Heavy rain continued falling long after I finally walked back inside. Not because I wanted to or maybe I had accepted anything.
But standing outside while the gates refused to open had felt worse somehow like I was begging.
And heaven knows I'm tired of begging. I won't be doing that no more.
I'm tired of demanding freedom from people who had already decided I wasn't allowed to have it.
Mrs. Harper had rushed toward me the second I stepped through the front doors.
Her hands trembled as she wrapped a blanket around my shoulders while muttering worriedly about catching pneumonia.
I barely heard anything she said. Everything sounded muffled, the crackling fire in the living room, the ticking grandfather clock, the rain outside, even my own thoughts; they all seemed far away.
Only one
