1 Prologue

I woke up to the sound of screaming and things breaking. Panic rose through me as I thought someone somehow broke into our fortress of a house. I grabbed my favorite stuffed bear next to me and I climbed out of bed. I opened my door slowly and crept down the hallway.

"I loved you and you betrayed me!"

"I told you the truth! It was a mistake!"

The voices grew louder as I made my way towards the grand staircase. My thoughts went crazy when the voices shouting sound so familiar.

I stood at the foot of the stairs. I clutched my stuffed bear as I took in the state of the living room. There was a lot of glass and debris on the floor. Papers were thrown about everywhere. At the center of it all were my parents shouting at each other. I never thought that the people shouting would be my parents. I was more shocked that they were shouting at each other. They looked so happy just this morning.

I stood at the foot of the stairs and watched quietly, afraid that making a sound would make them turn their anger towards me. I could feel the tears run down my face as my mother threw one of the last unbroken vases at my father before storming out of the room. She saw me and we locked eyes for a second. I thought she was going to pick up my little 5-year-old self and bring me back to bed. When she turned the opposite way and went out the front door, my heart sank. I finally noticed the suitcases near the door and those in her hand as she went out. I could not imagine the possibility of my mother leaving my brothers and me.

As the last of my mother's luggage was loaded into a car, I finally turned to my father. He was reading over a stack of papers in his hand.

"Daddy, where is Mommy going? What happened?" I spoke in a quiet voice.

My father looked up from the papers and finally noticed me. He threw the papers across the floor and walked across the room to me. He picked me up and I immediately laid my head on his shoulders. Instead of answering my question, he spoke very softly about putting me back to bed.

I was still crying softly as he climbed the stairs and walked down the hall to my room. I saw a shadow move down the opposite end of the corridor and it frightened me causing me to bury my face in the crook of the father's neck and hold him tighter. We got to my room and he tucked me into bed with care. He kissed me on the forehead and left my room.

I could barely sleep that night. Any dream I had turned into a nightmare and all I could think about was where my mother went and why.