Pennsylvania woods and dug until he hit far too many roots to continue. Baron stood there for the whole day, watching the sun make its ascent, then its descent. He wished that somehow, the day could rewind and he could have it back, yet the shadows kept growing and the light kept fleeing. When he could no longer stand by the tree he had planted, small seeds of a Maple, now a small green stem, he left. It had been a year. A year of doing everything by himself, a year of making sure he would have food on the table every night and clothes to put on during the day. The one thing that annoyed him above all else, was that no one knew she was gone. No one came to see why Mara had suddenly stopped coming to any of her three jobs, no one came to even ask. Baron never wanted to be that way. He wanted to do something in his life that everyone would care about, everyone would remember. Baron had tried to stay in school, he had tried to do what his mom wanted him to do—but he couldn't. This year would be his last year of school, he would never get his degree, he would work as many jobs as he could until he could move out of the dump he called home. Baron was walking around the town, there's not much to do for free in the middle of nowhere. He kept himself busy by turning down and up streets at random, trying to find things he hadn’t already found. Today, he was far away from where he lived, when a boy not much younger than himself came running out of a restaurant into the dimly lit alley. Quickly after, an older man came running out of the restaurant, evidently following the boy. “YOU get back here boy.” The old man screamed. “You get back this instant.” He yelled while shaking his fists. Baron turned, perhaps ready to chase after the boy when he slipped on a loose paper that had stuck itself to the alley floor, falling on his face and cutting up his lips. “Imbaciels” The store owner muttered as he slammed the screen down and headed back into his restaurant. Baron put his hand up on the bloody spot that had once been his lip. It was ugly, definitely leaving a large scar. Then, he looked down at the flier that he had slipped on. JOIN THE NAVY TODAY! SERVICE FOR FIGHTING MEN. Baron stared at the poster for a long time, far after the sun had set. He now knew what he wanted to do, he would join the Navy. Chapter 2: Forgotten Bear Bear stared into the dark murky waters. Back at the toy store, he had hope. Here, he did not. Years of sitting and waiting had broken him, broken his soul, broken his will. The dust had settled over his body long ago, preserving it in deep mud. Only his head remained unburied in the muck, leaving just enough room for him to see the gentle streams of light reaching down towards the ocean floor where he lay. He felt disappointed, as one would be expected to feel after such a sudden shift in life; more than this, he felt angry, why would the world have tossed him away in such a manner—why would he even care anymore? This is what he felt for what seemed to be eons, and for a while, he thought his life, if you can call it that, was over.
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