“That will do it, I think,” Liam said to himself, looking over the latest addition to his drawing pad proudly. Plants have always fascinated him and this one was really unique. In a patch of moss stood a single white flower, so small that one could easily miss it passing by. Its five translucent petals seemed to glow in the light shining from the broken window nearby, reaching outward like they were embracing the light that fell upon them. It really was such a beautiful sight in the dilapidated old house he frequented.   

The house had been abandoned for years. Deep in the woods, overgrown, forgotten by everyone except for him. The roof was haggard with almost no windows left. The car in the front yard was rusted and sunken deep into the earth. Its vast hood, the perfect spot to lay down and watch clouds pass behind tree branches. Here, Liam could escape the world. It was just him and nature. No beeping cars or crabby strangers. No one to yell at him or for him to clean up after. He could just be at peace and that’s all he really wanted. 

He held his pencil in his mouth while he tucked the tattered drawing pad away in his hoodie pocket. Satisfied with his new rendition, he continued along the narrow path he found today. “Path” may be a generous term. The tall trees here were tightly packed and the undergrowth was thick. This forest had been growing undisturbed for many decades, probably centuries. The warm light trickled down through the treetops, casting light on the growth below. Not long from now, the air will chill and the leaves will give way. But today, the heat still radiated from the earth where the light fell. 

As he made his way through the woods, he heard a soft whimpering. What was that? he thought as he moved towards the sound. In a small clearing, there was a red fox. It was trapped in a rusty wire cage, with its foot wedged in the door. Who knows how long this cage had sat to rust over like that. When the fox saw the new arrival, it thrashed and yelped, desperate to escape, tightening the hold on his ankle.

“Shhh shh, it’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you,” Liam soothed as he tried to open the cage. “ I’m going to release you, okay. Relax, you're only hurting yourself more.” The fox pulled his hind leg close to examine it as the door creaked open. The flesh was torn and bleeding. He gave it a few licks before taking off through the brush. 

“Wait! You’re injured! Let me help you!” 

Liam ran after it, navigating the obstacle course of fallen trees and low branches. He slowed down, out of breath, when he arrived at a towering willow tree. Its thin, numerous, branches flowed slowly in the breeze giving off the air of a powerful elegance. Liam’s golden eyes widened at the sight. This was unlike any tree he had seen before. Never had he felt such a presence from anything, like it’s almost looking back at him, majestic and all knowing.

A fluffy red tail caught his attention as it slipped between the branches that swept the ground. He parted the leaves in pursuit, just in time to see the red tail disappear in the hole at the base of the tree. Liam peered down into the opening and he discovered it was less of a hole and more of a tunnel. 

Seeing a faint blue light deep in the tunnel, Liam decided to hop down after the fox. He landed with a soft thud in the dirt. How could such a large space exist under here? There’s plenty of room for me to stand. Did somebody carve this out? As he continued deeper into the cavern, he ran his hand along the wall to steady himself amongst the roots and rocks. The blue light slowly grew brighter as he neared a corridor. Peaking slowly around the corner, he saw the fox, but also someone else. 

A person, tall and slender, seemed to be tending to the fox. A cloak hung from the man’s broad shoulders. His short, curly white hair peeking out from the hood hovering over his pale face. In the faint light, he could see his soft glowing red eyes looking down tenderly at the table before him. He held the fox’s paw in his delicate hands, white as snow. Liam’s heart quickened as his eyes trailed over the man’s body. How could someone be living down here? Did the fox come to him on purpose? As his thoughts and eyes wandered, he found himself staring into those deep red eyes again. Only this time, they were staring back at him.

Oh no! He saw me! Liam turned quickly to escape, stumbling over the exposed roots as he scrambled his way back to the opening, clamoring out onto the forest floor. Gasping for air, his chest tightened in panic. Who was that? He was so gentle with the fox but when we locked eyes, I thought I was done for!! And those eyes! I’m pretty sure they were red. Liam ran his fingers through his long, jet black hair. What the hell was that? I gotta get out of here! 

The rusty metal steps creaked under his weight as he made his way back to his apartment. I hope she’s not home yet. I really don’t want to deal with her right now. The sounds of late night sitcoms crept out of the door as he cracked it open to hopefully sneak in. Fuck, why today? He swore as he tried to get by unnoticed. 

“Hey, you little shit! Where the hell have you been!? I work all day just to come home to an empty house! I’m hungry, you know! Ungrateful little shit! Get in here!” the woman bellowed from the couch. Her brown hair tied into a messy bun. Although the makeup was caked on, it still didn’t hide the bags under her eyes or how hard the years have been on her skin. Her bloodshot eyes stared at Liam in a scowl as he stood in front of her. “I told you to clean up this mess! The least you could do is some house work, you lazy fuck. Here, empty my ashtray.”

