• It all started the year I turned 15. I had been a pretty normal kid up till then. Yeah, I had always been kind of to myself , and preferred reading then interaction with people. I also tended to talk to my cat a lot, but hey, everybody does that to some extent.

    I grew up in a pretty small town, had a few friends, and then my parents decided to move to this big city, see. Something to do with my Dads job... I think. I never paid too much attention to what they had to say, I was usually reading or day dreaming, or petting my cat.

    But as I was saying, suddenly the year I was going to turn 15, they informed me we were moving to San Francisco. I wasn’t too shocked, or saddened, by the news. I didn’t really feel any attatchment to the town I was raised in. The only thing I got upset about was that they told me they weren’t going to let me bring along Sheba.

    Sheba was my precious cat I had for a very long time, see, since I was 8 or something like that, don’t remember much. I tend to forget things. But she was the closest friend I had. That was the first big fight I had with my parents. Had a lot of firsts that year, I guess. I had never really had a fight with them before, not even a disagreement. They had them all the time, but I chose not to get involved.

    It was also the first time I realized that I was frightened of my parents. But let’s not go into that, because I don’t feel like it right now. I’ve gotten sidetracked, see? I tend to get sidetracked a lot, I also tend to say see a lot.

    If you’re already bored with this, then good, cause I am too. Don’t even know why I have to write this crap. If I think it’s crap, then plenty of others are gonna think its crap too. But I just am, so bear with me. But yeah, I went thru all that fun stuff. You know what I mean.

    Starting a new school. Moving to a place that’s completely different from the one you were before. And the thing was, I never made friends in San Francisco. Maybe it was just me. Maybe I’m just not good at that type of thing. I don’t know. But see, I didn’t mind all that much. I brooded for a very long time about leaving Sheba behind, but then after that, after I just... blocked it out, I guess, nothing really mattered at all. I could entertain myself, as a matter of fact, I was the champion of having whole conversations in my head.

    The funny thing is, even with my bad memory and all, I remember the day clearly. It was pouring down rain outside, school had gotten out, and I had missed the buss, due to a certain mishap in the hall to do with a bunch of low lifes slamming me up against the lockers, among other things..... I had tried to get a hold of my parents, but they weren’t answering. They never did. I figured they’d eventually see that they had a bunch of missed calls, so I sat on a bench in front of the school, out of the rain.

    I talked to Sheba while I was at it. I tended to do this frequently, even though she wasn’t there. I pretended like she was still there, like it was like it always had been. A very long time went by, I think, I actually wasn’t paying much attention to the time. I could’ve been sitting there forever and probably wouldn’t have noticed. If she hadn’t appeared, that is.

    I was busy talking to Sheba, when sudennly I realized that there was a little girl sitting next to me on the bench. I glanced uncomfortably over at her, wondering what the heck she was doing here, and how she had snuck up on me like that. She was wearing a red plaid skirt, with black knee high stockings and a black t shirt. Seemed kind of like a cold outfit to be wearing for this kind of weather. I attempted to ignore her, but I began to feel her eyes on the side of my head, and I quickly turned my head back round, and met with the most entrancing, unsettling, green eyes I’d ever seen.

    I couldn’t say anything. I’m not much of a conversationist. But the little girl smiled this crooked smile at me, and said simply, “Hello Laurence.”

    That was when I first met Anna.