checked again.
Nothing.
My heart began pounding.
I sprinted back toward the station. Trainstation cafes
By the time I reached Platform 7, the train was already moving.
I stopped in disbelief.
Then I saw them.
My mother was standing behind one of the windows, waving enthusiastically.
My father leaned over her shoulder.
He pressed his face toward the glass and shouted loudly enough for me to hear.
“Let’s see how long you can survive without us, boy!”
Claire was laughing so hard she could barely stand.
She pressed both palms against the window, pointing at me as though I were the funniest thing she’d ever seen.
And I stood there.
Fourteen years old.
Twelve dollars in my pocket.
No cellphone.
No winter coat.
No luggage.
And no parents coming back.
At first, I convinced myself it was a joke.
A terrible joke, perhaps.
But surely they’d get off at the
