I pressed my face against the glass, getting as close to the outside as I possibly could. I tried to watch all the trees passing by us, but because we were going so fast everything was mixed together the way somebody would mix two different colors of paint to make another color.

When the car stopped moving because of the lights hanging from the big poles, I had a chance to look at all the trees around us. Some of them were naked trees, even though it wasn’t winter time yet. The other trees still had some leaves attached to them, but they weren’t green like they normally were. Now they were red and orange and yellow, and it made the trees look like they were wearing dresses, especially when they had two colors instead of just one.

There were also some trees that never changed. Their leaves were always the same, and they never lost any, not even during the winter time. Mommy told me it was because they wanted to be warm all year round, and that meant the summer, too. I asked her if they ever got too hot, but she said that never happened.

Every time the car started to run again, it would always pull me back, and the outside would get mixed together and I couldn’t see anything else until it stopped. Sometimes I could see into other peoples’ cars though, even if the car was running. It would run together with another car, and it was almost like they had stopped moving. I can remember seeing the insides of one during the morning.

Mommy told me it had been eight o’ clock when we first started driving, and I asked her if that was an early time. She told me that it was, at least for us. I don’t know why it would be early for us and not somebody else, but I do know that eight is such a big number that all the fingers on just one of my hands wouldn’t be enough to equal it.

We had been going around together all day, and Mommy had been using a lot of the green paper. She told me it was called money, and that I would learn more about it when I got older. She had used the green paper to buy things for me, and she always took out more from a silver machine whenever she didn’t have enough. All Mommy would have to do was tap the screen a few times, and then it would give her more. I liked taking it out for her, because even though it was paper, it felt different and it had a certain smell.

I don’t know why she was buying so much stuff, but she did get me something really nice. It’s a jacket with little dinosaurs on it. You can’t really see the dinosaurs, but they’re all different colors like blue and green and red, and they’re all different types, too. I told her I was going to wear it forever, and she said that was okay. That’s why I have it on right now.

We had made a stop at our house before we got ready for the second really long car ride. Mommy put all my new stuff inside a suitcase that used to belong to Daddy. On it she let me write my name so nobody could take it away and say that it was theirs. My name is the only thing I know how to write, because Mommy said it’s very important. It has enough letters to fit on one of my hands, and that makes me happy because I can show people how many letters are in my name by just showing them half of all my fingers.

My name is Ashli. Mommy told me that many people think it’s only a girl name, but it can actually be used for both boys and girls. She told me to say that whenever people make fun of my name so they won’t make fun of me anymore. I think that’s very good, because I don’t like it when other kids stick their tongues out at me and say mean things.

Before we left, Mommy gave me a bath. She made it special and put lots of bubbles in it, more than she normally does, and she even washed my hair with one of her shampoos so that I smell like strawberries. When I got out of the bathtub, she made me dry and put baby powder all over me, but I think she used too much because there was white stuff all over the floor when she finished. Mommy wasn’t angry, though, and said that she would clean it up later.

She let me pick out my own clothes, but I couldn’t choose the new ones because they were already in the suitcase. So I picked out a blue shirt with orange stripes, or an orange shirt with blue stripes. I can’t tell exactly, but I know it has those two colors. I’m wearing it with my blue jeans, my black sneakers, and my dinosaur jacket.

I don’t know how long we’ve been in the car, but I know that we’ve passed a lot of trees. Even if I could count, I don’t think I could name a number big enough to show you all the trees we’ve gone by. I could use both of my hands, my feet, my eyes, and each one of my teeth, but it still wouldn’t be enough.

The car stops running, and I look outside again. This time I can see a white building with some letters painted on it, and next to the letters there is a picture of two people holding hands. One looks like a grownup, and another one looks like a little kid. It looks like me and Mommy when we walk down the street to go shopping for something. Mommy starts driving again and spins the big wheel in front of her, except she is going a lot slower and things outside aren’t blurry anymore. She makes the car turn into the big space close to the building, where a lot of other cars are waiting.

