"I know. I know and I'm sorry. But...but your father is coming back, okay? He'll come back, just you see." I nodded and pulled away, wiping my wet face on my sweater sleeves.

Mother didn't sleep that night. Neither did I. I knew she was just trying to reassure me, but I'm 13! I know when my mother is lying to me. So I stayed up that night. I didn't even play on my Nintendo, i just stared up at the ceiling fan in my room and watched as the blades spun round and round until light started to stream in through my blinds, basking the walls in gold.

My paintings didn't seem as friendly as before. Everything was...still. I guess. By the time I left my room that morning mother had gone off to work. She leaves a sticky note on the inside of my door before she leaves and urges me to eat. I wasn't hungry for breakfast though. I had something to clear up.

My bike isn't really a bike at all. Made from PVC pipes and old scrap metal, it's the joke of the neighborhood. But it works.

I pedaled down the road towards the station, bike squeaking and groaning with every bump. I left it collapsed next to the flowerbed and walked in. Our town's station looks like a dentist waiting room. It's quiet a lot and the receptionist is always taking calls. But the receptionist was dressed in a uniform.

I waved to her and strode down the hall and took a left to sherriff Gangly's office. He has this really cheesy nameplate, y'know those imitation rhinestone jewels people use for...