MOM!! Little Jacob yelled as he watched his dad hit her. Those furious and madeyes fixed on him. Run Jacob! His mom told him weakly on the floor. He did.Tears ran down his face as he ran into the woods behind his house. His stepfather ran after him until the beginning of the woods. The man hated the woodsso it became a safe space for Jacob. Come out here you little worthless runt!His step father yelled onto the forest. Jacob ran until he couldnt no more. Hecollapsed on the forest floor. His mother had married his step father two yearsago and it was the worst two years of his life. Little did 7 year old Jacob knowthat the reason for his step fathers foul moods were caused by excessivedrinking. He didnt come back to the house until he knew he couldnt stay out anlonger. Then he walked carefully back to the house and slipped back in throughhis bedroom window. He sobbed himself to sleep. The next morning Jacob peekedout his door and found his mother making breakfast. Making sure his step fatherwasn’t in sight, he ran to the kitchen. My mom smiles at me but only shows halfher face. Good morning sunshine! She says to me. Mom, are you ok? I ask her.She smiled at him. Of course! She says in her normal cheery voice. That voicefooled 7 year old Jacob then into thinking everything was ok. Have some eggs.She says and put some on a plate for me. I reached for it eagerly but gasp. Mymom’s face was purple and black all over. She saw me staring at it. Its just abruise sweetie. She told me. Ok mama! I tell her and devour my eggs. Mama,why is Dad so mean? I ask her. She stops and looks at me. He just has a lotgoing on that’s all. She says. Little Jacob didnt ask anymore questions. Years flyby and little Jacob wasn’t so little anymore. At ten years old he was 5’5 and bytwelve, 6’1. At ten he learned why his father was so cruel and hated him for it.Jacob may have been strong and big but his father was bigger. Everytime hedrank too much, he would take it out on him and his mom. Jacob’s only sanctuarywas the woods. For his birthday, his mom scraped up enough money to buy himhis first gun. It was an older rifle but a good one. He loved hunting and tookthat gun everywhere he could. He went to school but didnt have any friends.But nobody picked on him because of his size. In the end, Jacob became 6’4.Now he was bigger than his stepdad. It took everything his mom had to makesure that Jacob didnt hurt his stepdad. One time, after a particular drinkingmood, his stepdad hit his mother again but this time it was serious. At 14 Jacobalmost killed his stepdad if not for his mom who made him leave to cool off. After he did, he came back and nursed his mother back to health. He asked her.Why dont you let me hurt this guy? He’s almost killed us many times. He asksher. Because we need him more than you know and because if we sink to hislevel than we are no better than him. She told him. He took those words toheart but his anger never left him. His mom recovered but it was close. He spentmore and more time in the woods. His stepdad had a gun, a really nice rifle thatwas better than Jacob’s. Jacob wasn’t allowed to use it but would sneak it out ofthe house and practice with it. He could shot a bird in midair he was that good.He was approaching his 15th birthday when tragedy struck. His mother, the onlyperson who made life good, had fallen ill. His stepdad refused to help and shewas getting worse. Jacob did everything to try to save her but… a month latershe passed. His stepdad didnt even come to the small funeral she had. Jacob wasthe only one there. After that, Jacob made up his mind. He knew the woods wellenough, not just living there but living off of it. As soon as he left the funeral,he went to house he hated and quietly slipped through the window. He packed alarge back for essentials and grabbed his rifle. He thought for a moment andthen crept to his stepdad’s study. He checked and found his stepdad passed outon the couch and grabbed his stepdad’s rifle. He put in a special bag that hecould sling over his back along with his regular bag and then left. He neverlooked back. He went to a gave he knew would provide shelter for him andstarted to enjoy living in the forest. After three days of doing this somethingunexpected happened. Rain and wind poured from the clouds without end and hewas forced to stay in his cave. Then, he heard a noise. Probably a wild animalseeking shelter but instead it was 3 teens about the same age as him and theywere drenched. Who are you? He asked the strangers. Little did he know thesestrangers would change his life.
