The wind whipped against the old yellowing house. It howled and yelled as I turned up the volume on the tv attempting to drown out the sounds of the storm. Lightning flashed against the dark sky.  The thunder crackled in the distance, but I could hear it growing louder and closer. Where are my parents right now? I wondered. A weather warning report flashed across the screen.

“A severe thunderstorm warning is in effect for the following cities.  Auburn, Brewer, Buxton, and Cumberland, Maine.  The wind will make its way up to a speed of 55 miles per hour. For the safety of you and your family we suggest you stay aways from windows and avoid going outdoors,” announced the weather man.

I felt my stomach clench, so I decided to flip off the television and head upstairs.The stairs creaked under me as I walked -- the carpeting soft against my bare feet. I did my normal nighttime routine and climbed hesitantly under the soft covers of what was supposed to be my parents bed. I forced myself to calm down and  shut my unwilling eyes. Memories came flooding back to me of nights like this years ago when I was a child. My mother would cradle me in her arms and say, “Sweet dreams my love.” as she kissed me on the forehead and lay me down in my crib.  “There’s nothing to worry about, everything will be alright.” her monotone voice always very honest and soothing, but she had been lying to me that night.  Everything was not going to be alright.  In fact everything was going to be far from it.

At the time I did not know that that would be one of the last times I would ever see my family. Nothing had ever gone wrong in our family.  My mother and father had a happy and healthy marriage and seemed as if they were madly in love every second of every day. Both of my parents loved me to death. They gave me everything I could have ever wanted. They had good jobs, a beautiful house, a child, everything.

One day everything just fell apart.  It was raining and my father came home drunk.  I was six and I was scared of the thunder outside.  My mother carried me to bed and lay me down, told me everything would be okay and I believed her. When I woke up the next morning, they were gone -- not even a trace that they had ever been there. I waited, and waited and waited. First for days, then weeks, months, and years.

Now I’m still here, alone, twelve years later -- no family, or friends.  I stay home all day. I’ve never been to school, the only place I’ve ever gone is to the little farmers market across the street.  I get my money from my minimum wage job at a pizza place on the verge of running out of business.  For about a month I received letters and cards, and presents from neighbors and friends saying how sorry they were about what happened. Everyone says it wasn’t my fault that my parents left, but I can see right through their painful lies.

I woke up to the sound of the rain pounding on the window pane.  It was still pouring as it was the previous night.  I slowly sat up in bed and swung my feet over the side.  I set them down gently on the cedar floor.  The coolness of the wood taunted my feet to move back into the warm bed and I hated it. Out of nowhere, I spewed into an angry rampage.

“I can’t live like this anymore!” I screamed to no one.

I could end it now if I really wanted to. Why does all of this have to be my fault? No one would miss me if I was gone, so why not? My head began to swim.  With all of my frustration and sadness and anger and pure emotion flooding out of me after all these years, I guess my body and mind just couldn’t handle it. I blacked out as my feet slid out from under my weight and my knees buckled beneath me.

The next time I opened my eyes was in bright place.  And no, I wasn’t dead.  I was in a cold, depressing, bland hospital room.  The light flooded around me and a nurse appeared in the doorway.

“Hello, Alex. I’m nurse Jackie and I’ll be taking care of you from now on. On August 25th you slipped into a coma.  It is now April 13th. We found you lying on a bedroom floor.  One of your neighbors reported to the authorities that you had been living on your own for a very long time.  Social Services came looking, and when you didn’t answer the door they let themselves in. From there, they took you here.”

I didn’t even realize just then that I was shoving the nurse out of my way. I bolted for the main entrance of the hospital. What am I doing here? My eyes got weak and warm tears flowed down my cheeks as I ran as hard as I could, my legs threatening to give out since I hadn’t walked in months.

“Wait, Alex, where are you going?!”  the nurses frantically called after me.

The voices of the staff slowly grew soft and far away as I continued to drift away. I opened the doors and the cold air hit me.  I inhaled, the cool spring air flooding my dry nostrils.  I ran as far as my legs could take me away from that hospital.  I walked down the street in only my light blue hospital gown -- wandering aimlessly, not knowing where to turn next. Leaning against a brick wall in an alley somewhere hours away from home -- I fell into a restless sleep, I dreamed that I was falling forever. I finally awoke, only to find myself in a dark world. Suddenly, everything went black.