I hike in the woods by the dim light of the moon. The air is cool and the wind whistles softly in my ear, as if to keep a secret. The sound of me crunching leaves is interrupted by a faint howl in the distance. Where am I? I have no clue. I see a tall, lean figure about 10 feet from me. I squint to see who it is. There, Mr. Belmoore stands, breaking into a hideous cackle. With his wrinkleless and stunning face, he raises his dark brown eyebrows as he smirks, "My, oh my, Dana! You've grown so much in the past three years! Very much like your father. Would you like to join him?" He jumps in a rusty old pick-up truck that I didn't notice before. I scream as he drives the car straight at me.

I open my eyes to see my sister, wide eyed in worry. I sit up quickly, trying to think of a fake dream to explain to her. I had to keep my ten-year-old sister safe from any nightmares, especially of Mr. Belmoore. After what he did to our family, I keep on getting nightmares of him coming back. It's my responsibility to take care of my sister now.

"Are you okay, Dana?" she asks. "What did you dream about that made you shout for help?"

"Um...it was of a wolf that attacked me out of nowhere when I was walking in the woods at night," I lie. "It was super scary. C'mon now Bella, we have to get ready for school." Mom would have been the one to be saying that. If only I could find her... My mind flashes back to three years ago.

Dragging our feet, my mother, carrying seven-year-old Bella, and I make our way up the stairs to the church. My father's funeral. The coffin lays closed, the body too badly damaged for people to see. Everything is dark; the clothes everyone wears, the sky, and the ambiance. Mr. Belmoore stands to the side with his head down, but I swear I see a smirk on his face. He claims that it was an accident- driving right at my dad and killing him. Since there was no witnesses, he was sentenced to three years in prison. He deserves more than three years. As I pass by him, I fight back urges to punch him in the face. The funeral ends and when we get home, my mom gives me a weak smile and says, "Could you watch Bella for me? I'm going to go for a walk." I do and I wait an hour, two hours, a day, a week. Days pass by and Bella gets older but my mom never comes home. After about two weeks, Bella and I start to live at the orphanage in town. Crying every night, we comfort each other and I hug her closely, afraid she too might one day disappear.

A silent tear drops from my face. No matter how many years have past, that memory has never changed meaning to me. I have one goal in life: to find my mother. To find her, I need to have enough money to send a search party for her. I have my life already planned out.
I hold Bella's hand as we make our way to the kitchen. Breakfast is scrambled eggs- as usual. We eat our food quickly and dash to the bus stop. We make it just in time and climb into the bus.

The bus makes its way to school. I don't think I've ever been more excited! Being an 8th grader means I am one more year closer to becoming an adult and getting a job. Then, I can find my mom and live with her.

I hug Bella goodbye, promising I will see her at the end of the day. I scrutinize my schedule. First hour: calculus with Mr. Belmoore. I reread it. Mr. Belmoore?!?!

My mind races. It's already been three years! Mr. Belmoore would already be released from prison! It can't be! I fidget with my schedule as a man passes by me. I recognize his face.

“Hello Dana,” Mr. Belmoore greets, waving at me. “I requested that you be in my class, because I heard that you were a brilliant student. I hope for a wonderful year with you!” He saunters away, but stops as if wanting to say something. He continues down the hall, leaving me speechless, fearful, and angry. This can’t be happening.

I stroll into the office, demanding a change of teachers. The secretary apologizes, saying that I couldn’t change teachers because the only teacher willing to have the gifted students was Mr. Belmoore. I stumble out of the office, disappointed. How can this happen to me?
I hobble to room 42, calculus. On the door, it says, "Welcome! As you enter, you will find that there are names on each desk. I have ordered you by the highest GPA in the class to the lowest. Don't be disappointed because it could always change. I look forward to a great school year with you!" -Mr. Belmoore. Greeting my friends Alicia and Natalie, I find my seat with my name on it- in the front row, right by Mr. Belmoore’s desk. This is normal, since I’m the smartest in the class. Scoring a perfect on the SATs since 5th grade, I am one of the smartest kids in the country. Teachers willing to teach my class are slim, too scared to be outsmarted by a student. Being the youngest in my class since 5th grade, I am treated like a baby. Alicia and Natalie were the only two people to accept me, being two years younger than them all.
Class starts by Mr. Belmoore giving us a bright smile and introducing himself. Of course he leaves out the fact that he killed my dad. He gives us our brand new book with the word CALCULUS printed in bold on the cover. A mix of brilliant colors and math formulas wraps the cover. It is beautiful. I just can’t wait to start.

After 10 minutes of working on lesson one of chapter one, he stops. We all look up to see what the problem is. He is gone; nowhere to be seen, with no warning at all. The bell rings, signaling that it's time for lunch. In a single file line, my class marches to the cafeteria. When we get there, I am called to the office for a "very important message".

Opening the office door, I spot Bella who is having a deep discussion with the secretary and Mr. Belmoore. Mr. Belmoore grins and waves. I ignore him and ask why I am called. The grin on Mr. Belmoore's face melts, replaced by a serious face.

"Your mother has been found," he starts. I widen my eyes and my jaw drops in disbelief. "She was found in the streets of Chicago begging for someone to help her find you two. I sent a search party for her as soon as..." His voice drops. "As soon as I was released from prison. She will arrive very shortly."

I stand there in awe. Out of everyone in the whole world, Mr. Belmoore is the one that found my mom. I've never been so blown away in my life. Tears roll off my face as I hold my sister close to me. I see Mr. Belmoore's eyes water a little.

"I'm so sorry for what I did three years ago," he apologizes that sounds melancholy. "I was young minded and unafraid of making the wrong move. It was the day I was fired from my previous job, so I drove, not following the rules of the road. When I saw your father on the street, he looked very much like my boss that fired me. You know the rest of what happened that night. In prison, I kept on getting dreams,
nightmares. It struck me, one day, that I never meant to kill anyone. It snapped me back to reality and I was so angry at myself for killing an innocent man. I felt so guilty and I wanted to die because I thought that was the only way to forgive myself. But then, I found another way to forgive myself. Reading the paper from the incident I created, I saw that your mother ran away from home. I was determined to help. When I got out of prison, I luckily found a job, which just happens to be your teacher because no one wanted to be the teacher for your class, and I sent out a search party for your mother." He stops and stares at his feet. I tap his arm to get his attention.

"Mr. Belmoore?" I begin. I pause to carefully think of what to say. "Thank you." There is an awkward silence so I add, "The past is in the past and we can't change anything about it, but we can change the future. I'll only remember you as the person that found my mom and nothing more." Then, I hug him.

As I hug him, I forget all my hate towards him and all my fear. I could've lived my life without a mother or father. Although he killed my father, he brought my mother back to us. All the fear and worries I had for years went away. Now, you might be thinking that he could be lying, but the sincerity in his eyes gives me no doubt that he's telling the truth.

I close my eyes and think hard. Is this the life I want to live? I open my eyes and make my decision not long after I asked myself. I pull myself away from the hug. I grab Mr. Belmoore's hand with one hand and Bella's hand in the other. I have to let go of the past, the future reflects upon what happens now, not what happened then. Yes. This is what I believe life should be: to start this life with a new perspective.