Kaley's father, once a hard-working and kind man, changed when he got laid off at work, the factory declaring bankruptcy.

With the pressure of feeding his 6-year-old child and pregnant wife, he, like many before him, took to drinking. Yelling at Kaley in his stupor.

Kaley's mother, on the other hand, was always nice to Kaley. Always with a kind smile and gentle eyes.

While first, it was just coming home late from the pub, it soon escalated. Coming home, dead drunk, groping Kaley's mother and then screaming at her when she told him off.

This routine went on for weeks. His parents argued a lot. Accusations of cheating were frequent as their relationship soured further.

As weeks turned into months, their arguments also turned physical. His mother also seemed to smile less and less.

It was right around when Kaley turned 7 that he first saw his father slapping his mom, flinging her across the room with the force of the blow. She started crying, holding her swollen stomach in pain.

The ambulance had to come to take her away, his father giving the excuse that she'd fallen down.

Something seemed to break inside his mother that day.

Along with the swelling in her stomach, her gentle eyes, and smile were gone. In their stead was now a cold face and frigid eyes, even whilst looking at Kaley.

Soon after that, his mother left. Kaley watched, as his mother's back disappeared in the curtain of rain, not once looking back.

That day, Kaley's world, previously so colorful, went grey.

His eyes, once so full of wonder, now dull and lifeless.

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It was a dreary day in the London slums, the rain sizzled down, gathering in the gutters filled with litter and refuse.

Walking down the street, Kaley felt in tune with nature. He liked the rain, how it dulled the sounds of the mundane, washing everything anew.

Everything could be forgotten, if you just lost yourself in its sound.

No matter what had happened, the rain always helped, dulling his emotions along with the sounds.

Taking a detour of a few blocks, Kaley kept on walking, picking a path through the maze-like alleyways, filled with strewn garbage and thrown newspapers. The few people he passed kept to themselves, their coats buttoned up and umbrellas kept low, covering their faces. No doubt eager to get out of the downpour.

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He liked taking his time walking home, especially when it was raining.

There was just something about a rain-soaked London that felt right.

Playing with his phone as he walked, Kaley heard a low sound, barely perceptible. Looking around trying to locate the sound, his eyes fell on a cardboard box, haphazardly thrown against the nearby dumpster. Putting his phone back into his pocket, he briskly walked over.

Squatting next to the box, he lifted it up a bit. What greeted him was 3 small kittens, black and white in coloring. They were huddled together, shivering in the cold.

"Were you guys abandoned too?" Kaley asks in a soft tone, a sad look in his eyes.

"Meow!" An adult cat with a mouse in its mouth appears beside the kittens, shielding them from Kaley.

"Okay, okay! Calm down."

Putting his hands up in an unarming gesture, he stands and backs away a few steps studying the new arrival. Judging solely by its color, the cat was not their parent. Brown speckled with grey mixed in, a white mark between the eyes.

"I have just the thing, wait a sec."

He says and put his pack on the ground, opening the zipper.

Quite used to finding abandoned kittens, Kaley always carries around a can or two of cat food.

Opening and leaving a can behind for the kittens, Kaley moved on.

'Ding' Taking out his phone and unlocking it, he sees the notification he just got. A new message.

Opening it, he gets a shock. The sender was the girl sitting beside him in class, Claire Beckett.

She had been helping him with subjects he wasn't as adept in for the past year.

It read. "Wanna hang out this weekend and look over the homework for next week?"

As one of the few people he could tolerate, he quite liked Claire. Although her outlook on life was radically different than his own, her absurdly positive attitude and bubbly personality made her hard to dislike. It was like she had this aura of light around her, making the shadows lighter and colors more vibrant.

"Sure! What time?" He quickly sent a message back and prepared to cross the street, looking both ways.

'ding'

"What about Sunday, noon? My mum is having her monthly baking day on Saturday. Which also means we'll have lots of snacks for the homework."

A smile suffusing his pale face, he started typing as he crossed the road.

"Sounds like a date! See ya then." Just as he sent the last message, Kaley heard a swerving screech. Looking up he was met with the view of the front bumper of a truck, not three meters in front of him.

It hit him like a literal truck, sending him flying about 20 meters, blood flying everywhere.

Surprisingly there was no pain, only numbness.

As he lay there staring into the sky, rain wetting his face, a wry smile came unbidden to his face.

"I really like rain." That was his last thought as his eyes glazed over, blackness consuming him.

[ GAME OVER! YOU DIED ]