Avery spent most of his days in Safe Haven keeping to himself. Dee stopped by one day to visit and Avery was ecstatic to see him. He brought him another sketchpad with more comics and even purchased a new one. Avery was surprised when Dee handed it to him and he rifled through it.

“There’s nothing in here,” he said. “It’s blank.” “Exactly.” Dee said. Avery studied him, confused. “What do you mean, what’s it for?” He smiled. “It’s for you to make your own comics. You can draw inspiration from the other two pads I gave you and you can start creating your own stories. When I lost my dad, I know it really helped me to work through all the pain and I thought it would be good for you too.”

Avery looked away. “Thanks, I really appreciate it, but… I’m not an artist. I can’t really draw anything.” Dee waved his hand. “Nonsense. I’ll bet you’re a great artist.” Avery scoffed. “You haven’t seen my drawings.” “True, but I’m sure they can’t be that bad.”

“Oh, yes they can, he retorted. Dee shook his head. “I don’t believe it.” Avery shot him a look. “Believe it Ripley.” Dee smiled. “Here, show me.” Avery blushed. “No thanks.” “Come on, don’t be embarrassed. What’s a little embarrassment among friends?” Avery sighed. He looked reluctant, but Dee held the pad and a pencil in front of him in.

“Come on," he said, encouragingly. "Just give it a shot." Avery sighed again. “Fine.” He took the pencil and concentrated on creating the best “person” he could draw. He finished and looked at his handiwork. He was mortified. It was worse than some of the drawings he’d seen some of the young children drawing.

“Let’s see it,” Dee said. Avery reluctantly handed it off to Dee and when he saw it, a look of shock crossed his face briefly. He wiped the expression from his face as quickly as he could, but he’d already given himself away. “I told you.” Avery said accusingly. Dee cracked a smile, that quickly turned into a laugh.

“I’m not gonna lie, that was pretty bad.” The laugh was infectious and Avery couldn’t help but join him. “But hey,” he said. Placing his hand on Avery’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, with a little bit of practice you’ll be surprised at how fast you can improve. I wasn’t quite that bad when I started, but there was a ton of room for improvement. Just stick with it, and you’ll be amazed at what you can do.”

Avery held out his hand and Dee clasped it, giving him a firm handshake. “Thank you.” Avery said, his voice cracking. Dee pulled him in and gave him a big hug. “It was the first hug anyone had given him since the accident.” For a moment in time, he felt like a human being again. He felt like somebody cared. After a while, Dee pulled back.

“Well, I need to get going. It was nice seeing you again.” “It was good to see you too,” Avery said. “Thanks again for everything.” “No big deal," he said with a smile. Then he turned to leave. “Remember what I told you. Things will get better. You just keep on keeping on. All right?”

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

Avery nodded. “All right.” Dee left and Avery sat there for a while afterward looking through the new comics. He was starting to feel inspired and for the first time, he made an attempt at creating his own comic. It was poorly drawn, but it had a sort of charm to it. He found that even though it was rough around the edges, he was ultimately proud of it and he resolved to get better.

He stayed at Safe Haven for a few weeks. The days passed at an excruciatingly slow pace, and he spent most of the time in solitude. His favorite part of the day was when he was in his room alone, reading the comics or creating his own. It was his only source of true comfort throughout his stay there. Then finally, what felt like years later, he received word that there were no relatives that were willing or able to take him in, so he would be placed in foster care.

Avery had to wait a total of six months before he was able to be fostered into a home. The family he was about to join had gone through all the necessary medical exams, training, inspections and background checks to accept him into their place and he was excited to finally have a real home again. Nothing could replace the family he lost but he was beginning to feel a new sense of hope. He was told by his case worker Karen that he was really lucky.

She told him based on her years of experience, that most children had to wait at least a year before they were accepted into a home, but Avery was about to move into his new home in half the time. Despite all the hardship he’d been through in recent months, things were looking up and he actually had something to look forward to now, rather than simply making it through the day. It wasn’t all bad of course. He really didn’t like his living arrangements and he hadn’t made any friends, but at least he had Karen.

She was about the only thing he liked about his current life. She was kind, but he didn’t have a deep relationship with her. That said, he always looked forward to seeing her and he wished her well. He imagined what his new home would look like but his efforts were futile. He couldn’t seem to imagine what home would look like without being reminded of what his old place had been like before the accident. He tried not to dwell on it too much because he didn’t want to build up unrealistic expectations in his mind, only to be met with disappointment. His case worker would be dropping him off at his foster parents soon.

Their names were Emelia and Ean. Based on what his case worker Karen told him, they seemed nice enough. He tried to imagine what it would be like to have a family again but this escaped him as well. It would inevitably lead to comparison again and that wasn’t fair. He didn’t want to get his hopes up or build up unrealistic expectations in this regard either, so he tried to remain optimistic without obsessing too much over the details.

Finally the time had arrived for him to go and live in his new home. He was beyond excited. After what seemed like forever, becoming an eternal wanderer with nowhere to belong, he would finally have the chance to set down roots and have a home again. And while his new family could in no way replace the one he lost, he began to hope that he could have familial bonds even half as strong as what he’d once had.

Karen drove him out further than he’d ever gone before. Then they kept on going. He had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as he realized how quickly everything was changing. He wasn’t even exactly sure where he was going. He just knew that he was headed far from the placed he’d been living for the last six months. He wasn’t sure if he would like his new house or even get along with his new family, but there was only one way to find out.