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Damen got up from the ground, dusted his pants a bit, and
entered his house.
    He right away wrote the letter to his
parents. Damen then packed his book bag full of dirty clothes and
made sure he packed his money safely at the bottom of it; but
still, every so often, he would stare out the window of his bedroom
and wait for a sign from God. He put the bag under his bed and
tried going to sleep, but a great excitement, mixed with fear, was
inside his mind and allowed his eyes to stay opened. He turned to
his window again, which was facing the right side of his room, and
gazed outside at the stars that twinkled in the sky. Damen then
smiled and realized that he was going to be a star, even though God
didn’t send a sign through them. He realized, they were all going
to be stars of Hollywood, and they were going to shine the
brightest, and the longest. He slowly closed his eyes and dreamed
about flying over the big Hollywood sign, and saying out loud, “I
made it.” That, alone, was a good-enough sign.
    His mother came into the room, just after he
went into the dream state, and kissed him on the forehead. She
heard him mumbling something in his sleep, and tried to make out
what he was saying. After a few minutes, she decided to give up on
the search for the words Damen muttered, and slowly walked to his
bedroom door. She was halfway out the door when suddenly she heard
Damen say in a clear tone, while his eyes were closed, “We are
going to make it.”

Chapter Three
    Damen was awakened from his dream state at
4:00 a.m. on the dot by the sound of a drumbeat, due to the
raindrops falling onto his windowsill. He jumped out of his bed and
walked slowly down the hall, to the bathroom. He didn’t want to
wake up anyone; after all, he knew his father would be up very
soon, so he had to make his escape fast, short, and very simple.
Brushing his teeth, combing his hair, and rushing over to his
backpack, every so often, to pack little things that he didn’t want
to leave behind—this made him exhausted. But, through the
exhaustion, he knew he had to be fast, or else his father would
stop him, would throw a wrench in his plan, and make it impossible
for him to attempt leaving this town again. Damen looked out at the
night, through his window to his bedroom, and stared at the stars,
at how they were beginning to fade, due to the sun’s birth. That
caused him to create fear in his mind; it was almost time for his
father to awake. He picked up his pack and tiptoed over to his
parents’ room, walking very, very slowly so the floor wouldn’t
creak and wake everyone up. Damen stood there motionless as the
thought of his father waking up and asking, Where do you think
you’re going? You’re not going anywhere, appeared in his mind.
    He saw his parents through the light of the
electric fly-catcher that hung outside. Sounds of zaps were heard
by the deaths of small, disgusting insects that took a wrong
detour, and suddenly Damen saw his mother beginning to move. Since
the window was open, and knowing that the sound from the fly
catcher could be heard like a loud echo, Damen knew they would wake
up because of it. He walked, very slowly, and attempted to close
the window, and keep the flies’ deaths away from the ears of his
parents. He reached over to the window and slowly began to push it
down, when out of nowhere he heard a voice say, “Thank you,
sweetie, they were bothering me too.”
    Damen was afraid to turn around and see whom
the voice was, feeling the darkened room shadowing over him; but he
had to see what thing made that noise. So he turned around, and saw
his mother smiling at him, with her eyes closed. “You’re welcome,
Mom,” he whispered. He walked back toward the door, and turned
around to see his parents, his loved ones. Feeling a sense of
sadness, for leaving so quickly, he whispered, “I love you, Mom,
and I love you too, Dad.” He wanted so badly to run over to the bed
and say goodbye out loud, but he knew he