We decided to skip school that day, not caring what the consequences were. We just wanted some time alone, that was all.

We walked a long way down our street, not knowing where we were going. We walked down into town and chilled in front of an ice cream shop, not buying anything. We walked inside a Walmart, wandering aimlessly around the aisles. I spotted a puzzle that I really wanted, but I didn’t have any money. So I shrugged and walked away, holding Charlie’s hand as we walked out of the store.

We ended up seated on a bench at the park. A couple toddlers were there, running and sliding down the slides. Some fell down, but they always got back up.

But what hit me hard, was that the toddlers had both parents. Some dad’s had beards and others had mustaches. But all of them did the funny ‘dad’ laugh that I used to hear when I was a kid.

Almost all of the mom’s were sitting down and rocking a stroller back and forth, keeping a sharp eye on their kids. Some dad’s had brough a football and were playing catch with their kids.

Every single person on that playground was happy.

I felt a tear roll down on my cheek, and Charlie leaned her head against mine. She squeezed my hand, and I smiled sadly at her. No doubt, we were thinking the same things.

A car pulled into the parking lot, and out stepped an woman and her son. Then a small white dog jumped out of their car, and came dashing across the playground towards where we were sitting.

The small dog was running toward the street from across the playground, and a scene flashed before my eyes.

I was ten, and dad was hitting me with a kitchen chair because I had burnt his toast. I looked outside the window, and I saw a tiny black dog just standing in the middle of the road. The pup was staring straight at me from outside, and I wanted to let it in. I had wanted it to be my best friend.

But dad wasn’t done. He grabbed me by my hair and hauled me over to the wall. He smashed me against it, his breath reeking of vodka. He leaned in close, and whispered so quietly to me that I had to strain to hear.

“I hate you.”

But I barely heard him. My attention was still on the tiny black dog, which still stood motionless in the middle of the street. The pup stared at me with green eyes.

I wanted to call out to the pup, but I knew that it couldn’t understand me. And besides, if it could, what would it do? Bust down the door?

Then through the window, I saw the dim light of a car’s headlights creeping over the street. It was going way too fast.

The pup hadn’t so much as twitched. It was still staring at me.

“Dad, stop!” I had screamed. “Please! There’s a pup out there, and it’s gonna get run over! Dad, please! Let me save it, and you can do whatever you want to me. Please dad! Please! I’m begging you!”

Dad had stopped hitting me, and I had taken that as a good sign. Then he grabbed me by the front of my shirt and guided me toward the window, and smashed me against it, face first.

I had cried out, and the pup outside took a step forward, its big ears flicking forward.

“Dad, stop! Please, it’s gonna get run over! Let me save it, please! Please, I’m begging you! Please, dad! I’ll never do anything wrong again, I promise. Please! Please, dad! Please!”

But dad ignored me, and smashed my face into the window. “And why do you think I give a damn about that dog?”

He lifted my head up and made eye contact with me. “Answer, me boy! Why do you think I care, huh?!”

I hadn’t replied.

He smashed my face back against the window, and the pup stepped forward.… right into the pathway of the speeding car.

“No!” I screamed. Begged, and struggled against my dad’s vise-like grip. “No, no, no!”

But the car had already passed, and all I could see was a small lump in the road, laying motionless.

“No...No. No, please, no.” I sobbed, screamed, kicked and bit at my dad, until finally, he let me go. I ran as fast as I could outside and ran to the motionless lump in the street.

I knelt down next to the pup, and was startled to see that the pup was still breathing. The pup looked at me with those big green eyes, and licked my hand.

“No, please be alright. Please. No,” I sobbed. “Please, come back.”

It might’ve been my tears messing with my vision, but I swear, to this day, that he smiled up at me. Then with his last shuddering breath, he was gone.

I pulled the still warm, small body close to my chest, and wept.

I had named him Vision. Because, I knew that one day, me and Charlie would get out of this hellhole, and we’d get a dog. We’d love him, play with him, care for him, sleep with him, hug him, kiss him. We’d be living our vision of our lives when they’d get better. He was, and still is, my best friend.

