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It's been a week and Brennan hasn't showed up. It's the next weekend and it was like her presence from last week was simply my imagination and I probably dreamt the entire situation, but the gloves and mask that were laid out on my desk confirmed my thoughts. Of course with the days that went by, I didn't think too much of her and focused on the things I did before she came into my life—I got prepared for the multiple tests that I'll be joining for college, got some college applications sent out already since I needed a head start.

"Daniel, I need to go to the office tonight, you okay alone?" My mom asked, peeking her head from my door. "There's leftovers in the fridge if you want to eat, I also left some money in the drawer."

"It's alright, mom, don't work too hard," I told her with a small smile, to which she replied with a nod before she bidded goodbye. I watched as she drove out of the neighborhood before closing the door. As of three years ago, all my mom had was me after my real dad got in an accident during a business trip and never came back. She remarried a year and a half after his death, in hopes of forgetting, they had a baby girl but it didn't work out in the end. He got custody over my little sister, and lived in Vancouver and I've been with my mom in Portland since then. She's been doing well, unlike how she was the first year after my dad's passing, but I fear that she'll break at any moment. Despite the vision of mother's being the strongest person we know, they're still human and their ability to break at any point is as possible as everyone else.

I guess that's why I can't stray too far from home, I need to be here for my mom. I might not know when she'll break, so it could be at any given moment.

So she distracts herself with work, but is still able to make time for family. She works in the finance division in one of the town's largest cooperations, and because she needs the distraction, when someone asks her to take their shift, she doesn't think twice about it.

Nonetheless, I'm glad she finds ways to distract herself.

I ended up heating up the leftovers beef stir fry from this afternoon, and heated up some water to make tea. I was hoping to finish my recent geography homework, when a knock sounded from my door. Confused, I glanced at the clock to see that it was eight at night. Did mom leave her keys again? I swear I added it to her car keys. Pulling the door open, a girl about two inches shorter than me with cotton candy pink hair and her back to me appeared in front of me. "Uhm, may I—" I then took notice of her ear that had her hair pushed behind it, noticing the long earring and a few other piercings. "Brennan?"

She faced me, her eyes bright with adrenaline as a small smile that revealed a bit of her teeth was placed on her face, but she was breathing heavy. My eyes then went down to see that she was holding something—and by something, I mean, an animal. An animal that was covered in thick mud, that if you were to see it on the side of the road, you'd think it was just a pile of mud.

"Daniel, hey," she let out in one breath, before explaining all a bit too fast, "I was driving around and saw something moving a ditch, turns it out was this guy—" she lifted the dirt-covered animal "—and because your house was the nearest one in the neighborhood, I decided to come here, so—" she inhaled a large breath "—can you help me bathe him?"

"What?"

"Did you honestly not hear what I just said?" Her tone was slightly annoyed and breathy.

"No, no, I did—"

"Then please help me bathe him," she demanded, but her tone was desperate.

Escapade | Daniel Seavey AUWhere stories live. Discover now