We stop moving, and she turns the keys into the side of the wheel and all the lights inside turn off. Then she pulls out the keys and drops them inside of her pocket while she reaches back to grab the suitcase, and then she opens the door and leaves, closing it behind her. She sort of slams it and it makes a loud sound.

Mommy didn’t say anything to me, but I know she wants me to get out, too, so that’s what I do and stand beside the car. She comes up by me, grabs my hand and we head towards the big white building. In her other hand, I know she has the suitcase holding all my new stuff that she got for me.

I like the way the doors slide open when we get close to them, and slide back together once we’re inside. There are lots of chairs, but there are hardly any people sitting down in them. There are also lots of white lights on the ceiling, and when I look up it’s almost like I’m looking up into the sun. A little away from where we’re standing there is a counter with a dark skinned lady standing behind it. She’s going through bunches of paper, like the green paper Mommy got from the silver machine. The only difference is that it’s bigger and white and probably doesn’t have the same smell.

Now Mommy’s pulling me towards the counter, and the lady is looking up at her and looking down at me and smiling at both of us. I liked the way her teeth look. They’re big and shiny and straight and her smile seems really friendly. It’s like she knows who we are. When we get closer, I can see that the lady has short black hair and brown eyes, just like Daddy used to have. Now I like her even more.

Mommy sets down the suitcase and turns to look at her, saying a few things before she’s handed a few papers and a pen. While she’s doing that, I try to peek over the edge of the counter, but it’s too high and I can only reach the top if I put my hands all the way up above my head. I keep on trying to do this for a long time while Mommy is busy, but I stop when she pushes the papers back towards the lady and turns to look at me.

Her eyes are making water, just like my eyes do when I fall down and hurt something. I don’t know why she’s doing that, though, and when she gets down on one knee, I reach over to touch her face and wipe away one of the drops coming down from her eyes. She tries to smile at me, but she’s only showing a little bit of her teeth. She’s not smiling like the lady behind the counter was when we first came in.

Mommy grabs my hands, and she talks to me. “Ashli, I’m going away for a while.” Her voice sounds really strange, sort of like a frog making that ‘ribbit’ sound. It’s like she suddenly got sick. Then she tells me that I have to stay here until things get better and that I’ll understand when I’m a big boy and that I have to trust her because if we do it this way, everything will work out for both of us. She says to me that no matter what, she’s always going to love me, even if she doesn’t see me for a very long time.

Mommy then reaches into her pocket, and I think she’s getting the keys to the car, but instead she pulls out a picture of three people. She puts it into the pocket of my dinosaur jacket without showing it to me, and tells me not to lose it because it’s very important. She says it’s as important as knowing how to spell my name.

I ask her how much is a ‘long time’, and she tells me she really isn’t sure. She said it could be many days or even more. I really wish that Mommy was sure so that I could know, but I don’t say anything else because her eyes are starting to make water again.

The lady comes out from behind the counter and grabs my suitcase. Mommy puts her lips on my forehead and makes a smooching sound before standing up and talking to the dark skinned woman. She tells me that the name of the lady is Shenna, and that she wants me to listen to her and follow whatever she says. Shenna tells her that I’m going to be taken good care of, and that she knows I’m going to be a good boy. I have a feeling she was actually talking to me, but I acted like I didn’t think that.

Mommy just nods and walks away without saying anything else, and I watch the doors open and close just like they did for us when we were coming in, except that now Mommy is all alone outside and I’m still in the building. And I wait until she gets in the car and turns it on and makes it run out of the big space and out into the streets again. Shenna takes me away from the counter while holding my hand, and I think she’s leading me someplace. I see a lot of rooms, so maybe I’m going into one of them.

I don’t know how much is a long time, but I don’t think I can count it all on just one hand. It might even be bigger than the number eight.

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A/N; I’m thinking about turning this into a story. And when I say a story, I mean an actual story with chapters. It may really depend on the amount of reviews I get on this, though. In case you don’t know, his mother is giving him into an adoption center. I’ll think of a reason and such later on, since it, as I said, depends on reviews. I hope you enjoyed the story, and by the way, I'm 13 now! Yaay.

-Forwards, Bandit