It was early in the morning, the house was completely silent, and Judson was the only one awake. Judson swept quietly through the house, he peeked through an open door to his parent’s room and it was empty. His parents must have went some where without telling him, again. They left Judson home alone often, well, actually he wasnt fully alone… Judson opens a door across the hall and peeks in. There, in a dark room laid a little girl covered up to the chin in blankets.
That was Judson’s little sister Holly, he smiled slightly at how cute and peaceful she looked asleep, He slowly shut the door behind him, letting her sleep for as long as she wanted. Judson walked quietly into the kitchen, getting ready to make some breakfast for Holly and himself. When he went to go open the fridge there was something on it that caught his attention. It was a note, assumably from his parents. He took it from the the fridge magnet it was attached to and began reading, “Dear Judson, happy birthday son. ” Oh, that’s right, today was his birthday, he was seventeen now, he almost completely forgot himself.
Since you are eighteen you are now old enough to take care of yourself, we leave you the house as we have moved away for good. We have left you an envelope with enough money to last you for about a year or so. We have decide to let Holly live with you from now on as well. We just don’t have the time or patience to deal with children anymore. You understand. Goodbye and good luck, Mr. and Mrs. Youthgaze. ” Judson was dumbfounded with all the things wrong with this note. “Mr. and Mrs. Youthgaze”? Would it have killed them to just say mom and dad? They didn’t even get his age right!
Yet, Judson isn’t surprised. They never took care of him or Holly anyway, so this isn’t hardly any different. The problem was that he really wasn’t old enough to own a house or take care of Holly, even though he could and he did, it wasn’t legal. Judson looks at the nearby countertop and spots the envelope that his parents had mentioned in their letter. He picks it up and look inside, there was a couple of one hundred dollar bills and even a check. He sighs and decides that he’ll have to keep this a secret from anyone else. All he had to do was last a year without anyone finding out.
Months had gone by without anyone knowing about Judson and Holly living on their own. They both went to school, Holly staying after until Judson picked her up and took her home. All was going fine, until one day. One day Holly had accidentally mentioned her parents never being home at all anymore, worried, her teacher tried calling and emailing her parents but no one answered. She kept trying until she was forced to take action and make sure that Judson’s house was investigated. Later that day Judson was at home with Holly when there was a knock at the door.
Of course Judson answered it and to his surprise, there stood a police officer who started explaining immediately. “Hello, we got a call from Haverly Elementary School about a miss Holly Youthgaze. I’ve been told that the parents of said child have not been answering any calls or emails, are they home at the moment? ” He asked “No… They’re at work. ” Judson replied nervously. “Well? ” The officer egged on, “When will they be back? ” “I… I dunno. ” Judson replied sheepishly.
“Well young man, I’m gonna have to come in and check everything out, alright? Before Judson could reply the officer barged right in, surprising Holly. “Well hello, you must be Holly? Don’t worry, I’m just going to look around your house ok? ” He said sweetly to the eight year old. “O-okay… ” Holly replied in a small voice. The officer patrolled the area and found the note Judson’s parents had left him. ““Young man, is this true? Did your parents leave you? ” He said showing the note he found. “Yes, sir. ” Judson didn’t want to lie to the police, especially not in front of Holly. “And you’re eighteen? ” “… No, sir. ” Judson looked away. “Well, you know what this means.
I’m afraid I have to send you over to child services, where you both will be put into foster care. ” The officer said solemnly. “But-” Judson started. “No buts. ” He interrupted. “Please pack your things and come with me. ” He said. Judson didn’t refuse and did what he was told. After all that, they both went through several stages of process to find out where they’re going to live. In the end they were put into two different foster homes, nothing that they could do about it. It definitely wasn’t easy, Holly was the one to be dropped off first, but she wouldn’t let go of Judson.
Clinging on to him, crying and yelling, she didn’t want to leave his side. Before Holly was pried off of Judson, he talked with her one more time. “Holly, please don’t cry, it’s okay. I promise I’ll come see you again, in a year I can adopt you and I will, alright? ” Judson assured her. “But… I’ll miss you! ” Holly sobbed. “I’ll miss you too! ” Judson started tearing up himself. “You gotta go Holly… I love you. ” He said, giving her a kiss on the forehead. “I love you too, Juddy. ” Holly sniffed as she hugged her big brother for one last time.
The use of the nickname Holly had given Judson so long ago really struck a nerve. As Judson waved goodbye he wiped the tears from his eyes. Now he had to go to his foster home. Obviously he wasn’t in the mood, he felt sick and out of breath, like he couldn’t breath, but he had no choice. As soon as he got to his foster home and got settled, he started writing. Ever since that day he wrote down ideas and plans for things he can do with Holly once they’re reunited again. Months later, Judson turns eighteen, gets his house back, and is ready to get Holly back too.
Judson arrived at the foster home where Holly was left. He knocked on the door and a woman he doesn’t remember answers. “Hello, I’m looking for Holly Youthgaze. I’m here to adopt her. ” Judson said straightforwardly. “Holly… Youthgaze? ” The woman repeated. “Yes. ” Judson said anxiously, he really wanted to see Holly again. “Oh… Honey.. ” She said sadly, “Holly Youthgaze died two months ago. ” “What? ” Judson replied shocked. The woman explained everything to him. It turns out that Holly became deathly ill and there was nothing they could do, so she just passed away.
No one ever even told Judson. They were with her when she died, he wasn’t. They were at her funeral, he wasn’t. Judson went on for whole two months without a clue his baby sister was dead. “I’m so sorry, sir. ” The woman finished. Judson didn’t reply, he was too heartbroken and shocked. Without saying anything he rushed away, back home. As soon as he arrived he sat down, a million thoughts going through his head. What kind of big brother was he? He didn’t even know about his sister dying. Now he has no family at all, no one who cares about him, he doesn’t even have any friends.
No one cares… The one person who he loved and who loved him back died two months ago, and he didn’t even know. He didn’t have any future plans either, what’s the point now? He had no one to live for or with. Judson thought about all these things and more, wallowing in despair. A week later someone comes to investigate Judson’s house, he hasn’t shown up for work all week and he wasn’t answering any calls or emails. So his boss called someone to check it out. There they found him, in his living room. Hanging from the ceiling, Judson had killed himself in his despair.
