Luke sat alone in his room that night. Thoughts of how things could be different taunted his mind. Sometimes he would get caught up in a fantasy of riding ten miles with his dad on a fall morning, feeling the bright sun and crisp morning air fill his nostrils and send jolts of oxygen to his brain. It almost seemed real, if only for a moment. Luke drifted and fell into a deep peaceful sleep before reality ripped him from his slumber. Oh God … what have we done?
Luke awoke at 4:32 am, sheet soaked, body frozen in cold sweat. He laid awake, staring at the blinking light on the ceiling smoke detector, unable to turn off his mind until a knock sounded at the door.
“Bro, can I come in?” Luke turned, his clock now reading 5:45 a.m. Time seemed to pass like a blink.
“Robby, is that you?”
“Y
