Keep the Faith

Did You Ever Wonder?

Fear pulsed through my veins.

“Nice doggie…” I muttered in fright.

Dogs weren’t usually like this, if you were wondering. This dog in particular, Zoey, a German Shepherd, used to be quite the opposite. Saliva, dripping off of yellowed, sharp teeth; eyes, gleaming with malice; and ears, flapped back to avoid outside attack. That’s a huge change from a friendly lick on the hand or an aimless game of Frisbee.

This entire day’s events flashed before my eyes: Waking up at 7:00 a.m., hearing absolutely nothing but utter silence, not knowing where my mother was; Calling Mom’s cell phone only to find that it had not left the house; Giving up and calling my siblings, without any type of explanation as to where everyone was. Where had everyone gone?

After a quick, high-pitched whistle from an unknown source, Zoë moved her gaze from me to something behind me, and then ran away from the direction the whistle was coming from.

“I’d be careful if I were you,” a voice said in a normal tone, as if everything was the way it was the day before today.

“Yeah, well that’s hard to do when there are psychotic animals running around,” I looked around at the scenery. Not much had changed in this small intersection, except a though—a knowledge that we were all alone. The boy didn’t say anything as I kept staring at the trees. His persona was an odd one; he couldn’t be more than two or so years older than me, yet he felt like a big brother—much like the one that I once had.

“Where is everyone?” I questioned, longing to know where the entirety of my family was.
“I know just as much as you do,” the boy retorted, “I woke up and my parents were gone.”
“Where do you think they are? What do you think happened? I don’t see how I – I mean-- we can all just wake up and be alone.”
“I dunno, kid, I dunno.”

A breeze lifted and watched flower petals off of the trees fly by my face. The sun was out, surprisingly, doing its job of warming the earth. The kid wasn’t shockingly great looking. Cursed by a pudge and dressed in flannel long-sleeved shirt, band tee, and loose jeans, he gazed at the trees swaying in the wind.

“Like I said, kid, I dunno what’s going on. We’re alone now. The thing is that we’ve always been alone. Chaos is gonna start any time now. Nothing will be the same except the loneliness we’ve always held in our hearts. When have adults helped us? Now, I don’t mean with jobs, or money. I mean, when has an adult told you that you are not alone, that you will always have someone to lean and depend on?

“Why is it that we must depend on them for everything? It just ain’t right. They wondered why we rebel against them and why kids are so lonely, but I guess they’ll never find out now. It doesn’t matter anymore.” He took a short pause in his speech and looked at me hopefully with his hazel eyes. “Didn’t you ever feel lonely?” He was looking at me thoughtfully; he was obviously thinking about this question himself. Now, this was a question that I didn’t have to think about too much. I know the answer in a general context, but what did he really mean?

“I’ve felt lonely,” I muttered, “But I always knew I wasn’t really alone, that there was someone I could lean on— maybe not at that exact moment, but I knew sooner or later they’d come along,” looking over at him, I knew I had properly answered his question, that that was the answer he was looking for, to know that he himself was not as alone as he thought. His hand found my shoulder, and he looked me in the eye.

“I’m glad I found you, kid.”

I'm glad I found you, too.