Liam grabbed the ashtray from her yellowed fingers. “Alright but how hard is it to just use the trash can I put in here for you? Stop leaving your bottles all over the damn house.”

“Excuse me?! Does it look like I have time to put that shit away? You’re lucky to have a mother like me! All I ask is for you to clean up the damn house. I work my ass off for you and this is the attitude you give me? Get the fuck out of here! Go to your room! Don’t come out until it’s time for you to cook dinner,” she hollered. The ashes fell from the cigarette hanging from her lips as she settled back into the couch, turning up her tv show.

“What’s the point of me even coming home if you just want me to go to my room,” Liam muttered under his breath. “The only reason you even knew I was gone was because there wasn’t anyone here to be your servant,” he hissed as he slammed the door to his room. He stared at the ceiling while he laid on his bed. I wish I never had to come back to this hell hole. At least she was being nice today. She didn’t even throw anything at me, so that’s cool I guess. No, I shouldn’t have to even think that. *Sigh* What’s the point? Maybe if I died she would actually give a fuck. He shook the thought away. No, I won’t ever let that bitch win. At least I have my little house in the forest. I know that will always be there for me. 

Liam sat up suddenly when he recalled the events of the day, “Oh! How could I forget what happened!? That was crazy. Where’s my book? I need to draw it right now!” He frantically patted down his hoodie realizing that his drawing pad was missing.  “I could have sworn I put it in here. What the heck? No way…I must have dropped it when I was running out of that place! Shit! I’m gonna have to go back…There’s no way I can do that now though. Cruella DeVil isn’t going to let me leave until I feed her and clean her mess.” 

Liam peeked out his bedroom door to see if the coast was clear before tiptoeing to the kitchen. Opening the fridge, he was greeted with the familiar scene of mostly booze and condiments. What can I even make with this shit. He opened the bottom drawer and pulled out what used to be a potato, probably? Kind of hard to tell. Ugh, this is going in the trash for sure. Liam covered his nose with his shirt as he plopped the black mush into the trash can. Well, that was a bust, he brooded as he opened the cupboard. Let’s see. Looks like ramen again. He snatched up the last packet of ramen from the almost empty shelf and filled a small pot with water. 

The flames licked the edges of the worn pot as Liam stared out the window, thinking, I wonder if I’ll even be able to get my drawing pad back. Hopefully, it’s just at the entrance so I can get in and out without him noticing. That’s the only one I have and I doubt she would buy me another one, saying that it’s a waste of money and blah blah blah... Liam was snapped back to the present when the noodles boiled over, quickly turning off the heat. I wish she would let me get a job but then I would have a way out of here and that’s unacceptable, Liam ranted to himself as he poured the ramen into a spaghetti stained bowl. 

“Here’s your dinner. We are out of groceries by the way. You got the last ramen and there’s none left in the fridge,” Liam prodded as he handed his mother her bowl, hoping maybe she’d have the heart to at least give him some cash to eat with.  

“What? I just bought groceries on Monday. Why you eating so damn much?” she complained. 

“Groceries? You mean booze? There’s still plenty of that in the fridge. I ment like food. You know, stuff to eat? We need it to live?” Liam reminded her while picking up the empty bottles and trash around the couch. 

“Don’t take that tone with me. I brought you into this world and I’ll take you out,” she repeated like she’s done a thousand times before. 

“God, I wish you would,” Liam sneered.

“Excuse me? Finish picking this shit up and go to the store,” she growled, throwing some money at him.

“Oh, you’re too kind. Giving me the bare fucking minimum to survive. I’m so grateful.”

“You can just give it back then. I don’t need to listen to your bitchin’,” she snapped back, palm extended. 

“No, I’m sorry. Thanks. I’ll take this out to the dumpster and head to the store. Try to use the trash can please? Look, I’ll put it right next to the couch so you don’t have to get up to use it,” Liam resigned, placing the empty can against the armrest. “There. I’ll see you later.”

“Don’t be gone too long! It’s getting late!” she called after him. 

But he was already gone. The door clanked shut behind him as he jumped down the stairs, half a flight at a time. He pulled the hood over his head as he walked briskly to the convenience store nearby. That stingy old hag only gave me five dollars. How am I supposed to eat anything with that? She’s got all the money in the world for booze but it’s like pulling teeth to feed her own child? Fucking bullshit.