Elliot Mercer had never meant to run away.
He hadn't meant to hear his parents arguing either.
Through the crack in his bedroom door, he caught fragments. Hospital bills. Insurance. Overtime. His sister Lena's asthma attack earlier that night had sent her to the emergency room. The house still smelled like antiseptic and fear.
He didn't understand the numbers.
He understood the tone.
Tired. Frightened. Fear.
He thought about the braces he needed. The glasses he'd broken last month. The way his father's shoulders had slumped over another envelope.
He reached a quiet, terrible conclusion.
If he wasn't there, things would be easier.
He took the late train schedule from the fridge and slipped out into the night. He would go to their grandmother's house two towns over.
He wouldn't be a burden anymore.
At the empty railway station, he crossed the tracks instead of using the footbridge.
He misjudged the timing.
That's when reality began to falter.