I didn’t know Vision for very long, but in those last couple moments of his life, I had felt a bond between us. We both had been abandoned, unnoticed, uncared for, unloved. We understood each other.

We were the same.

As reality came back into focus, I saw the small white dog running into the street. Without even comprehending what I was doing, I leapt up from the bench and ran after the dog.

There were so many cars going by, and I was positive that the dog would get run over if it stepped one paw into the street.

“Here, boy. C’mere!” I whistled to the dog in an effort to stop it from running. “Stop, uh, heel! Stay?”

The pup faltered for a minute and turned around to face me. He barked, a very high pitched one, and wagged his shaggy tail.

“Good boy! Now, stay. Stay…. C’mon, don’t move…”

I edged slowly forward, moving so that the dog wouldn’t take off. I knelt down, and stretched out my hand to him. I made a tsk sound with my tongue, and his ears perked up.

I leapt, and wrestled down the dog so I could pick him up. “Hey there, boy. You can’t just go running off into the street on your own, you gotta look both ways first,”

I walked back toward the park, panting from the wild chase. The pup squirmed in my arms, but I wasn’t about to let it go.

The boy and his mother were running towards me, and I glanced around, seeking out Charlie.

“Reeve, that was amazing! I didn’t know you could run like that!”

I turned to my left, and Charlie was standing there, hands on her hips.

I suddenly blushed. “Oh, u-uuh. I-I-it was n-nothing. I-I-I was j-just trying-trying to help,”

My sister smiled at me. “Dude, you looked like a freaking’ superhero, running like that.”

I smiled back at her.

The boy had reached us by now, followed closely by his mom. “Thanks for catching James Arthur Newton for me.” the boy said, holding out his arms.

I didn’t know what to say, so I passed him back his dog. The dog’s name is James Arthur Newton?

The boy’s mother held out her hand to me. “Yes, thank you for catching my son’s dog for us. You have no idea how much that fur ball means to him.”

I put my hands behind my back, slightly rocking back and forth. “O-oh, it w-was nothing-nothing, r-really. J-just trying-trying to h-help,”

I cleared my throat, fingering my shirt collar nervously.

The boy stared at me with curious eyes. “Hey, why do you talk like that? It’s really funny!”

I looked down, my face heating with embarrassment. Again, I didn’t know what to say. The boy must’ve been younger than I originally thought.

The mother seemed embarrassed to. “Oh, I’m so sorry about that. He’s still learning, I’m sorry,” she gave her son a very stern look. “Well, we’ll be going  now. I think that’s enough excitement for us today.”

“Oh,” I blanched. I didn’t want them to think that they had hurt my feelings. It wasn’t like they were the only ones who did that.

“I-it’s okay, r-really. H-he-he d-didn’t know-know,” I bent down so I could see eye to eye with the boy and smiled at him to show that there weren’t any hard feelings. “I-I do s-sound funny-funny, h-huh? T-that’s ‘cause I-I have-have a st-stutter. I w-was born-born t-talking like t-this,”

His face drew together. “That’s weird.”

I grinned. “C-call it wh-what you-you want, but I-I can’t ch-change how-how I speak, s-so might-might as well o-own it, h-huh?”

He laughed and kissed James Arthur Newton on the nose. “Thanks again for getting my dog.”

His mom smiled at me. “Yes, thank you so much. You have a good day, now!”

And with that, they walked to their car.

Charlie looked at me when they were gone. “What’s gotten into you, huh? First, you’re saving a dog, and now you’re talking to people with your stutter? What’s happening in Mr. Confidence land?”

I shoved her away. “Shut up,”

She giggled and linked her arm in between mine, and we sat back down on the bench together.

My thoughts turned back to Vision, and I frowned.

I hadn’t been able to save him.

But at least, I had been able to save James Arthur Newton. And the boy didn’t have to experience the pain of loss.

But I had been too weak to stop my father. I had been to weak to save Vision.

Never again, I thought bitterly, clenching my hands into fists.

Never again. Never again.