Different Paths

Different Paths

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The Beginning

This is a story with no true ending, though it has only one beginning. One night, at 12:58AM, on Friday, October 16th, Warren Brighton hears a knock at the front door.

Warren should be asleep, since he has school in the morning, but like most teenagers, Warren doesn’t always do what he should. Instead of being asleep, Warren is, at that very moment, crossing the foyer on his way to get a snack.

He pauses at the knock. Warren wonders who could be at the front door so late at night. Warren didn’t invite anyone over, and his parents have been asleep for a couple of hours. Both of them have to get up for work in the morning, and as tired, hard-working adults, they usually try to go to bed as early as possible.

Warren opens the front door, because he is not afraid of a strange knock in the middle of the night. Warren is over six feet tall already, muscled and athletic, the star of his school’s lacrosse team, and he has never learned to be afraid of strange or unexpected things happening around him.

When the door opens, it reveals Lee Withers. Lee goes to Warren’s school, but they’re hardly friends. In fact, Warren has been known to bully Lee every once in a while. Nothing serious, if you ever asked Warren. Just making some rude comments, laughing whenever Lee jumps at loud noises, or knocking Lee’s books out of his hands. Warren is just being a typical popular teenager, though, in his opinion.

Normal, everyday high school life. Nothing to be upset over. Still, Lee would say differently, and part of Warren realizes this, because he’s stunned speechless at the sight of Lee standing on his front step in the middle of the night.

Lee is shaking from his head to his toes, and now that Warren looks closer, the other teenager also has some visible bruises on his arms. Lee always keeps his arms covered during school, but he’s wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt right now, and sweatpants. He’s not wearing any shoes.

Before Warren can gather his wits about him and ask what Lee is doing knocking on his door, Lee mutters, “I didn’t know where else to go.” He promptly passes out, right there on Warren’s front door step.

This is how it always starts. 

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A choice must always be made.

When Warren Brighton comes across something very unexpected, he has a choice to make. Each option will have different consequences that Warren cannot anticipate. Follow along and see the different paths that Warren's life could take.

Which choice would you make?

Want to read the rest? Check out this short story here on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07T6JTCCS.