His gray eyes drifted around the cage he was locked in. He looked at the unfamiliar grounds and felt tears sting his eyes, but he didn't cry, because he was a boy, and boys don't cry. He was scared, but he wouldn't show it. He was cold and hungry, but his thin, tattered clothes could barely keep him warm outside in the rain.
The twelve-year-old Neil's lips and body trembled from the rain biting down on him in the cage he was locked in outside his uncle's residence. His fingers were wrapped around the bars of the large cage as he looked around for someone to get him out of there, but even though he was hopeful, nobody came. He was alone, just like he had always been since his parents were killed. His heart felt heavy and tight, a knot forming in his throat and his eyes burning as he realized he'd lost his family and everything.
