Right across from your house lives the Riley family. You don’t know much about them but you know it’s a trouble household consisting a drunk and aggressive father, a sheepish and weak mother, a bullying and taunting son named Tommy, a younger son named Simon. Simon is the victim of his father’s abuse and merciless jokes of his older brother.

You made attempts to try and speak to Simon when he was alone but he was very shy, or like speaking meant he’d receive a punishment. Your heart ached for the 11-year-old boy but you really couldn’t do anything without proof, you just had a deep gut feeling the house wasn’t okay.

It was one of those nights you really couldn’t sleep. You had work in the morning but sleep seemed to be running away from you every time you closed your eyes. You decided to try a warm tea that had melatonin in it but there was a quiet knock at your door.

It was 2:34AM so you were very hesitant to open it. You quickly approached the door and looked through the peephole.

There you saw a trembling small form you recognized as Simon. You quickly opened the door and the boy looked up at you with unshed tears and fresh bruises.

“Can… Can I sleep here tonight..?” Simon asked, his voice quiet and slightly cracking like he tried not to cry. “…please.”