I was the only person without lunch because my mother had assumed the school had a cafeteria. When I told the school that I didn't have lunch, they lent me soggy wheat bread and jelly that tasted more like pencil shavings and glue. I almost puked while trying to get it down my throat.

The happiest I had been all day is when my mom picked me up from school. I got in the car, slamming the door behind me, indicating that I was upset and also hoping my mom would ask me what's wrong. She didn't ask me what was wrong. It was as if I never entered the car and it remained that way for ten whole minutes. Frustrated, I finally broke the annoying silence between us...

"How was your day, Mom?" I asked.

She sighed before talking. I could tell she was frustrated with something. "You know this town is a mess, and they could use all the help they could get but ain't nobody trying to hire us because we're City Folk. I don't know what I was thinking letting your dad move us out here, but hopefully, I can find some work soon because we don't have that much money left."

Out of all places I didn't understand why they picked this place. We had such a great life in the city. There were great schools, great people, and great places to visit. However, this place gave me so much culture shock. It wasn't just me who was already fed up with the area; I could tell my mom was unhappy today. Not that I liked seeing her that way, but I hoped this place gave her hell as much as it did me. Maybe, just maybe it would bring her to pack up and leave with me.

***

When I got home and put my stuff away, I decided to go for a walk. Before I went out, dad  decided to talk to me just before I exited the front door.

"Did you finish your homework, boy?" He asked with a cigarette between his teeth.

"We didn't get homework today. The only homework I have is to memorize some strange song." I replied.

Knowing there was nothing more to say, dad went on with his business. I expected him to say more but hurried out of the house before he could start more drama. The air was warm and muggy with mosquitoes flying through the air. I swatted over ten mosquitoes in the 30 seconds I had been outside. This was never a big issue in the city for me because we had bugs, but here I found myself whacking and smacking and kicking and punching and getting upset over these buzzing creatures. They were big too, no doubt about it.

Crossing the road, I walked into the tall corn field swatting my way past the tall weeds and grass. Most of the corn was red, unfinished, infested with bugs, or just worn out. Past this corn was a few houses and a highway somewhere out farther. I walked for almost ten minutes. By now I was getting bored. The tall stalks annoyed me, and I was feeling itchy. The mosquitoes had given me enough bites to make it look like I had the chickenpox. This was no fun. Even if I did stay, I wouldn't get anything out of it. No inspiration, no new discoveries, no exciting happenings.

On my way back home, I felt distraught. I didn't want to go back home, and I didn't want to be out here in the fields. I wanted friends. I wanted people to talk to, but everyone here hated City kids, and I didn't know why. For some reason, I felt like some City kids had been here before giving us a bad name.

Angry and upset I returned home and went upstairs to my room to continue my story. By now the hog had eaten Travis's brother and now was after Travis. Travis stayed with his grandma, but she ended up getting eaten by the hog as well. Desperate and nowhere to go, he decided to face the hog himself. As I thought of an ending to my story, I wondered if there was any possibility that he could save the day. I wondered if there were any twist I could put in my story. I asked myself questions about the hog. Why did the hog want Travis? Had Travis done some bad things?

I stopped writing when my mother called me for dinner. She yelled my name as if she was angry with me . When I got downstairs, I found them eating chicken noodle soup from out of a can.

"Your mom made dinner. I hope you like your food cold as ice," he snickered.

"Oh shut up," my mother had said. "It was you who had brought us here, and now we have to live like this. No stove, no working microwave, no decent water."

"Woman, I don't know why you're blaming me. If I had the proper tools and proper equipment, I could fix up this mess, but it was you and your boy who got banned from the nearest store."

"You know what," my mom said while getting up." I do not want to hear this anymore. After you're done eating, Dante, go to bed. I don't want to see your face for the rest of the night."

I raised my hands like, what had I done. It was Kane that had made you mad. But I didn't say anything. I finished my cold soup, thankful that it wasn't soggy toast then went upstairs to my room. I couldn't sleep at night at all, so I stayed up and played some soft rock music. However, I got up to turn the music down because I thought I heard a noise outside.

Sounded like kids laughing.

No.

Someone yelling.

  No.

Someone screaming for help.

Using my flashlight, I headed towards the window and lifted it up. About 50 mosquitoes flew inside, making me angry. I shined the flashlight into the fields and guess what.

There was a girl waving her hand drastically in my direction. She was a beautiful girl, with large brown eyes, dark brown skin. The only thing that stood out to me was the tattered jeans and ripped shirt almost exposing parts of her I shouldn't have been looking at.

There was nothing creepy about a girl with tattered clothes staring at me from inside of a cornfield now was it?  Was I afraid? Yes. I was utterly speechless. I've written horror stories for years and this was happening. My mouth hung loosely and my eyes didn't dare to Blink. My body was frozen and I couldn't move a muscle.

I was scared but what for? Things like this only happened in horror movies. She wasn't a ghost. I didn't believe in the stuff I wrote about. It was all nonsense. She was probably a lost girl, hungry and tired. She began yelling at me to help her while waving both her hands in the air. She didn't look dangerous so I wasn't going to leave her there. I was going to help her. Grabbing my jacket to protect me from mosquitoes, I slipped out into the cold soggy night to help the poor girl.

***