When They Never Came Back

Back when I was a kid, my world was basically my parents. School,

cartoons, birthdays, all of it. Then one day without warning,

they pulled the rug out from under me. I came home from school and the house

was empty. No notes, no calls, nothing. Just a locked front

door and a silence I'd never experienced before. At first, I thought they'd

just gone grocery shopping or maybe to pick me up later. Hours passed, then days,

then weeks. Eventually, I found out they didn't come back because they weren't

coming back at all. And suddenly every plan I ever made included them. School plays,