Prologue Part 2: The day after graduation and the memory of mom and dad.

The day after graduation, I awake in my bed. I roll over and see the night sky. The moon illuminates the night sky. I see the clouds all around.

A few stars can be seen in the sky, some blue and some white. I hear cars outside the windows honking and driving by.

I get out of bed and walk down stairs, and see the various pictures on the wall. I stop at one picture, it's a picture of Jenny and I when we were children.

Putting my hand on the wall, I look at the clothes we were wearing. "We were so dumb as children, it's amazing we had friends at all. I think to myself as I continue down the stairs.

Walking into the kitchen I stop at the fridge. Sighing, I open the fridge. The fridge has everything one could need. Milk, vegetables, cheese, various meats.

I decide to grab the vegetables. I look down at them. "Good old carrots and broccoli. Gotta stay healthy somehow." I say to myself as I walk over to the microwave.

It's an older model, haven't been able to afford a new one, I look at the face of the microwave. It's dirty from multiple uses.

"I feel like I don't want to do anything since Jenny said that." I open the microwave and pop them into it. Setting it to five minutes.

I walk back to the fridge and get the milk out and pour me a glass. Turning around I walk over to the table and sit down on one of the chairs. "Mom, Dad, I wish you were still here. You'd be able to tell me what to do."

Thunder cracks outside. As I look up at the window, I can see the lightning strike somewhere in town, it illuminates the buildings. There's different stores, hardware, gardening, super stores.

I sigh and the microwave finishes and beeps. Turning around I open the microwave and pull the vegetables out and place them on the counter.

Pulling a plate out I slowly eat the vegetables. "I'm gonna have to get a different job. One that's higher paying." I say to myself as I finish my food.

I decide to walk to the living room and turn the T.V. on and flip through the channels.

Stopping on an infomercial trying to sell weights, I look at the man on the screen. He has a bright green muscle shirt on with a set of 'new scientific weights'.

Rolling my eyes my finger taps onto another channel. Closing my eyes I fall asleep on the couch. I wake up around 6 AM.

Stretching I feel my bones crack, I get up and walk outside and look around. The blue sky can be seen all over with random clouds spread out over the vastness of the sky.

Birds fly by singing followed by cars on the street. They block out the sound of the birds. I walk into town and decide to start looking for a new job.

I see a flyer for a sales person for a store. Pulling the flyer off the pole, I examine it.

The flyer has different fonts with a greenish blue background. Spelt out over the top of the paper in big bold letters.

'COME AND JOIN OUR FAMILY, 18$ AN HOUR. WEEKENDS OFF.'

I decide to find the store and apply for a job, the manager is a young girl, atleast 5 foot tall with bright pink hair and two piercing in her nose. One on either side.

She smiles at me and tells me to come with her.

For the next 20 minutes the interview flies by. I look around the room and see motivational posters sprung all over the walls.

I read one of the posters. 'Never give up on your dreams.' The poster reminds me of my dream life with Jenny.

The manager clears her throat. I look up at her.

"I see that you're admiring the posters, I feel that looking at them everyday boosts my morale. I remind everyone everyday to never give up." She says with a smile.

I smile back at her. "It's a good philosophy to live by." I say as I move around in the chair. It's wooden with leather on the back of the seat and is too tall for me.

"So when can you start?" The woman asks.

"Right away preferably." I reply looking at her with a smile.

"That's great! Follow me and I can get you ready." She says motioning for me to follow her.

We arrive in another room that is very plain with white walls, a printer that looks like it hasn't been used in quite sometime.

For the next twenty minutes she explains the job.

The next moment she's out the door. I look around and notice the various customers in the store.

I see a man that's atleast fifty years old he's looking for something that doesn't seem to be there.

Walking over I put on a smile. "can I help you sir?"

The man turns around and scoffs. "I can find it myself thank you very much." Then walks off.

I sigh. The rest of the day is the same, some crotchety old man or woman comes into the store and says no to help.

At the end of the day I'm happy. A full day of work is now over.

Walking outside, I see the cars around me. Park all along the side are sedans of various color and makes.

The light from the moon glistens on the paint of the car putting emphasis on the color of the car. "I always loved the color red, if I get a car. I hope it's red." I say to myself as I walk back home.

Along the way, I notice a woman and a man jogging. The man is wearing a red muscle shirt with a logo embroidered onto the shirt, it's a black dragon. The woman has a similar style but with a blue shirt with no logo.

They jog past me and the man looks at me for a split second and continues on.

Managing to get back home I walk up the house and look up. The mirrors of the house perfectly reflect the moons gaze. The white of the house mixed with the blue shutters are accentuated by the moons glow.

Walking into the house I look around and forget that I'm all alone. I look over at the picture of mom and dad and finally break down.

I fall to my knees crying, the wood beneath my body creaks as it supports my full weight. Tears fall from my face.

"Why can't you be here? Would you be proud of the man I've become?" I say looking at the photo.

I wish more than anything for my parents to still be around, watching over me and guiding me through life. The experiences they've had. The love and loss.

Wiping my eyes clean I get up off of the floor and walk to the bathroom and start filling the bath tub up.

As soon as it's full I sit down inside brandishing a razor. I hold it to my wrist as I stop.

A memory comes into my mind, the day my parents disappeared.

I was sitting on a swing set with Jenny, we were both laughing and trying to see who could get higher.

Soon a car pulls up, a vintage muscle car with red paint for the body and black racing stripes down the center.

I look over and realize it's my parents, smiling wide I run towards them. Dad opens the door and gives me a hug.

For the longest time dad has had a salt and pepper beard, his eyes shined blue with the brightly lit sky. He was wearing a nice black button up shirt and blue jeans.

"Daddy I missed you!" I say hugging him tighter.

Mom pops out of the other side of the car smiling. Her pearl white teeth accentuated her pale complexion. Wearing a short red dress. It looked like they were heading out to a party.

"I'm glad we got to see you again, Kamen," My dad says giving me a kiss on the cheek.

"When we get back we'll go to the toy store and pick out that toy you've wanted!" Mom says giving me another kiss.

They look over at Jenny and wave and smile before getting back in the car and driving away.

That night was absolutely terrible. I was watching T.V. in the living room when there was a knock on the door.

I turn off the T.V. and waddle over to the door and open it.

Standing behind the door were two police officers not expecting to see a child.

"I'm sorry son, are you the son of Mr and Mrs Reignhart?" The police officer asks.

Nodding my head, the police officer sighs and squats down to be face to face.

"There's been an accident and your parents have gone missing. The only thing that was left at the scene was this toy."

I look at the toy and hold it, realizing it's the toy I've wanted for two years.

My eyes start to water, the police officer grabs me and holds me tight.

"It will get better I promise you." Before letting go and leaving.

The memory stopped me in my tracks and I look down at the razor.

"Is this the man that they raised? Am I really that weak willed?" I say to myself before throwing the razor across the room.

I get out of the bathtub and dry myself off. Getting into bed my eyes start to close and the image of mom and dad come into view.

"I wish you were here." I thought to myself as I fall asleep.