I never thought I would have to spend my sweet 16th birthday thrown out onto a field in the middle of nowhere, but here I am. I was woken up by my mother about an hour ago. I couldn’t understand much of what she said, but she said something about me packing some stuff up for a road trip. I instantly got excited and hopped out of bed. I didn’t grab much, just my phone which had fully charged overnight, headphones, some clothes, money, snacks, and an old digital camera I never used, in case I wanted to take pictures that I could look at when I become an old man and relive those “glory days” from my younger years.

I put all my stuff in this old backpack from middle school, which isn’t that big, but perfect for this trip. I ran outside and hopped into the car in excitement. I was hoping we’d go to the Knoxville Zoo, which was under 2 hours away and I always wanted to go see the otters since I was a kid.

As we started driving, I put on my headphones and listened to some music, completely neglecting everything else around me. My mind raced with all the places we’d potentially go to and things we could do. I didn’t want to ask where we were going. The surprise and mystery of it kept me excited.

It wasn’t until the car stopped about an hour in that my excitement faded away. I assumed we stopped at a gas station for a refill or a bathroom break, but when I looked up from my phone, I only saw an empty field from both sides of us, with the exception of a worn-out split rail fence to my left. I look around, completely puzzled. It didn’t seem like there was anything for miles around. No gas stations, no hotel, and definitely no Knoxville Zoo. My confusion slowly turned into worry that something bad happened, like a flat tire or they ran out of gas.

My dad gets out and opens my door. “Get out.”

I was taken aback. “Get… get out?” I stuttered.

“Yes! Get out!” He demanded.

“Where are we, though?” I asked. My body began to anxiously shiver.

“Aaron! Get out of the car now!” His echoes roared across the vacant grassland as he violently poked in the direction behind him.

“I don’t want to,” I whimpered, slightly moving away from his shouts. He furiously grabbed me by the front of my hoodie and dragged me out of the car like a rag doll. I could see the fury in his eyes as he shoved me off the road onto the empty grass. While I lied huddled on the ground and frozen out of fear, my dad ripped my phone out of my hands and the headphones out of my ears and threw them in the car, assumingly to avoid me calling the police. All I heard after that was the car starting up and scurrying off, leaving me stranded in this desert field an hour away from home, if you could even call it that anymore. I stayed lying on the ground in a fetal position all the way up to the present.

I silently weep on the itchy blades of grass. “Why?” I cry to myself. “Why would they do this to me? What did I do wrong?”

I finally decide to sit up and look around, hoping for any sort of life other than trees and grass. I couldn’t find anything, which is probably why my parents threw me out here. Luckily, I still had my backpack that I packed snacks into. It wasn’t much, just some potato chips and a packet of Oreo’s, but it’s enough to keep me from starving at the current moment.

I stand up and wipe the tears off the left side of my face with my hoodie sleeve, and I start walking, hoping to find a hotel I can stay at or a police station to report what just happened, though it did not look like any of that was in sight. I still chose to walk because the chance of there being somewhere to sleep or eat is better than huddling on grass with nobody to find me.

All I see for the first few miles is the same. The usual trees, grass, and occasionally a little birdie minding its business, though they all flew away the moment they saw me. I wonder if I’m like one of the birds now. Sure, I can’t fly or feed my children the way they do, nor do I want to, but I guess we’re the same in that our home is now nature. The grass is our bed, and the trees are our shelter. I’ve always been fascinated by birds. The way they know where their home is even when they fly miles away from it leaves me in awe. I wish I could do that too, but I guess that’s just another difference I have with the birds. I snap a picture of them with my camera before they fly away.

Despite the pain in my calves, I kept walking, and thankfully, it worked out. I take a right and notice a convenience store down the road. It was your standard small-town, family-owned store. It was a sign of hope that I would finally see more of the city area and not empty pieces of land.

As I walk in, a young lady greets me. She looks like she’s in her young 20s, and had a bright, genuine smile as she said hello to me. I smile back and wave at her before looking around. Honestly, I didn’t even want to buy anything. I just needed to be somewhere that felt like home, even a little bit. I wanted to feel the cool air-conditioning instead of the beaming sun. I was happy to feel like I was still in my own town. It felt nostalgic, even if I was only abandoned 2 and a half hours ago.

I grabbed a plain black shirt and a few water bottles in case I needed them, and because I wanted to actually look like I was buying something instead of standing there and leaving. I go back up to the young woman and put my stuff up on the counter. As she scans them, I look down on the ground, trying to find some sort of small talk without it being too awkward.

“I hate to bother you, miss, but what city am I in right now?” I ask. I feel a sinking feeling in my gut after I ask that. Why did I say it like that? Now she knows that I’m homeless. If the fact I walked in here with no car or bike didn’t make her realize, this has to.

“You’re in Abingdon, hun!” She smiles as she scans the shirt.

“Abingdon, Virginia?” I ask in shock.

“The best Abingdon in the country!” She laughed, “That’ll be $17.59!”

