“Go to your room Meredith and Rose. I have work to do,” my mother shouts. She tells this to my sister and I every night. I know she isn’t working because she works at an old restaurant. There is nothing she would have to do at home. My mom doesn’t know that I know what she’s doing. It’s obvious to any eighth grader. I can tell by the smoky fumes that lurk through the halls and the cabinets full of alcohol. The spilled pills on the floor prove my point. My mother is a drug addict. She does it all. She smokes, drinks, and uses drugs. She tells us to leave whenever she does these things, so my sister and I won’t try them ourselves. I am smart enough to know that drugs can kill you. My sister Rose is clueless. She actually thinks Mom is working.
We live in a suburb in the state of Arizona. It’s always hot outside. I spend most of my time in the local pool or inside reading. Our house is the smallest one on the block. This is because my mom can’t afford a better home. It’s not like she cares. She isn’t home that much anyways. Our house is a dark brown color on the outside. It is really small and has shingles falling off the roof. The grass in front of our house is crunchy and dead. I planted flowers along the side of the house a few weeks ago. They bring color to our dull home. Once Rose was stung by a bee near the flowers and blamed it on me.
Rose has strawberry blonde hair. That’s how she got her name. It falls across her forehead in waves. She has dark brown eyes and small freckles around her nose. Rose is only five years old. She is oblivious to everything, but most little kids are. Rose usually wears pink and purple clothes with a small, frayed bow that she makes me put in her hair. Now that I think about  it, Rose is pretty much the opposite of me.
My name is Meredith, and I am thirteen years old. I have glittering blue eyes and soft, pale skin. I have straight, light brown hair that almost reaches my shoulders. I am fairly small for my age, about half a foot shorter than the average eighth grader. I like to read on my spare time while I try to avoid Mom. My life feels like a puzzle, and I’m missing the pieces to solve it. I am always depressed. It is probably because I have the worst mom in the world. I don’t let other people see that I am depressed because it’s embarrassing when I talk about my awful mom. Some people wonder how such a sweet girl can come from someone like my mom, but those people didn’t know my dad.
Dad was a wonderful person. Before he passed away in a tragic car accident he took Rose and I anywhere we wanted. My whole family would go to the zoo every Sunday after church. We haven’t went to church ever since he left us, which was three years ago. I miss him so much, I almost wish I would have been in the car with him. My life is not nearly as great now.
Mom started misusing drugs when he died. It was her way of coping with the loss and relaxing. Once she became addicted she turned into a different person. My mom was loving and compassionate before she used them, and now she is negative and lazy. There is no use trying to stop my mother’s addiction. Counselors have came to our house to try, and all of them have failed.
When Mom is not smoking, drinking, etc. at our house, she goes to the restaurant where she works. Sometimes she works, and other times she just says she is going to work, and goes out to party. Either way I am the one who takes care of Rose. I make her food, put her to bed, and help her with homework during the school year. My life has been horrible for a long time now, and I know that there is only one way to make a change. My sister and I have to leave.
The next day, when my mom left for work in her beat up mini van, I decided to propose my plan to Rose.
“Rose I need to talk to you about something very important,” I said.
“Okay, but make it quick Meredith. My dolls and I are having a tea party,” she replied.
“Living with mom is not the best thing for us, I think we should leave and go somewhere else.”
“I love mom, and where would we go?”
“Rose, we need to get out of here before mom gets even more out of control,” I explained.
“Alright, I trust you.”
“Then it’s settled. Tomorrow morning when mom leaves, we will pack our bags and get out of here.” I said courageously.
When the next day came, I started packing up. I brought a change of clothes, a blanket, a box of crackers, and two water bottles. I don’t know where we're going yet, but I assume we will will be there by tonight. I packed the same thing for Rose. When Mom’s old, gray, and rusty minivan was gone, I knew that our lives will change forever. It was 10 am when my sister and I walked out the door with pink duffle bags in our hands, and no regrets.
“We know that mom gets home from work at 6pm, but she probably won’t realize we’re gone until the next morning. She always ignores us anyways.” I tell my sister.
“Where are we going?” Rose asked.
“I think we should go to aunt Becky’s house. She is always concerned about us. It takes an hour to get there by car, so it could take a while until we get there. I found a map lying around the house, so we don’t get lost,” I explain.
Rose and I were walking for what seemed like a of couple hours until we became exhausted. The summer heat was scorching us. We took a break and sat on the cirb of the road. If we wouldn’t have stopped I probably would have passed out.
We started to walk along the road until it became dark. It would be helpful if I could call my aunt, or at least know what time it is, but my mom doesn’t make enough money to buy me a phone. She doesn’t care enough about me to get a me a watch. Rose began to complain when it was pitch black outside.
