He stared at me, as if his life were ending . . . and maybe it was. He didn't know anyone around, and the street was crowded. The cars honked and waited for the red light to change to green, so they could continue punishing him. What did he do so wrong? It was an accident.
Janie woke up in a cold sweat, breathing hard. She wondered what she had just dreamed about, but put it off as nothing much. As she got up to get breakfast, she heard her mother talking to her father. She decided to listen in, after all, she was a pretty curious kid, wasn't she? As she listened, her eyes turned from tired to wide with surprise. She swallowed her pride and ran back to her bedroom, hoping she had misheard them.
"Then it's final. You'll get half of everything and I'll get the other half."
The words echoed in her head, as if her brain had taken the shape of a tall mountain. Janie cried into her pillow until she heard footsteps walking towards her room. She ran to her door and locked it. Hearing the door lock and sensing Janie had heard their conversation, Mrs. Carey turned and walked back downstairs. She let her daughter hear the worst . . . but for the best. She closed her eyes, held her necklace and cried. Life wasn't the same since Janie's brother, Jacob, died.
'If they're getting a divorce . . . I'm running away,' thought Janie. She packed her dark brown suitcase with her most valuable things. 'Daddy doesn't love me anymore, and it's all because I saw Jacob die,' Janie told herself. As she got ready to climb out her window, and took one last glance at her room. Her closet was opened a crack and Janie could see his eyes staring at her.
Halfway down the sidewalk Janie was walking on, she stopped. The street was all too familiar. Where had she seen it before? She stared at the ground and noticed him laying there. She dropped her suitcase and smiled. She ran to him, cars didn't seem to notice her. They just waited for the red light to change to green. She hugged him and stared at his eyes.
"I can take you home, Jacob!" Janie said.
"Go," Jacob replied in a rusty voice.
Before Janie could make out his lone but important message, she heard a buzz and a click. She watched as the light turned green and cars began to roll towards the intersection. She looked at the driver right in front of her, as he revved up his car, and knew there was no turning back. The coldest look she had ever seen was now there in his eyes.
