The young boy stood paralyzed at his parents' funeral. Everyone had told him that they were just sick and he would see them again soon, but here they were being lowered into the ground. He hadn't even been able to say goodbye. Anger bubbled up inside him—why did everyone lie to him? While the boy stood there contemplating, a tall woman came up behind him and patted him on the shoulder.
"I'm Vivian, your father's older sister. You'll be coming home with me today," the woman said with a smile. She stood up from her kneeling position and continued, "Your name is Rain, right? Rain Forrest—what a novel name."
Rain looked up at the woman and smiled. "Yeah, my mom had a strange sense of humor."
Rain arrived at the woman's house and was shown to his room.
It was a simple room with just a bed, a dresser, and a nightstand—nothing else. Rain walked forward and laid down on the bed. As the realization that his parents were gone set in, tears came, and he cried himself to sleep. He awoke early the next morning.
Vivian walked into the room holding a bucket and a small cloth. "Alright, Rain, now that you're here, I want you to do the housework," she said as she set the bucket down. "I want you to scrub the floors. After you're done, come back to me, and I'll tell you what to do next."
From that point on, he worked every day of his life. Eventually, he was forced to cook meals as well. He didn't have any friends because his aunt "homeschooled" him, which really meant she just forced him to stay home. If he ever overslept or made a mistake, she would lock him in his room and let all the chores pile up while he starved. Sometimes, she would keep him locked up for days.
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The clock struck twelve, and Rain officially turned sixteen, although he was locked in his room. His aunt had caught him talking to a neighbor and assumed he was sharing secrets, even though he wasn't. Rain had given up on escaping this life a long time ago, but today, he had a newfound determination. He was packing a bag, planning to leave for good. He stole three hundred dollars in cash from his aunt's room and left through the window.
He walked to a small grocery store bought some food and left to start his new life.
Rain had a difficult time. The three hundred dollars he stole disappeared quickly, and he was forced to beg on the streets to survive. He even ate rats to avoid starving. To make matters worse, winter was approaching fast, and the temperature was dropping rapidly. He had a coat, but some thugs beat him up, stealing both his coat and the money he had saved. Rain couldn't fight back; he had always been frail and stood only five feet three inches tall.
Rain sat on a park bench and looked up at the sky. Was this his legacy? An orphaned boy who ran away from home and was destined to die in the streets? Rain laid down on the bench and drifted off into slumber.
As Rain slept through the frigid winter night, snow began to fall and it persisted through the night heavier and heavier a snow storm had taken the city by surprise and the pitiful Rain was none the wiser Rain could only feel the cold for a split second before he awoke to a blinding light.