Introduction

            Nobody wanted me. Even when I was just a child, I understood this. In the town where I was born, children were as numerous and unwanted as the rats. There were too many of us and not enough people to care, let alone simoleons to feed us. We became remainders of the unpleasant world we lived in, and some even resented us for this.

            Of course, it wasn’t my fault that our town had gone to shit. All of the best jobs, and most of the land, were taken by only a few families. They were ten generations and older. Over all that time, they’d acquired every desirable position, even making extra ones for a family member. Nepotism ran rampant. None of them wanted to work a job they saw as being lower than them, so we became a town of politicians and celebrities. No place needs three mayors.

            Not only were there the legacy families to contend with, but the inhabitants of my old town were also plagued by a recent trend. Women (and a handful of men) had begun to have a lot of children. And not just a lot by big family standards. We’re talking about enough kids to outfit an entire factory with laborers. I even had suspicions that a few mothers (if you could even call them that) were doing just that.

            I was my mom’s thirty-seventh child. Like most of my siblings, I was a bastard. I think she had my dad’s name written down somewhere, but who knows. Being a triplet, I had two full sisters, but the rest of my mom’s kids were just half siblings to me. I didn’t know very many of them well, nor do I care to think about them often. I always hear crap about twins and triplets having a special connection—as far as I’m concerned, my sisters don’t even exist.

            As soon as I could scavenge for food, I got the hell out of that crumbling town. I spent the better of two years wandering from place to place. Some towns were full of twinkling skyscrapers and others had plenty of open grassy fields. They were falling apart though. Every town I visited was under the thumb of legacy families and was quickly running out of space because of sudden population spikes (thanks to ridiculous people like my mom).

            It wasn’t until I got to Willow Creek that I finally found somewhere I could stand to be in. I couldn’t quite tell what it was, but something there was different. Everything seemed fresh. Most of the time, I only hung around somewhere a week. Two tops. But I stayed in Willow Creek for nearly a month before I got noticed.

            There was this public garden area in one of the residential neighborhoods. The place was crawling with people in the mornings and afternoons, so I avoided it then. Couldn’t have anyone reporting me—I had the feeling they actually cared about runaway children there. When the garden emptied out, I took to sleeping on one of the benches. It became like a home to me. 

            I spent a lot of days at this huge park in the middle of town. It was always so bustling that I doubted anyone would pay me attention. I never played on the playground for fear of drawing eyes, but I liked to just watch other kids from afar. The place was also good for a quick wash in the public restroom, and sometimes picnickers left behind food. 

            Maura first called out to me at the park. She’d been making hamburgers on a grill, and I’d been enjoying the smell down by the water. “Girl!” she’d yelled. I didn’t turn towards her or anything, but she still went on. “Yes, you! Get up here now and get some food.”

            I approached, the smell being too good to pass up. When she handed me a plate, I made a move to take off with it, but Maura put an end to that pretty quick. For being such an old lady, she was strong and loud. She had me sit down and eat next to her.

            “Where do you live?” she asked, voice drenched in suspicion.

Over the years, I’d gotten pretty good at lying. “Just outside of town. We moved into that red house, the one with the big tree in the front yard.”

Maura was smart and recognized my fib for what it was right away. “Don’t you lie to me now. I’ve been watching you, and I don’t think you live anywhere. You’re too young to be out on your own.”

Hearing this, I panicked and took off, leaving half a burger behind.

            I knew that I should have gotten out of Willow Creek, but something kept me around. It was only a few days after meeting her that I accidentally discovered where Maura lived. She yelled at me to come inside, threatening to call the authorities if I didn’t.

            I’ll come out right now and say it, Maura never took me in. She never offered to and I wouldn’t have wanted to anyways. However, she was always on her porch watching for me. I’d come by nearly every day, since she let me use her shower and eat her food. 

            I knew that I should have gotten out of Willow Creek, but something kept me around. It was only a few days after meeting her that I accidentally discovered where Maura lived. She yelled at me to come inside, threatening to call the authorities if I didn’t.

            I’ll come out right now and say it, Maura never took me in. She never offered to and I wouldn’t have wanted to anyways. However, she was always on her porch watching for me. I’d come by nearly every day, since she let me use her shower and eat her food. 

            I could kind of guess why Maura and her kids didn’t get along. You could tell she loved her family, but she was a hard woman. She was harsh and demanded respect in return. I spent a lot of time listening to her scolding me about stupid stuff. 

            Then again, I gave it right back. I was an unruly and distrusting child, used to having no one telling me what to do. She and I got into it on a regular basis. Our fights usually ended with me storming out or her telling me to get the hell out of her home. More often it was the latter. I always came back though, and she was always waiting for me on the porch.

            When we weren’t fighting or watching TV, sometimes Maura would take me out. She never said it, but I think she had a childhood similar to mine. She was always going on about the things I needed to learn, usually calling me a damn fool for not already knowing them. This included skillful things like fishing and harvesting wild plants. One day she even showed me a few ways I could sell things without getting too many questions.

            For my birthday, Maura made me a cake. I told her that I wasn’t ready to be a teenager and she just scowled at me. By that point, she was already losing her fighting spirit. This made me sad to see, so I blew out the candles without any more of an argument.

            As a present, she let me dig through her daughters’ old clothes, telling me to keep whatever I wanted. Not much fit, but I found enough to get by on. I grabbed a hat from her son’s old room, which nabbed me a dirty look. 

            The Maura I knew faded quickly after that. Mostly she slept. When she was awake though, she lost that spark of tenacity in her eyes. She would apologize to me weepily, saying that she didn’t want me to live with her, because she’d known she was dying and didn’t want to make me soft if she wasn’t going to be around. I still don’t know if I like knowing this or not. Part of me just wishes I could remember her as the old asshole she was.

            I was the only person around to take care of Maura in her dying days. I changed her and fed her and kept her company. It made me uncomfortable, but I owed her. Right at the end, she started talking about the land she owned over and over again. It was a small plot she’d inherited when she was a girl. It was in her former name, and she didn’t think anyone even knew it belonged to someone. “I used to stay there, you know. Back when I was a young thing like you.”

“Oh yeah? Is it half as good as the mansion you’ve got here?” I crankily replied, not wanting to see her being the way she was anymore.

“I want you to go there. When I die, don’t stick around here. Don’t let my kids find out about you.” I didn’t give Maura an answer to this, but I don’t think she wanted one. “They’d just cause trouble.”

            When she finally died, I took her suggestion and got out of town. Once I got to Oasis Springs, it didn’t take me long to find Maura’s plot of land. It was just as she described it, including the makeshift fence from when she had dreams of building a house on it. “Well, looks like you’re getting your wish. At least for now. If I find somewhere better, then I’m getting out of here,” I said to the object I had secretively tucked into my pack. Nobody but me was around when Grim showed. Normally one would leave the ashes for the family. Not me. I swiped Maura’s urn and brought it along for the ride. If anything bad happened, then it was her fault and she should have to witness it.

            And I just really missed her.

            My name is Lumen. Just Lumen. My mom only saw me as another tally, so I’m not going to give her the satisfaction of using her last name. I guess you could call me a teen runaway.