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Our Dad Disappeared – I Had to Grow Up Overnight
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Jun 5, 2025
Our Dad Disappeared – I Had to Grow Up Overnight "I’m glad he’s gone." When their father disappears for good, 17-year-old Johnny and his 12-year-old sister Kayleigh are left to face the world alone. One summer night on the swings, under the watchful stars, they confront the truth: no more fake promises, no more waiting. Just survival. This is a quiet but powerful story about abandonment, anger, fear, and the unbreakable bond between siblings. 💔 If you've ever had to grow up too soon, this story is for you. 🔔 Subscribe for more emotionally honest animated stories. #dadleftus #emotionalstory #animatedshort #siblingsurvival #growinguptoosoon #fathershadow #familydrama #2danimation
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0:00
they is white and pure as snow and i
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watched them float around me as graceful
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as fairies a twig cracked behind me and
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there he was he had pulled his baseball
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cap over his eyes so i couldn't see his
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expression he sat next to me rubbing his
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large hands together he was still
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wearing the ring i bought for him all
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those years ago on the middle finger of
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his left hand sorry guys i wandered off
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for a bit too long francis had the
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deepest voice in any mail i'd ever heard
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i remembered when i used to find it
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attractive over the years it's morphed
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to me finding it intimidating all good
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clark responded putting an arm over
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sammmy shoulders none of us here can
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sleep apparently we used to be amazing
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friends all of us i got accepted into
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northchester university in 2003 i had
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big dreams of becoming a lawyer just
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like my grandfather i met clark and
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francis and him in one of my first year
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classes clark was studying to be a
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lawyer like me and francis was studying
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biology he wanted to be a doctor and he
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oh man big dreams as well that were
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doomed to never come true big dreams
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that died just as tragically as him he
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was studying biology with francis he
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wanted to be a medical scientist he
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wanted to help people to cure them and
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after his mother died of breast cancer
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he studied all the harder maybe one day
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i can help find a cure i remember him
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saying to me after her funeral he was so
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angry that a disease had taken his
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mother's life a disease of all things he
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had said something that has the
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potential to be cured but for some damn
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reason can't be his funeral was 7 months
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and 8 and 1/2 days after his mother's i
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suddenly felt cold i wished i could leap
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into the flames and bathe my body in
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their deep orange light i wanted to roll
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around in the ashes i wanted them to
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stick to me to make me a new skin i
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introduced sammy to clark francis and
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him one night at some frat party i can
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barely remember sammy is my oldest
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friend we went to junior high together
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she was always prettier than i with her
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curly strawberry blonde hair and bright
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smile sammmyy's always been a free
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spirit someone who rarely ever worried
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she took his death better than any of us
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did "he's in a better place now guys,"
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she had said after the funeral "god had
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a plan for him and he's taken care of
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now does anybody want marshmallows?"
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sammy said in an attempt to get rid of
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the awkward silence clark and i bought a
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bunch i'm good i said i already felt
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sick to my stomach i looked over at
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francis who nodded sammy grabbed her
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backpack and passed francis a plastic
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bag of marshmallows francis placed one
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over a fork and held it over the flames
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my left eye started to twitch the way it
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did when i was quitting smoking the
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cravings would get so bad it's crazy to
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consider how deeply i was in love with
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francis before it happened he was my
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first boyfriend my first love i spent my
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first few months of university imagining
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what it would be like to run my fingers
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through his dark curls to lay my head on
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his chest and feel his heartbeat to look
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into his deep blue eyes and see the
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reflection of my own when he asked me
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out after that party the one where i
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introduced sammy to everyone i was
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shocked he was way out of my league and
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he came from a fabulously wealthy family
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whereas i came from pretty much nothing
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but he saw something in me sammy yawned
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stretching out her legs she smiled at me
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across the fire there once was a time
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when sammy could look at me and know
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exactly what i was thinking now i look
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at her and see a stranger she looked so
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different she had a pixie cut to her
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long strawberry blonde hair that used to
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graze her waist her arms had tattoos i
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had never seen before one with the date
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7184 on her wrist next to a heart i
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haven't spoken to her really spoken to
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her in years she hasn't even seen the
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inside of my apartment none of them have
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did they even know where i lived that i
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moved to the big city last year doubtful
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guys i'm getting tired she said getting
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up from her seat on the ground me and
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clark got to hit the road early tomorrow
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morning so i'm going to try and get some
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shutye i watched her turn her back on
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the flames and walked towards her tent
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"wait," i blurted out sammy paused in
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her tracks and turned around to face me
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"huh i just i couldn't figure out what
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to say right next to me francis was
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staring at me intently his death had
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made big news northchester student
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mysterious death his extended family
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flew from across the country i remember
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being surrounded by a labyrinth of
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people who all looked just like him
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faces and faces that all had the same
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mouths same noses same laugh same
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twinkle in their eyes clark was the most
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devastated out of all of us they were
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distant cousins but grew up together
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they were like brothers he had died in a
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fire that night we were all having a
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sleepover at one of francis's family
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lakeous it was a log cabin a fire
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started mysteriously in the house all of
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us were able to get out safe for a few
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burns here and there and some lung
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damage from the smoke but he somehow
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didn't i barely remember anything from
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that night i had been questioned by a
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policeman who uncannily resembled my
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father and crying because i couldn't
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remember a damn thing i kept thinking
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about how it felt to breathe in there it
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felt like there was an animal in my
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chest and every time i inhaled it clawed
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at me viciously from the inside out i
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had looked down at my arms at the burns
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that looked as delicate and as beautiful
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as frost on a winter's window on my skin
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i had to ask the policeman how they got
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there he had laughed at me there was a
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big investigation his family was kind of
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a big deal with his dad being the
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retired mayor of the city and all that i
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remember sitting with everyone in the
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apartment sammy was renting at the time
