Teen Ink

Summary: Confused with his dad's drinking problem, and coping with his mother's abandonment, a young boy seeks refuge in a wall, and what lies behind it.
In this town, the rich and the poor are divided. On the rich lies mansions, and limos, but it's inhabitants for the most part are both empty and spoiled. On the poor side, the people live in a tight-knit community, lacking houses and sleeping on cots stacked one next to the other. Kneeling against the wall one day in efforts to escape the screaming of his father's drunken mouth, the young boy hears moans from the other side, and strikes conversation with a sick old man. The two converse for the following days, discussing the rich and the poor and the problems that have arose from their separation, along with religion, family, life and death.One day, the boy discovers the man is no longer on the other side of the wall, and the two find eachother in the most unlikely of places. Ultimately, the boy learns from the man what he could never learn from his drunk dad, his cowardly mother, or his narrow-minded neighbors. He learns companionship, freedom, and the will to live when you have something worth living for.