It was a stupid prank. One of many that had been pulled on Ron since he moved and had to start at a new school in the middle of his seventh grade year. His classmates seemed to have an evil surprise for him every couple of days.

It was a small town and all the other kids had known each other since Pre-K. Ron was the odd man out and they reminded him of that almost daily. He wanted to go back to his old school and his old friends, but his mother wasn’t going to let him live with his dad. After the split, it was almost like she expected Ron to divorce his dad too.

If he was being honest, he showed up to the park that day out of desperation. He should have known that he wasn’t really being invited to play kickball. Still, he was overwhelmed by sadness when he reached the empty clearing where he’d been told the other kids would be.

Sadness quickly turned to anger when he realized that the two boys who invited him were probably hiding in the trees, waiting to jump out and laugh at him. Ron was tired of the pranks. Tired of the sadness. Tired of being an outcast.

He took off running down the path, and into the woods.

***

The search for Ron lasted for weeks, but it was to no avail. Years went by before his mother gave up hope and held a memorial service for him. Most of his old classmates showed up—their shoulders slumped under the weight of guilt and regret.

Photo Prompt.

*Don’t forget to hit the LIKE button and leave a comment if you enjoyed it!

Written By: S.M. Grady

© 2019 S.M. Grady