Memories have a way of sneaking up on you through thin trails of cigarette smoke. Daniel stared at the ashes falling onto the wild grass, letting his mind drift back to three years ago. That day, the sky over Avellyn City looked just as gray as it did this afternoon.
Daniel remembered exactly what it felt like to sit limply on an old park bench with peeling wood. His eyes stared blankly at his own dusty shoes. His body felt incredibly tired, but that physical exhaustion was nothing compared to the emptiness in his chest.
All day long, he had been forced to stand at a formal Carter family gathering, plastering on a fake smile in front of his adoptive parents' elite colleagues, acting like the perfect, happy adopted son. That performance had completely drained his energy.
