James Tilderwhite was a sad boy. Ever since his mother was presumed dead, he has never been the same. It has been exactly 2 years and 364 days since his loss, and he has not gotten over it. When he was 9 years old, his mother had gone to Freewaters, British Columbia, Canada, a small town that she grew up in, to take care of her sick grandmother. Her grandmother had this unidentified condition which doctors temporarily called Sang Noir. They had called it that because it means Black Blood in French. Apparently when the doctors checked her blood, they found not a red fluid, but a black one. She was in the I.C.U. and the top case for research. Her grandmother was not cured and still remains ill today. Anyways, James’s mom sailed on a ship to and fro Canada. When coming back, well, she had never come back. Other passengers got out just fine, but she was the only one who was missing on the boat. They had presumed her dead after a couple of weeks and dug her grave. James knew better, though. He knew that she was out there somewhere. He took his old bike from his garage and rode to his mom’s grave. He saw the pale stone saying “R.I.P Amanda Tilderwhite 1976-2010.” Staring at her grave, he had tears in his eyes.
“I miss you mom. I miss the good old days. Ricky, Dad, and I can barely survive. We’re all incomplete without you. Dad’s gone crazy and he frightens me with every sound coming from his mouth. I just can’t take care of him anymore!” James cried. His Dad doesn’t leave out of his house. He doesn’t have a job, in fact, all he does is sit in his room saying ” Amanda… Amanda… Where are you, Amanda…” and stuff like that. Ricky was James’s 10 year-old brother whom he cared for very much. James’s first priority was to get food for Ricky and Dad, then himself. James and Ricky get their food from their neighbors, Carson and Amy Thompson. They are like family to them, and they basically raise them and give them money to pay rent for their house. They only hope that he will get through his life safely. James pressed his hand together and prayed “Please come back, Mom. Give me a signal,” He biked back to his house to pick up Ricky and went to the Thompsons to get dinner.
“Hey James! Hey Ricky! You know what time it is! Enchilada time!” exclaimed Mr. Thompson.
“And here’s some Icees to go along with it!” cheered Mrs. Thompson. They put the enchiladas in a box and gave it to them.
“Thanks Mr. Thompson and you too, Mrs. Thompson,” James said. “Gee, I’ve been thinking… Since you take care of us so well, we’d like to invite you over to the grave tomorrow to pray for our mother.”
“We’ll gladly come to support you both,” Mr. Thompson said. Then James and Ricky biked back to their house. “Poor boys, they deserve better than what they have.”
James went straight to bed after his dinner. He was tired and wasn’t exactly happy for tomorrow. That night he dreamt of all the things he had missed before 3 years ago. Playing football with his sane father, giving his mom a special bundle of flowers for Mother’s Day, and taking care of baby Ricky. Then he remembered the moment when his mother was departing to Freewaters. He was talking in his sleep,” Don’t go, Mom! Stay with us and let us live a normal life.” Then with a jolt, he woke up. He decided to get over his nightmare with a glass of water. He went down to the kitchen and heard a rocking noise coming from the fridge. He opened it slowly and saw a flash of light that burst out of there and knocked James down. Looking up, he saw a figure in the light.
“That figure looks familiar… No, it can’t be, it’s just to good to be true!” he thought. Then he shouted with question “Mom??!!”

To be continued…