Robert

It was already cold outside, and the rain only made it colder. The downpour of water made a pitter-patter noise that echoed in the narrow alleyway. Robert lay in a doorway, shivering. He was wondering, wondering if he would make it through the night, wondering if he would freeze to death. Wondering if all of this was a terrible, crazy mistake.
He knew he wouldn’t get an ounce of sleep that night. The rain was to loud, he was too cold, there was no way he was going to drift off. He would have to stay awake. His eyes were wide open as he lay there, shivering, crying, wondering.
His room was full of brightly colored things. Toys, games, tools, anything he could ever want. Anything material, that is. But he wanted more. Many kids would have just taken it all, let them self be spoiled, not caring what their parents thought. But not Robert. He wanted their attention, he wanted them to care. But most of all, he wanted them to love him.
Robert opened his eyes. Somehow, miraculously, he had fell asleep during the night. Even so, he was still exhausted. He stood up on stiff legs, and rolled his stiff neck. He stretched and rubbed his bleary eyes. If you looked closely at him, you would see the heavy dark circles that were imprinted just below his eyes, the bags that sagged under his sockets. He was very tired.
The train station was crowded. Full of tall people, tall at least, to Robert. To Robert, five feet was tall. People kept bumping into him pushing him back from where he wanted to go. The ticket booth.
Finally, out of frustration, Robert started pushing back at people. At first, they looked around angrily, then seeing a little kid, they blushed and mumbled something along the lines of, “Excuse me,” and edged past him. Repeating this technique a couple more times, he reached the ticket booth.
The teller was fat. No, not fat, the right word was obese. His enormous bottom filled the entire green swivel chair he was sitting in, and his weight made the chair sink a few inches. His stomach pressed against the counter, overflowing slightly up onto it. He had multiple chins, and a chubby babyish face. His head was shaved, which somehow made him look even fatter.
When Robert reached the counter, he asked the teller, “I’d like to buy a ticket to Albany, please,” The teller was confused at the seemingly disembodied voice, then, seeing the tip of a beanie poking out above the counter, leaned forward. At least, he tried to lean forward. After several attempts to push himself along the counter, he gave up. He got up, which also took several attempts, and stood on his little stubby legs. At this new height, which was barely higher then the chair, he peered over the counter to see a six-year old boy standing there.
“What?” he said, scratching one of his chins thoughtfully, “What did you say?”
“I said, I’d like to buy a ticket to Albany, please,” said Robert, in an inpatient, annoyed voice.
“Round trip, or one-way,” the teller said, taking a gigantic bite of the bacon sandwich that was his lunch. Robert’s stomach growled.
“Oh! One-way, please,”
“Thank you, that’ll be twenty-five dollars, please,” Robert handed him a the money, “Thank you,” The teller handed him a ticket, and went back to his bacon sandwich.
The train was empty. Besides Robert, three people were on the train. Compared to the noise of the train station, the silence was very quiet. There was a click, at the end of the train, a door slid open and the food cart came in. Robert sighed with relief, he hadn’t eaten in two days. He got two sandwiches and finished them greedily in a matter of minutes.
His belly full, he stretched his feet out on the seats, and relaxed. Not before long, he felt his eyes closing, and soon he was sleeping soundly.
He had though about what to do for a long time, thinking about different things. He had finally decided to run away. Hopefully, his parents would realize how important he was, and in their search for him, realize how little they cared for him. Or maybe they just wouldn’t care at all. That thought made Robert cry.
The announcement woke him. “Last stop, everybody out! Albany! Last stop!” Still half asleep, Robert opened his eyes. Someone was shaking him. The conductor.
“Come on, kid, I gotta turn the train around. I have a schedule, wake up already,” Robert got up and walked out of the door. The train station, like the train, was fairly empty. He rode up an elevator and walked out. It was cold outside, a light gray sky contrasted by little splotches of blue. Robert walked along the sidewalk, contemplating what he should do next, thinking so hard that he didn’t notice the figure looming above him, didn’t notice until the figure scooped him up in their arms and hugged him hard.
“Oh my God, Robert! I was so worried about you!” It was his mother. She looked tired, and her eyes were red from crying. Robert just took it all in, but when she turned to make a phone call, he smiled to himself. It had worked. He had won.