“You can keep the change,” I gave her a $20 bill. I wanted to show a little bit of appreciation for her kindness, even if she didn’t know why I appreciated it.

“Thank you so much! Hope you have an amazing afternoon!”

“You too!” I return a smile as I walk out. I was shocked by her overwhelming kindness. I know workers put it on for the customers, but something about her kindness felt genuine, a kind of genuine kindness I never experienced before, especially from my parents. I was also shocked as to where I was. “Abingdon?” I thought to myself, “Man, my parents must have driven far, huh?” Before today, I lived in Wytheville all my life. It wasn’t spectacular, but it’s an hour away from where I am now. I don’t know if the fact my parents decided to drive about an hour to dump me out hurt more or less. I put the shirt and water bottles in my backpack, shaking off those thoughts my brain keeps trying to shove down my throat. I keep walking, hoping for more buildings, preferably a restaurant or a gas station.

I go in the direction I was already going, walking by a few seemingly-abandoned houses, which are also good signs of walking towards more life. As I turn right, my dreams are realized yet again. The glorious scents of coffee fill my nose as I walk towards the local coffee shop. I stroll toward the front doors, praying that it was as empty as the convenience store. As I opened the heavy metal door, my luck seemingly ran out. It was as busy as it could’ve possibly been. Every table and every seat was filled and the line was painfully long. I quietly shift into the line, my head purely planted down to my feet. I couldn’t bear to see all these people look at me. I was already overthinking when I was alone in the convenience store, I don’t know if I can handle this. As my mind started to freak itself out, I was already in the front of the line.

“Hello! What can I get you?” the roughly middle-aged barista asked.

“Um… One…” I stuttered, “Iced Latte please?”

“Okay! Give me one moment!”

As she begins to pour the drink, I make the mistake of looking over to my left. I notice a bald guy in his mid-40s stare right at me, almost staring into my soul. He looked very similar to my dad. My whole body froze and my heart sank as my mind flashes back to what happened this morning. Fear took over my bones and I began sweating and trembling.

“Here’s your iced latte, sir!” The barista reached her arm out to hand me my drink. My body snaps back to reality.

“Oh… thank you so much.” I hand her a $5 bill and race out of the coffee shop. I hastily look around for an escape from this part of the city. Away from the busy areas with a lot of people, what I once previously craved.

I find a nice, semi-secluded area behind a run-down pawn shop. I sit down and lean my head on the back of the building, trying to catch my breath and calm myself down. I decide to pull my camera out of my backpack and look at the pictures of birds that I took to take my mind off of earlier.

I look at each bird in amazement with every perfectly still picture, while also chuckling at the blurry, indistinct ones. I take a deep breath. I’m calm again. Maybe this experience is a blessing in disguise. I never would’ve been able to take these pictures and to spend a fraction of my time on each individual bird and capture them for eternity had I not been abandoned. I never would’ve used this camera either. Photography wasn't my main pursuit when I was growing up, but now I think it should be. With each click of the camera, a story is told.

After the motivational speech I told myself, I stand up and dust myself off. I turn to go to the city area again, when I heard a deep voice shout behind me.

“You!”

I turn around, “Huh?”

As soon as my body rotated towards the unsuspecting voice, my eyes lock on the black handgun aimed right at me.

“Give me your bag!”

My whole body freezes again. One movement of a finger and I’m dead. I can hardly talk or even breathe.

“Huh… Wh-... what?” I stutter.

“Give me your bag now!” He waves the gun in my face. There wasn’t a speckle of remorse in his eyes. Nothing was stopping him.

“I can give you my money!” I try to negotiate. He didn’t seem that interested in the idea.

He grabs the bag and tries to rip it out of my hands. I clench onto the strap with all the life I have left. He lets go of the bag momentarily and forcefully grasps the front of my hoodie.

“Let go of the bag or get a bullet lodged into your skull! Which is it!?” He places the front on the gun right on the top of my head

The flashbacks return. As if the gun directly to my head didn’t already scar me enough, the violent grasp onto my hoodie was identical to my father’s this morning. Every bad thought came back, but worse. I let go of the bag. My frozen body couldn’t focus on holding on to the bag anymore. He lifts up my bag and runs off. I lost everything. The rest of my money, the clothes, the food, the water bottles. All I had left was the digital camera I thankfully had in my hoodie pocket and not in the backpack.

I sneak away from the building, hoping the thief wouldn’t return wanting more. I leave the city area as fast as I could. Too much has happened here and I don’t want to experience any more of it. I want to go back to when I was alone with my own thoughts, with nobody else around to hurt me or remind me of my parents.

I went down the other side of the road that led me to the city. There were a few houses on this street, but I didn’t care. I just enjoyed the grass and the trees again. I missed the itchy blades of grass and nature in general. I sit down next to a tree and rest my head, trying to go to sleep. Today tired me out greatly and a nap was all I really wanted. I close my eyes and drift off to sleep.

