Gone in the Morning

Chapter 3: Wild, Wild West

The next morning, I awoke to the aftermath of a rainstorm. The cornstalks hung low like sad faces. I took a shower then got myself ready for a new day, willing to explore the area and see if anything was around later.

On my way downstairs, I heard dad and my mother talking about hiring jobs in the newspaper. I grabbed some cereal and sat on the couch. "Morning," my mom finally said after five minutes had passed.

"Good morning," I replied.

"Did you hear that last night, too?" she asked.

I raised an eyebrow. "Hear what?"

She turned a page from the paper then shrugged. "Some kids were doing a lot of hollering. Crying perhaps. I looked out the window but didn't see no one. It was too dark."

"Probably just some kids from the other houses," Kane mumbled.

"Maybe," I replied.

Mom got up and placed her bowl and glass in the kitchen sink then began washing them. I frowned at the rusty water that splashed out of the faucet. It took a few seconds for it to turn gray. "We need a filter," I heard my mom say. "How about you come on with me, Dante. We need to go shopping. Maybe we can even get you registered for school. The faster we get things done, the better."

I hurried up and finished my cereal then jogged out of the house with my mom behind me. "When we get home, I want to check out more of the place," I told her.

"Since we don't have jobs, I think you should also start looking into the paper and find yourself one," my mom turned the keys and started up the car.

"But I'm only fifteen," I said while putting on my seatbelt.

"Good thing about this place is that they're hiring kids your age for things," she went on. "It's not a busy area, but they need a lot of help here. So instead of exploring when you get home, I suggest you pick up on a newspaper and look for a job."

It only took us five minutes to get into some small town. Everything around looked so old and boring. Most places were made of wood with dull signs made of one dark or light color. People walked around with hats and cigars in their mouth, barely smiling. It made them look mean like they dared someone to start trouble with them. The ground was more dirt than rock in the town, and I was overly convinced it was some wild west theme. It really felt like it. There were even horses carrying onions and men calling out that they sold the sweetest and best onions in the world. I didn't believe that.

No big shops, no malls, no real theaters. There was a theater, but not like the ones in the city. One was called Snoppers and inside were medium-sized TV screen inside, with a few chairs in front of it. I saw that through a glass window. The biggest place so far was a supermarket that had some fruits and vegetables outside.

My mother stopped by a busy thrift shop. About a few miles from it pass the dirt road was a small hill, and up that hill, I saw a place that looked like a church. However, it was a school my mother had told me.

"It's the closest school. That's the one you're going to."

"It looks like a church," I said. "Look at the pointy roof and the colorful glass with angels around."

"Maybe it was a church," she said then walked past me into the thrift shop.

Inside was a whole bunch of junk. I shifted away from my mom to look around. Everything seemed dusty, used, and worthless. This place was different from what we had in the city. We weren't the wealthiest family, but we always shopped at decent stores. H&M, Hollister, Hot Topic, Walmart, and all those other stores were my favorites. There was none of that here.