XPLR | Colby Brock

~32~

THANK YOU ALL FOR 50k!!

It was hard to find the others. We'd been looking for a long time now.

"Let's just give up for now," Colby suggested as he took a drink of his water then offered it to me. I looked at it for a second, my thirst was too large to turn it down, so I took it and took a sip then handed it back.

The sun was starting to go down by the time we have up looking, and Elena wasn't answering her phone. I was worried, but I knew that if she was with the others she'd be fine.

And I was with Colby, so I'll be fine.

We leaned against a railing as we took a break, and I stood close to Colby to keep distance between the obvious drunk man that was standing next to us.

The stench of his vodka or beer or whatever was overwhelming. He was tall like my father, he had a long beard like my father, he reminded me of my father. I looked towards the stage in the distance as I stood next to Colby, doing my best to ignore the man next to me.

But to my dismay my mind started to race back to my childhood and teenage years.

A girl sits in front of the piano in her school, staring at the music as sweat drips down her face. "That was a good run," her director said. She glanced at the time. Nearly six o'clock, a Tuesday afternoon.

She had ran over again. He was home by now

She cursed herself in her mind as she stood up from the piano bench. "Oh no!" she said as she pulled her hair over her shoulder. "What is it?" The orchestra conductor asked. "I'm late," she said quickly. "Thank you again. I'll see you tomorrow," she said as she raced towards the door.

She quietly slipped into through the door of her home, hoping and praying that her father hadn't checked to see if she were in her room, practicing yet again.

She saw him in his recliner, and quietly tried to slip past him down the hall of their motor home to her small room.

"Rose," he growled lowly, and she flinched. She slowly turned to face him. "Yes sir?" She asked timidly.

He stood up, towering her, intimidating her. "Where were you?" He asked slowly.

"The- uh... the school. Practicing for the Winchester competition, remember?" Rose explained herself, looking anywhere but his deep green, malicious eyes.

"I thought I told you not to stay after school again," he said. "I know but I-"

"But what?" He yelled, angry. He reeked of alcohol. Had he gone to the AA meeting drunk like this?

Surely not. There were empty bottles and cans that were new, since she had cleaned up the entire house yesterday.

"Dont take on responsibilities other than your own," the words an adult at an Alateen meeting had told her echoed in her ear. But the house was filthy and she couldn't take it anymore

"Oh, mother," Rose thought, "if you were here, all would be right with the world."

It's been two years since her mother's death, two years in utter hell.

"But... I really needed practice for this competition. It's a really big deal to me, Daddy..." Rose said, preparing herself to be hurt.

Rose's father took his hand back and slapped her across the cheek. "How many slaps will it take to get it through your head that you have to come home every night?" He yelled.

The thought of telling someone crosses her mind every time this happened. And every time she got the chance, she backed out. What would she do if her father were dead? She doesn't have any grandparents, no aunts, no cousins, nothing. Foster care is where she'd end up. And if she had to move around, she wouldn't have that same orchestra conductor, or that piano, or the reminders that she once had a mother...

"Rose?" Colby asked again, leaning down to be eye level with me. She shook out of it. "Hm?" I ask as I looked over at him.

"I see them. Are you alright?" he asked as he leaned back against the railing. "Yeah, Yeah, I'm alright," I said as he started to lead me to the others.

He looked at me out of the corner of his eye. "No you aren't," he said softly. Before I could think of something to say, Elena ran to me. "Hey! There you guys are!" She said as she laughed softly.

Thank god. She came just at the right time to save me.