As the back of my head hit the hard, cold concrete my vision blurred terribly.

“That all you got? I barely felt that.” I screamed cockily. Yeah, that one definitely hurt… I really need to learn how to shut my mouth.

“Well maybe you’ll feel this.” Jason whispered just loud enough so I could hear it as his fist smashed into my jaw. He lifted me off the concrete and threw me onto my stomach, laughing.

I spat blood onto the ground and felt his presence loom over me. His foot landed on my back and I felt an extraordinary amount of pain shoot through my spine. I looked forward at the woods I almost got to, they were my safe haven. I was too slow this time, and now I was paying for it. Jason smashed my head into the cement again and I felt my nose break. I stifled a scream of pain as blood dripped onto the ground. I rolled onto my back, looking up at the street light that was almost blinding at this point. I looked around at the park I was trapped in. The kids little riding horses taunted me and the smiling faces that were scattered all over looked happy that I was getting the snot beat out of me. I looked up past the blinding light to the stars, wondering of there was someone out there in the same situation I was in. Jason grinned wildly, adding to the orange fiery mess that was his hair. His eyes, an icy blue, stared down at me like he was going to kill me. His preppy shirt messed up with blood splattered all over it and his jeans, which were normally neat and “special”, were torn and bloodied.

“Did you feel that ya little snot? Huh? Didja?” Jason yelled as he laughed again. He went to punch at my head and I rolled to the side as his fist pummeled the concrete next to me, instead of my face. The look of complete horror in his face as he broke some of his knuckles and fingers was priceless. Unfortunately for me this pain only fueled his rage. I quickly sprang up and sprinted into the woods while Jason bellowed in rage behind me. I ran deep into the eerie woods, blood still streaming from my face and dripping onto the ground. The moon shone through spots in the trees, increasing the eeriness. The broken dead trees mixed with the twigs and dead leaves made it look ugly while the flush green trees mixing with the moonlight made it look beautiful. I dodged behind a tree but realized all Jason had to do was follow the trail of blood to me. I was like a deer being hunted; he could follow my blood trail right to me. Think quick Draven, what would confuse him. The trees are close enough together. Maybe I could jump from tree to tree, or maybe I’ll fall and get the snot beat out of me. Oh well, might as well try. I scrambled up the tree and crouched on a branch, feeling like Green Arrow himself. My legs tensed as I readied myself to jump. Jumping as far as I could, my heart stopped and time seemed to slow down. I didn’t think I was going to make it, the branch seemed so far away. My fingers wrapped around the branch and my arms tensed as I held it, amazed I had actually made it. Pulling myself up and catching my breath I readied myself for the next jump. I heard twigs snapping and leaves rustling close by, he had done exactly what I had suspected.

“Where are you ya little snot?!” Jason bellowed in rage as he searched for me. He stared down at the ground where blood pooled, confused on how the blood trail could just stop. I pressed against the tree trunk and held my breath, hoping to god he couldn’t see me. I could see the rage in his face and I knew that if I wanted to keep my life I wouldn’t go down the tree, heck I knew I that I shouldn’t move at all. He suddenly bolted off farther into the woods, thinking that whatever moved back there (if anything did move) was me. Carefully I climbed down the tree, trying not to make a single noise. Quietly, carefully, and sneakily I crept out of the woods. As I left the woods I ran as fast as my legs would carry me home. I sprang up the four steps onto my old-timey looking porch, yanked open the mahogany door, slammed it shut behind me, and slowly slid down the door. My mother looked at me like I was crazy, like I was a madman or some sort of mad scientist.
“You really need to look at yourself in the mirror.” My mother said as she laughed hard. She was used to me coming home like this; it was almost a daily routine for me to come home with the crap beat out of me, which was very odd for someone who was 10. I got up slowly and limped down the hallway to the bathroom, realizing now how much stress I put my body in. As I gazed into the mirror I started laughing. My normally strait light blonde hair was messed up with blood and dirt caked in it, there was dried blood on my face and still some blood trickling out of my broken nose. My Dropkick Murphy’s shirt was torn up and bloody and my jeans, which were already torn up to begin with, only had blood on them. I looked like a homeless man; I couldn’t stop laughing at myself. After all I had been through, I was laughing at myself. Oh man I wish John could see me now; he’d get a real kick out of this. I limped out of the bathroom, down the small hallway with pictures of the family littering the walls, and into our modern kitchen. Our house was a mixture of old-timey looking stuff and modern looking stuff. It was odd, but I liked it.

“You’re not going to clean yourself up?” My mother questioned as she looked at me, more or less watching the blood drip onto my clothes and partially onto the table.

“Nah, I don’t really care how I look. Can I have something to eat?” I requested as we both start laughing more. My mother handed me a box of cold Dominos pizza and as I ate the cold, but delicious, pepperoni pizza I thought about how the night went. Not bad, it could’ve been worse. Maybe this was a good thing after all, I mean, Jason did teach me something. He taught me that I can take no matter what is thrown at me, and bounce back from it. Heck, I can’t even be mad at him; his face looked freaking hilarious when he punched the ground. I laughed to myself again and knew that no matter what, I can take anything.