The sky looked the same every day, dark and cloudy. As I looked around, everything seemed to be shrouded in a thick fog of misery. The desolate neighborhood, obsolete streets, and derelict apartment I loosely refer to as “home”, created an environment that seemed to envelop its lachrymose aura onto me. Sighing, I heaved my back pack over my shoulder and plodded along the sidewalk to school. 
Entering the building and trudging through the halls, I could feel the belligerent glowers from the people around me. The short trip to my locker seemed like an arduous journey as I was pushed around and hassled by the same group of kids. I didn’t know why they hated me so much and intended to make my life miserable. Perhaps it was because they knew no one would care to help me, and so these disgraced beings wrenched my backpack away, pouring its contents all over the tile floor and scattering paper in the air. Laughing like a bunch of ebullient hyenas, the pack drifted away. Left alone, I slowly gathered my materials as oblivious people looked over the commotion and rushed towards their classes, giving no hint of penitence for adding to the dispersal of my papers with their scuffling feet. Once I recollected my belongings, I went to class only to receive yet another tardy and chastisement from the teacher. With a smirk that could only come from a sadist, he handed over my failing grade on the previous test. I didn’t blame him for taking pleasure in my failure. To him and all my other teachers, my unsuccessful high school career was a result of my incompetence. I was just another maladroit student who didn’t want to work diligently or seek outside assistance, only arriving late frequently and disrupting the classes. I strove through the agonizing school day with the usual routine of concealing myself in a secluded corner. Since every person I came in contact with ended up hurting me anyway, I did my best to avoid others. The final bell signaled the end of the school day, but for me, it only marked the halfway point of my hardships.
Usually I had a 50-50 chance of being lucky and free of troubles for the rest of the afternoon, but upon seeing the rusty and battered Nissan propped against the curb as I approached my house, I mentally prepared myself for the adversity ahead. Grinding open the door, I immediately spotted the heavyset man sitting across the room. Although his frame was immersed in the shadows, I could distinguish the menacing glare that seemed to pierce the darkness and home into the fears of my consciousness. As always, he seemed to have gotten too familiar with the bottle in his hand, and began making his way towards me, berating me for being the most despicable child anybody could have and threatening me with a thorough beating. His threats were not empty, as the scars on my back prove, and I briskly ran to my room to grab a sleeping bag, fleeing the house in a matter of seconds. I started sprinting away towards the right as I had done many times before, and soon arrived at an abandoned building off the corner of the street.
The remnants of an industrial factory, this building stretched towards the skies and resided among a number of other soaring buildings. It was entirely made of rough cement, with rusting pipes protruding from the rooftop and walls; but despite its dilapidated appearance, this building was my sanctuary. I rushed up the fleet of stairs and scurried up the ladder towards the rooftop, breathing in the musty scent of sorrow, pain, and regret that accompanied me whenever I came to this place. From the high altitude of the roof, I fixated my gaze across the horizon of the city. I thought to myself “Why is this world against me? Why does everything seem to go wrong in my life?” Pulling out a post-it note from my backpack I despondently wrote down “I’ll try to endure this world for a couple more days. If things don’t get better, I’ll leave.” Turning around, I faced a stone wall and placed the post-it note on it. This message was only the latest addition to the collage of notes on the wall. Various assortments of pink, blue, orange, yellow, and green were dispersed across, forming a vibrant veil of despairing thoughts. Phrases and words such as “Worthless”, “Alone”, and “No one understands” were written all over; the accumulation of my anguished feelings. At last I curled up into my sleeping bag, dreams being another escape from my problems.
I woke the next morning and braced myself for another onerous day. Giving one more glance to the mosaic behind me, I set off for school. The proceedings of today, which was composed of more humiliation and agony, fared no better than yesterday’s encounters. Once again, I ended up storming away to the factory building. Upon reaching the roof top, I noticed an anomaly on the stone wall. A single white post-it note was positioned right in the middle of the collection of colors. It read “Please don’t go”. I was utterly shocked. To think that someone had discovered my haven and cared for my existence was absurd. Hastily writing down my response, I stuck on a note which explained to the unknown writer that I was of no use to the world. Over the course of the week a process was established between the anonymous person and me. I would write a message detailing my daily sufferings, but the next day I would receive words of encouragement and understanding. The simple words that told me to believe in myself and embrace the good as well as the bad qualities of the world led me to try and find light in my darkest hour.
So each day, my perspective gradually underwent a transformation. I started to increase my effort in school and to stand up against the group of kids that were harassing me. Although my days were becoming more bearable, I was far from being happy. Every time I looked at the stone wall, it would remind me of the harsh reality of the world, and I would succumb once again into a dismal abyss. It was not long before I began to give up on myself. The teachers’ assessments seemed to only get harder and the bullies’ oppression only greater. That was the moment I came to realize that no matter how hard I tried, nothing would go right for me.
*****
The weather today was particularly cloudy, and the sky complemented it with its darkness. I slowly approached the factory building with a post-it note in my hand. The note contained a message to my unknown companion bidding him or her farewell and thanks. As I sauntered up the flight of steps, I thought wryly that this building, which had been my refuge for the past years, was the only location fit for me to spend the last of my hours. Reaching the top, I peered over the edge of the roof, acknowledging the fact that once I jumped and flew my pains would disappear. No one would even notice that I was gone. Letting go of a final breath, I tensed my legs and prepared to leap. However, I had completely forgotten to post my last message. Being an appreciative person, I couldn’t just leave without giving my thanks. I turned around, and to my surprise, my assortment of previous messages had vanished from the wall. In its place was a white arrow composed of all the supportive comments made by the nameless writer. The arrow pointed downward towards a large plastic box on the ground. I went over to take a look and found a note taped on top of the box. It read “You cannot move forward until you accept yourself and forgive this world. Keeping a hold of these will only bring you down. They may seem heavy, but once you release them, they will fly.” Opening the box, I found hundreds of little paper airplanes. Each one was composed of one of my disparaging comments. I finally knew what I had to do. Going back to the edge of the roof, I picked up one airplane in my hand, which read “No escape” and threw it. I watched it fly away and felt something inside me loosen up. With an exhilarating sensation pushing me onwards, I launched away the airplanes.  I threw out “depression” flung “loneliness” and tossed “hate” away from me. A great wind suddenly brewed, and I gazed out in awe at the multicolored fleet spanning the horizon. As the last airplane disappeared from my view, I let out a huge smile. Heading back home, I looked up. I could see the sun again.