comprehend the weight of what he'd just done. She simply nodded and smiled up at me with a look of happiness and confusion spread across her face. Her dark, wavy pigtails bounced to either side of her head, and her eyes glistened under the orange tainted moonlight. "I never knew fire could be this pretty brother~, but when will I see Mommy again?" The fire crackled in front of us, causing his brown eyes to sparkle as tears began to well up. "From now on, let's not talk about Mommy, okay?" She frowned, not entirely sure how to respond. She stayed silent and he scooped her up, and put her on his shoulders. His mind still blank, he turned away from the burning shambles of the place he'd once called home.

Just as a tear slipped from his cheek, and fell to the brambles at his feet, Adrian ran into the woods beyond the property, quickly becoming enveloped by the surrounding darkness.

*          *          *

"For heaven's sake Daniel, if you're just going to sleep all class, why don't you just go home now?" The guy in front of me got up slowly, clearly still not fully awake, and stretched out. "Gladly." He lobbed his bag over his shoulder and flew Mrs. Harris the bird before lumbering out.

The classroom fell deathly silent. As usual, Daniel left his notebook and journal on his desk. Suddenly the bell rang out and the teacher looked shocked. "I'm sorry everyone, I didn't realize how late it had gotten! Your homework is on the board here," she pointed to the whiteboard as everyone was already piling out of the room. I took a minute to scribble down the pages we needed to get through and packed up my things.

That left only Mrs. Harris, Katie, and I. Ahh, Katie. She was the only one for me, but she's with one of Daniel's asshole friends. I have no clue why she puts up with so much of his shit. I once tried to tell her that it's not going to work out between them because he's too much of an idiot to ever develop a shred of respect for anyone but himself. Her infatuation for him overcame all reason and she said that he's just been stressed out from his home life. I'd talk to her more, except I've always shied away from talking with girls.

I paused briefly, recalling our conversation. "Adrian," she emphasized my name as though somewhat annoyed by its sound. "He just needs some time to adjust to his new family." She insisted. "Yeah," I replied, "but maybe if he would stop sneaking out and partying every night, he wouldn't keep getting booted from every new home he's brought into." She frowned and looked back down at her paper, continuing writing like nothing just happened. I persisted, "You know, I'm a foster kid too, but that hasn't stopped me from learning some manners." Her face got red and she huffed, "You're not the same as him, and you don't understand what he's going through!" She looked at me, "Yes I do—" I tried to object, but she interjected, "No Adrian, he... his family just doesn't get him. You wouldn't understand..."

The second bell rang signaling the next class would start in one minute and snapped me back to reality. I finished packing my binder into my backpack and looked over toward Katie's desk. She must have left while I was putting away my class laptop and my back was turned, so I headed out the door. Halfway to my next class I was hit with this subtle thought that something was amiss. I can't really explain it. It made me dizzy though and I glanced up at the distant mountains beyond the school rooftops to keep myself from toppling over. The hazy skyline was a pale blue color and clouds wrapped around the mountains like a circle of finely woven cotton. I continued forward, rushing to my next class; math. It was one of my favorite classes. Yes, I'm one of those people. Though I do enjoy science— chemistry in particular, it doesn't appeal to me in quite the same way. And history? I'd sooner let Daniel stuff me in a locker with duct tape over my mouth than put even an ounce of effort into that sad excuse for a class; sorry history buffs!