Ken Crost Digital Fine Art

The Story

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Henry was born into disfunction, as many children were in the dystopic world they unfortunately inhabited. He never knew his father and, even though his mother seemed loving enough, one night on their way to nowhere, she left him on the side of a road 30 miles north of Albuquerque. They had stopped because Henry had to pee, and when he ran out into an empty field, she put the car in drive, and fled the scene never to come back. He was eight, it was night, and he was shaking in terror at the thought of what would become of him. He had heard stories of the resurgence of mountain lions, and in his young brain, he knew he didn’t want to become dinner for such a creature. When he got back to the road, he could still see the taillights of his mother’s car fading into the distant darkness. He ran after her but soon stopped, knowing the chase was hopeless. 

He had no idea what to do, so he sat down on a large rock next to the road and hoped for the best. But luck was on Henry’s side that night. Three hours after his mother disappeared into the evening, an old, beat-up something-or-other truck pulled up and a young woman with long black hair, torn tee shirt, ratty jeans, and almost worn-out sandals jumped out of the truck and saved his little ass from a certain unhappy ending. Her name was Dot, she was twenty-one, pretty, and soon would take over the function of being his mother. She was the kindest soul little Henry had ever met. 

One week after Dot found Henry, she joined a small band of travelers, good people who wanted to work together and protect each other from the insanity of the world. Though Henry’s life changed for the better that night, as he grew older, he still wondered what had become of his mother. He wanted to know where she had gone and had he done something that made her leave him there on that lonely New Mexico road. He hoped that one day he would see her again and find out why she left him in such a desperate state. Though there were times when he felt very angry toward her, mostly he just missed her.

After ten years together, Dot and Henry grew close, but Dot empathized with Henry’s desire to understand why his mother left him. She too went through something akin to what Henry went through, so she did her best to help him search for her, but all their leads led nowhere. But Dot and Henry agreed to keep looking and searching. Henry had a feeling that the answer was still out there just waiting to be found. Although religion long ago disappeared from this land, Henry prayed to no one in particular to help him find the answer he was looking for.