Breathing hard, Jacob Simms sprinted down the street, his chest tightening with anxiety and stress. He lunged behind a bush and peered out nervously. Wiping sweat from his brow and panting, he glanced side to side.

The street was deserted.

The entire neighborhood appeared to be.

He plopped down for a second and felt the cool blades of grass between his fingers. He'd never expected to get this far. He'd never expected to actually get away from the cops at the road block... but now here he was, safely sitting behind a bush, but with nowhere to go. With no family, friends or even aquaintences to go to, he figured he might as well go back to prison.

Jacob looked up at the house next to him. Both were probably condemned to be torn down they were so delapadated and old.

While the one on the left was nothing more than a clearly abandoned shack, the one on his right appeared to be in a slightly better condition. The side panels were falling haphazardly all over and the paint was all but completely chipped away. Only a few large flecks of pale blue remained on the water-stained wood.

He stood up and walked to the front door of the house, still glancing around anxiously, watching for anyone or any movement. Only the leaves on trees seemed to be moving, and they only seemed to sway slightly.

He opened the door and walked inside. Jacob was surprised to see that the inside was markedly different from the outside. It was furnished, and appeared to have been cleaned recently. "Hello?" He called out without thinking, and then covered his mouth.

"David!" Someone from upstairs called back!

Jacob was too shocked to reply. He was scared stiff.

Someone was coming down the stairs now. All Jacob could do was watch, helplessly frozen to the spot as a woman came into view. She was at least 70, maybe older. The woman's gaze was fixed somewhere in the distance and appeared to not see him.

"David?" She sounded as though she would cry.

Jacob swallowed, "Ma'am?"

"David! It's you!" She still held the unfocused look as she leapt toward Jacob. She's blind, he realized. "My boy! My boy's back! Call me, mom, David! My boy!" Tears fell from her grayish blue eyes, as she grabbed at him desperately.

"No, no... I'm not..." His voice caught in his throat. "My name is Jacob."

"Oh, David! I knew you'd come back! They told me you were... well that doesn't matter now. Let me see you, boy." She reached out her hand and felt his face. "You haven't changed a bit! See? I still have your picture from the day you enlisted in that army." She turned around and grabbed a picture frame from the mantle.

Jacob examined the picture. He looked nothing like the man in it. The man was wearing a business suit and a tie, but the picture was in black and white, so it was impossible to discern the colors. "No, I'm sorry, my name isn't David, ma'am. My name is Jacob."

"David? Would you like some tea? Or cookies?" The woman was wiping away tears with her frail hands.

Jacob sighed heavily, and swallowed hard. "Yes, mom. That would be lovely."