The Locals

a beginning

everyone in the locals has a story, and here they are.

tears, currently 18

she had grown tired. what could you expect? everyday was spent in a worn down school building, then everyday she came home to the smell of booze and smoke. and nothing beat the constant yelling that filled the rooms. she needed to escape, she needed an escape. every night she'd fall asleep to screaming and the smoke filled air. she never wanted to end up like her parents, but she felt it happening. eventually she found herself smoking behind the school with the other "rebel" kids. she found herself going to sketchy parties. she was only thirteen. but she felt too grown up. many teenagers want to grow up, but all she wanted was to be young and happy. other people had happiness without drugs and sex, why couldn't she? looking at her reflection in the mirror is when it hit her. her tired face made her look like a woman working a night shift at a hospital, but she was a thirteen year old girl who hadn't even gone to high school yet. she began crying, and knew nobody would ever year it. her sobs were drowned out by the yelling. it was only three months until she turned fourteen, if she turned fourteen. at the rate she was treating herself, she'd be dead in no time. she looked over at her school backpack, it was emptied and all her assignments were scattered on the bed. she walked over to her bed, and tore out a notebook paper. she began writing her plans, she planned to run away the day she turned fourteen.

a week before her birthday, she was walking home. a wild cat scattered across, and into the woods. for some reason, she felt drawn to the little cat, and ran besides it. the woods weren't dense and they were easy to run through. she eventually lost track of the cat, but came across a blank space in the woods. woods surrounded, but there was a building. a huge warehouse. she stomped around the building, and came across an entrance. she stumbled into the warehouse. a basic concrete ground was the bottom, and if you walked up the stairs another smaller level and two huge windows was above. she stuck her head outside the window, the roof was claimable. she stood as high as could be, with the sun making her glow. she knew she had found her new home. she got down and continued going home.

"you're late, you piece of shit. you said you'd be home a half hour ago. we're not good enough, are we?" her mom said. she apologized a million times.

"whatever, go to your room. we've seen enough of you for the day." her dad sneered, sitting in his recliner with a beer. she obeyed, and just thought about how soon she'd be away from it all.

when the week passed and the night of her birthday came, she started to feel nervous. she wasn't to keen on the idea of running into the woods alone at night, but she knew it had to be done. she shoved all the clothes she could get into her backpack. she got all her money, and then went to 'the chest'. that was where all of her college fund (started by her grandparents) was, which was a lot of money. she took all she could. her parents were sound asleep, they hadn't at all remembered her birthday. she looked around the dirty living room. the scattered beer cans, the clothes, all the pain would be behind her now. she ran out the door.

"bye, shithole!" she said, before turning her flashlight on and running. she had remembered how to get to her new home, and she gladly sat down, and took her sleeping bag out. tommorow would mark her first day of work.

she was young, naïve, she had no idea how to fend for her poor self. instead of working odd jobs, she stole. never more than needed, but just enough to keep her going. she made daily trips to see if any trash was manageable. she found a mattress, several mattresses actually. she was doing okay, for a sad teenager who's name was based off all the tears she had cried.

misery, currently 18

life had been good before he made the decision to fuck it all up. his parents loved him, more than anyone in the world. he was the only child they were able to have, and they treasured him. he had friends, a loving family and well, a love for other boys. his parents were just so nice, and the time felt so right. he was fourteen years old and thought it was safe for him to say something.