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her stoner roommate listening in from
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the next room as if it was all some hot
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gossip why are they investigating this
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it was obviously an accident one of us
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could go to jail for this what jail no
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way none of us did this it was an
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accident an accident an accident i still
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see the paramedics pulling his charred
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body out of the house on a gurnie when i
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close my eyes it's been 5 years and i
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still see it," i said to everyone the
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only sound there was besides my voice
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was the crackling and popping of the
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campfire i was never religious but i was
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always adamant that it looked as if his
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body had been yanked up from hell his
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face his torso his arms his legs had all
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been chewed and spat out by the fire i
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couldn't recognize his face it looked
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sunken in and charred black his feathery
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blonde hair had all been burnt away it
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was so odd to see his body bald he had
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always taken such great care of his hair
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i used to tease him that he cared more
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about his hair than any girl i'd ever
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met and then it was gone "we all agreed
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not to talk about this," clark said his
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voice shaking "we agreed." "how can i
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not?" i said exasperated "i no," clark
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cut me off "no we're not doing this not
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now." then when i wanted to scream it's
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been 5 years and we've never talked
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about it about any of it the police had
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found evidence that the fire had been a
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homicide they were convinced that one of
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us had intentionally started a fire
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intended to kill each of us francis had
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an arson charge from when he was 15 he
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had set his stepfather's ferrari on fire
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out of anger there was evidence he
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started another fire too clark and his
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family went after francis with a searing
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vengeance they hired the best lawyers
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they wanted francis in jail for 14 years
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they were convinced francis killed him
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francis and i were dating at that time i
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stopped touching him he and i felt so
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cold i couldn't bear to be around him we
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broke up around a week before the trial
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"just calm down," sammy said calmly
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holding out her palms to me like stop
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signs after the trial we agreed to not
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bring it up again remember we all wanted
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to put it past us well i can't anymore i
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felt hot tears boiling in my eyes i
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can't we need to talk about it
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ultimately after months of court francis
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was acquitted but our once tight-knit
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friend group fell apart we went from
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seeing each other every day to none at
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all he was the glue for our friend group
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he was always the one who made the plans
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who called us who made the effort after
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he was gone it was as if we all had
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nothing in common anymore i didn't kill
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him francis said quietly clark moaned
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and put his head in his hands we never
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said sammy started right francis laughed
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coldly you never said i did but you all
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treated me like a murderer none of you
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could look me in the eyes ever again you
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never said i killed him but damn it you
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never needed to say anything we were so
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young and so scared sammy had twin tears
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running down her flushed cheeks we
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didn't know who to believe we had you
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telling us one thing and the police and
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our parents telling us another you were
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scared francis said "you were scared
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imagine how i felt my life was falling
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apart benjamin died that day and so did
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i everything in me died my happiness my
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life my future nothing is left in me
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don't compare yourself to him don't you
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dare." clark lifted his face from his
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hands he died that night at just 19
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you're still here i'm barely here,"
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francis finally shouted after he died
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and you all left me i turned to drugs
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you all knew that i was hooked on heroin
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at 19 and none of you bastards even
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checked on me i never even got a call
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from any of you i knew he was directing
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that statement at me specifically i
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turned my head away from francis in
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shame he's been dead for 5 years clark
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said his voice barely heard above the
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flames he's been dead for that long and
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i miss him every day i i feel like i see
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him sometimes he visits me in my dreams
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i can barely sleep i see him too sammy
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sniffled it's horrible i still can smell
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it oh god the burnt skin the flames
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began to rise higher my vision began to
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blur that night i had been smoking we
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were all drunk i had taken a puff of my
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cigarette and flicked on the sofa why
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couldn't i remember that why am i
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remembering it now i tried to rise to my
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feet but i was so dizzy that i felt like
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vomiting i had walked away from the sofa
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to sleep next to francis in one of the
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only two bedrooms sammy and clark shared
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a bed too yes i remember us teasing them
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about that before they fell asleep ben
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fell asleep on the floor in a sleeping
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bag because the sofa had dog fur on it
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from last summer and ben is highly
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allergic he was right next to the sofa
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but it couldn't have been me the flames
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were so high i remember francis yanking
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open the bedroom window i remember
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gasping and coughing for air i remember
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feeling the heat on my skin like
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somebody was grabbing me and pulling me
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in towards the flames so that i could
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never escape francis had shoved me
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through the window and yes he jumped in
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after me i remember falling and hitting
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the ground on my back i had tried to
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scream as i was falling but i had no
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voice sitting in front of the campfire i
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began to cough again a howling deep
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cough just like that night i began
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gasping for air "whoa are you okay?"
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sammy said walking towards me "just calm
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down take some deep breaths." "it's
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okay." we had taken the batteries out of
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the smoke alarm because it kept going
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off unnecessarily anytime any of us lit
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a cigarette i was a chain smoker back
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then so the alarm was going off every
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minute it annoyed all of us so we all
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agreed to take the batteries out who
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knew a fire could be so quiet was it
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tiptoeing around the house like a
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monster holding its breath there is no
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way the fire was my fault a single
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cigarette couldn't cause the destruction
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that happened that night there is no way
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it's impossible i looked at the campfire
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again the flames were swaying back and
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forth they seemed so tempting so warm i
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rubbed my eyes and stopped coughing ben
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was taken by the flames but i won't be i
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smiled at my friends sorry guys i must
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have inhaled some smoke
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#Death & Tragedy