The rain pounded upon the roof of the mobile home. Seven year old Zander was left home alone once again while his alcoholic mother was out. He never really knew where exactly she was, but he knew that every single time she came home she brought a new man for the night. Usually what would happen was the man would come over for the night and the next morning she would have money for more alcohol. However, his mom had been bringing the same man home every night for the past couple of weeks. The only way she could pay for rent and food was by the little child support she received for Zander’s child support. Zander’s father left before Zander was even born.

Zander placed a small pot of water on the stove, and turned the heat on high. He stared at the majestic blue flames that boiled his water for a second, and then he tore open a box of Kraft Mac and cheese. He tossed the noodles in the water and threw the box in the trash. The trash was full and the next day was trash day, so he took it out to the dumpster. He came back inside and continued to make his dinner. He then plopped the gooey noodles on a plate and began to grub. There was a jiggle at the front door knob, and Zander froze, not knowing who the intruder could be. His mother, Angela, stumbled in through the door. She was drunk and her clothes were coated in blood. His mother started to mumble as she looked at Zander. He hadn’t the slightest clue of what his mother was trying to say. Angela became frustrated with her son because he wasn’t responding to her gibberish words. She walked over to him, and threw him on the floor. She started to gag him until Zander went purple in the face. Her man of month came in and yelled at her to go change her clothes. She quit choking Zander and headed to the bathroom to change. Zander lay on the floor until he saw his mother and her man of the month go into the kitchen. Zander then found the strength to get up. He walked to the bathroom and saw his mother’s bloody clothes lying on the floor.

In the kitchen he heard the man of the night talking. He was a very intimidating man, standing six feet tall with a five o’clock shadow. He had very innocent eyes, but he was as guilty as the blood on Angela’s shirt.

“Well is it finished?” he asked Angela.

“She’s taken care of. What do I do with the rope and the bag?” she said as clearly as possible.

“Give them to me!” the man of the night yelled. He then knocked Angela out leaving her unconscious on the kitchen floor.

Zander was still in the bathroom overhearing the conversation when the man of the night walked into the bathroom with the used body bag and the bloody rope. He laid eyes on Zander, and tossed him into the body bag. He then tied the rope around the bag making it impossible to escape. The man of the night went and threw the bag that Zander was enclosed in into the trailer park dumpster. Zander knew that tomorrow was indeed trash day. Zander pushed and shoved, but the bag didn’t tear. He soon fainted to the lack of oxygen.

Daylight broke. The faint sound of a garbage truck beeping approached. The dumpster that Zander resided in was picked up and dumped into the garbage truck.

Meanwhile, Angela awakened sober. She got up from the kitchen floor and called her son’s name. No reply came back to her. She called her man of the months name and no reply came back to her either. She searched the mobile home and the trailer park for Zander, and she couldn’t find him. She went back home and decided to wait for him to return. She figured that he went and stayed at a friend’s house after what happened the night before. She turned on the television. As she flipped through the channels she saw her baby boy on the TV. Zander was recovered from the body bag; not alive, but dead. She didn’t have any reaction at all, except stare at the television and grab for another bottle of alcohol.