The first signs of daylight peeked through the curtains. Max opened his eyes and waited for his mom to come wake him up for school. He stretched and rolled over and then stared at his phone. Like a punch to the gut, he remembered. The events from the day before came flooding back. The message from his mom said, “In the Downs”. He lay there thinking about it for a while and somehow he knew the police weren't going to find her. The ache in his hands had moved to the birthmark on his chest. He stared at it in the mirror and willed the pain to go away. It might've been his imagination, but he thought it subsided a bit.
Max stared at himself in the mirror. His sandy-haired, green-eyed reflection blinked back at him. He knew what he had to do; search the Downs and find his mom. He grabbed his b