The sleep was peaceful. It was a much needed break from the rest of the world. The absence of stress, stares, and violence left me to feel like I was actually at home in bed like normal. Even almost getting killed earlier didn’t break it, though I don’t think that quite set in yet.

My sleep didn’t last long, unfortunately. The sound of rapid footsteps interrupted my peaceful slumber. I open my eyes and notice a young teen running down the road, roughly my age, with poofy black hair and round glasses. I instinctively back up away from him, trying to find a place to hide, though none I could find. He stops running for a moment and looks over at me

“Oh. Hey there!” He asked. His voice seemed peaceful, but I didn’t want to take any chances.

“H-... hey…” I nervously gulped.

“My name’s Luke, what’s yours?”

“Aaron” I mutter just audible enough for him to hear.

“Never seen you in our neighborhood before. Nice to meet you, Aaron!” He reaches his hand out for a handshake, though I still instinctively flinch.

“I’m not gonna bite you,” he laughs. I slowly shake his hand.

“So which house do you live in?” he asked. I stayed silent for what seemed like hours.

“I…” I finally break the silence, “I don’t… have one.”

“You don’t have a home?” 

“No… my parents kinda… got rid of me.”

“Oh man…” Luke covers his mouth. “I’m so sorry to hear that. How long have you been homeless for, if it’s okay to ask?”

“Not long, just this morning.” I look down at his running shoes.

“Hey, if you need food or need to shower or anything, I can probably get my mom to let you. She’s very laid-back and welcoming.” He motioned over to his house right down the road.

“That would be nice… Thank you.” I smile, overwhelmed with the kindness of simply being offered a shower.  I stand back up and walk with him to his house.

“I do want to ask,” Luke sparks a new conversation on our way there, “What’s in your hoodie pocket?”

“Oh!”, I pull out the camera, “Just some camera I got a while ago. It just has a few pictures of birds.”

“Oh, nice! I wanna see!” Luke oddly looked very interested, even though they were just pictures of random birds I saw on the street. I show him one of a white and gray mockingbird on a tree, getting ready to leave its nest. I took it just before it flew away, thankfully. It was probably the most beautiful bird I saw out of the multiple.

“Oh, dang! This is really good! Did you edit it at all?” Luke asked, astonished.

“No, I didn’t. I took it a little bit after I got dropped off here.”

“Dude, you could be like a photographer or something. That’s really good!” Luke’s compliment made me smile. I don’t think I deserved the compliment at all, but it still felt like a breath of fresh air being appreciated for once.

“Speaking of photographer,” Luke continued, “My uncle, Jim, is getting married this weekend. I could probably talk them into letting you be the photographer. They’ll pay good money.”

“Of course! I’d love to!” I nodded. It’s so weird that spotting a random bird in a tree gets you a job, but I didn’t mind.

“Awesome!” Luke cheered, “It may be enough to get back on your feet.” 

We finally reach his house. A whole wave of nervousness absorbs me as I walk slowly up to the porch. I take one last deep breath before walking in.

“Hey, ma!” Luke hollered towards his mom who was in the kitchen. She notices me standing next to Luke and smiles.

“Oh, hey!” She waved.

“This is Aaron,” Luke motioned over to me, “He’s… how old are you again?”

“Sixteen,” I answer.

“Sixteen,” he continues, “He also doesn’t have a home. Is it cool if he takes a shower real quick?”

“Oh, of course!” she cheerfully agreed. “If you need food, I can make some spaghetti, and we have some old clothes none of us use that we can give to you. If you need a bed to sleep on, you can use our guest room upstairs.” Her tone was very motherly, to say the least.

“Thank you so much.” My smile grows wider. It’s ironic that this random woman who only knows me as a complete stranger is taking better care of me than my parents ever did. Her kindness in those two sentences was so much more than the 16 years between my mom and dad combined.

“He’s also an amazing photographer,” Luke praised.

“Oh, yeah.” I grab the camera out of my hoodie pocket again and give the camera to her to look at the pictures too.

“Holy cow, these are amazing!” she cheered.

“I asked if he wanted to be the photographer for Uncle Jim’s wedding,” Luke replied.

“Jim would love that. I’ll call him once he gets off work,” she approved.

“Hey, where’s your shower, by the way?” I briefly interrupted.

“Oh, just go up the stairs and the first door to your left is the bathroom” she pointed over to the staircase.

I follow her directions and enter the bathroom. As I turn on the shower, I start thinking about the whole day, but mainly the current moment. I was thrown out, had a panic attack or two, and almost got killed, but now I am back in the home of a family that actually takes care of me. A family that doesn’t know me but still welcomed me and offered me food and a shower and a bed. I even got a job as a wedding photographer to hopefully get back some of the money I lost. Part of me felt like I didn’t deserve it, and that it was just handed to me, but in all honesty, I didn’t care that much. I don’t know if I’ll stay in this house for long, whether it be a day or the rest of my life, but all that matters to me is that even if it’s for a brief moment in time, I finally know what it’s like to have a true, genuine family.