“I’m tired,” Rose complained.
“Alright, let’s set up a spot to sleep here.”
I found a spot under a tree for us to rest. I laid out one blanket on the scratchy grass, and left one to put over us. Rose got out the pillows from our bags and laid them near the top of the tree trunk. As she sat with her back against the tree, she tried to push away all of her emotions. Roses’ soft brown eyes were spilling tears that rolled across her gentle cheeks. Knowing how she felt, I sat next to her and leaned my head against hers.
“It’s okay Rose, everything will be alright,” I whispered.
Then she fell asleep with her head against my shoulder. The wind was calm, and the night sky was strangely comforting. I put the soft, purple blanket around us as I drifted off, into a deep sleep, dreaming about our new life that awaits us.
We woke up next morning to the sound of loud cars driving across the road. I guess people these days are too busy to notice two girls sleeping under a tree. We should get to my aunt's house at one o’clock. I woke up Rose and put our makeshift bed back into our bags. We began to walk for hours until we finally arrived at the town our aunt lives in. As Rose and I walked down the sidewalk we passed an electronic store. It had tvs in the window for display. They were playing the news.
“Two girls were reported missing last night. Their names are Rose and Meredith Myers. They are ages five and thirteen,” the news reporter recited.
“Rose listen to this,” I told her. She was busy drooling over the cupcakes in the display case next door.
“The police think the two girls left because of their mother. She is a drug addict. Their mother named Kristen Meyers has been caught selling illegal drugs and will be charged with six years in jail. When the children are found they will live in a foster home, or with a relative of their choice. Up next we will tell the story of a miner who was trapped in a quarry. Thanks for watching channel 3 news.” the reporter said with a serious tone.
“What does all of that mean,” Rose asked.
“We can’t live with mom anymore, but if aunt Becky agrees then we can live with her. Otherwise we have to live in a foster home,” I say to her. Rose will only understand the simplified story.
As Rose cries because she will miss mom, I try to think about how I feel. Mom wasn’t good to us and I don’t want to live with her. That's why I ran away. But maybe it wasn’t her fault that she was mean all the time. Maybe it was the drugs. But it was her fault that she took the drugs. As confused as I was, I knew that we should get to Becky’s house. We continued to her house as I tried to get Rose to calm down.
We arrived at Becky’s house as the sun began to set. Her house was one story high and had a light blue color. There was white trim around the windows and sunflowers around her house dying from the heat. She has a white picket fence around her backyard where a dog barks at us. Aunt Becky doesn’t have any kids, and her husband is in the navy. Because of that he isn’t around much. Becky is the same age as my mom. Our aunt is so loving to us and is always fighting with my mom because of her drug addiction. I honestly didn’t even know that my mom was selling illegal drugs. I didn’t think any of the drugs she used were illegal. I guess I was wrong.
Rose and I walked up the driveway and rang her doorbell. I can’t wait to see the look on her face when she sees us. She will probably be so happy and relieved. In a few seconds Becky opened the door. She was a mess. Her dark brown hair was in a sloppy bun, her clothes were stained, and mascara was running down her face. She wore old pajamas and slippers. Becky was crying so hard when she saw us.
“I was afraid you girls were hurt or in danger. Are you okay?” Our aunt asked as she wept. “I was worried sick, come in girls, tell me everything.”
Rose and I walked in her house and sat on the couch, it was so comfortable compared to the ground we slept on last night. I told Becky everything, just like she asked us to. When I was done telling our story she was amazed.
“Wow, my nieces sure are brave. I am sorry you had to live like that.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“Did you see the news? We might have to live in a foster home! I don’t know what it is, but it sounds scary,” Rose said worriedly.
“Yes I did sweetie. My husband and I would love for you and Meredith to live with us. We have already talked about it. You don’t have to if you don’t want,” Becky announced.
“Of course we will!” Rose and I said excitedly at the same time.

Epilogue

Rose and I lived with aunt Becky until we graduated from high school, and moved into college dorm rooms. I was no longer depressed or unhappy with my life. When I graduated college and had a family of my own I made sure I would not be like my mother. No child deserves a mom like her. After the years passed and my mom was let out of jail, she tried to get Rose and I back, but we refused. We left for a reason, and wouldn’t come back to her until she quit using drugs. Mom never stopped using drugs and drinking too much alcohol. But it was alright. Our aunt treated us like her own kids. After all of my troubles, I learned that to have the life you want you need to be brave and stick up for yourself. I told my children that the journey might be hard, but the outcome can turn your life around. I guess that Rose and I found the last puzzle piece that completes our lives.