Down by the lake there were dozens of trees. There was a particularly old willow that Ritchie was drawn to and he easily climbed it hoping it wasn’t against some rule. Ritchie sat on the limb with his back against the trunk looking out across the lake.The sun slowly set and Ritchie sat and watched it pensively. Why hadn’t his dad said goodbye? Did his dad want anything to do with him anymore? Tears slowly made their way down Ritchie’s cheeks as he worried he may have lost both parents. As the sun disappeared below the horizon Ritchie cursed himself for not cutting deeper into his veins and finishing the job correctly. He counted the stars as the appeared in the navy blue sky above him. Then at last when all the stars were out Ritchie climbed down from the tree and trudged into the building. It was going to be a very, very, very long eight months.