Apollo

The two girls giggled as Ray sat down across from them, obviously checking how he looked. He looked away with a bashful expression that only made the two girls giggle louder. He took his seat as the hum of voices in the classroom died down. One of the two girls, the older one, suddenly spoke with a high-pitched voice, "I'm Apollo."

The girl named apollo seemed awfully interested in Rain's profile as he looked toward the decrepit blackboard. The schedule of the day unfolding as Mrs. Smith wrote it on the board.

The class proceeded with no further distractions. The day started to blur as the hour passed with only a few chance encounters of Mrs. Smith having to stop to talk to a few troublemakers. Rain was content in that class. He felt comfortable with how he was performing and how smooth the day progressed. He got along great with the other children in his class.

None of them were a replacement for his mother though. None even close.

So even with how good the day was seeming to go, he was dying to get back to his home. To see his mother. His first best friend.

So, when the bell rang at the end of the day, Rain was already ready. He was the first one out of the class as he ran to the front doors. An administrator told him to slow down, laughing at the enthusiastic boy. "The busses aren't even here yet little guy."

Rain didn't care. He ran ahead anyway.

The bus ride home was just about as uneventful as the one there. The green fields passing with a quickening pace as Rain neared his small home on the outskirts. The bus pulled up toward the long driveway made of small pebbles. Rain looked at the house and... his mother wasn't on the porch. Something was wrong. Rain looked slowly up the house and stopped when he reached the second floor.

The beautiful painted exterior was painted in a new color in an interesting design. Red. Dark red.

With no warning, something flew out of the window. Rain saw the luscious material flowing from it and stopped dead in his tracks. His heart gripped by a hand that seemed as if it was intent on tearing it apart. Hair. The thing had hair. His mother's hair.

Then, Rain heard a sound echo. A loud click. Something flew towards him fast. Then, it was black.