It was another cold and freezing winter day. Harry and Penny were outside playing in the icy snow. Their hands were going numb from playing in the snow for too long, but they didn’t care. It was the most fun they’ve had in ages. They had been outside so long that the freezing winter air turned their faces into red tomatoes. Yet, this didn’t bother either of them, but their parents were bothered by this. They were in a bad mood and found exactly who to blame. Two weak young children who couldn’t do anything to defend themselves. 

The mother went outside and grabbed both children by the ears. Then, she dragged them into the shabby home. This house of horrors was the house Penny and Harry grew up in. Their earliest childhood memory was them having to maneuver themselves through the piles of trash that were all around the house. As they grew up it was like the trash was growing with them. These weren’t great living conditions for any child, but their parents didn’t care.

Penny and Harry both knew that their parents didn’t care about them. For instance, their parents hadn’t even enrolled them in school. Furthermore, there would never be enough food or water for both of them to eat so they would have to share. When Harry brought this problem to his parents they got angry at him, called him ungrateful, and punished him. They said that he wasn’t allowed to eat for the rest of the week. There was not one day where one or both parents weren't screaming at them for no good reason.

Once their mother had them both in the house she closed the door shut and started shouting at them. The dad soon joined in furthermore increasing the volume of the shouting and adding more to the shower of insults Penny and Harry were receiving. Though these insults and constant horrible treatment affected both of them they had each other. They consoled each other when they were in need of help. Any challenges they faced in life could never break their bond.

through could break it. They completed each other like missing pieces of a puzzle.  They had each other to depend on and that was enough for them.

Even though they had been used to the abuse to the point that it didn’t phase them they never had thought to escape. This was because they didn’t know where to go if they ever tried to leave the home. However, this all changed when their dad decided to put his hands on Penny. The father, intoxicated, suddenly had a burst of anger and decided to take it out on Penny. 

Penny, very unaware of her father's thoughts, had no idea what he was going to do. He pulled her hair by surprise and threw her to the ground. When Harry saw what was happening he went to the rescue of his sister as soon as she hit the ground. He was determined to save his sister and run away. In spite of that, he was stopped and also dropped to the ground by his father. The mother wasn’t even looking because she was more concerned with intoxicating herself than the well benign of her kids. Harry saw his father approach his sister with a balled-up fist and all he could think about was getting his sister out of there. 

Harry stood up and stepped in between his father and his sister. His irrational father threw a punch at his face for being in his way. Harry was knocked back by the power of the punch. His head swung back with such speed it looked like his neck had broken. Even though Harry was in excruciating pain his adrenalin kicked in and he stood back up with more determination than he had before. He knew that if he couldn’t protect his sister nobody would. 

He came up with a plan to distract his father and then let his sister escape. Essentially sacrificing himself. As he took action with this plan he blocked his father and told Penny to run away as fast as she could. Penny saw how Harry was receiving punches left and right from their father, she was stunned by this, but instead of running away, she came up with a better plan. A plan where both of them could escape. While her father was on top of her brother beating him she grabbed a glass bottle from the floor and hit him in the head with it. Her father fell back unconscious, so she took this chance to make a run for it. She grabbed her brother's hand and they both ran out of the house. Their mother heard the bottle break and saw that they were running away, so she started chasing them. As Penny and Harry saw their mother chasing them they started to panic. All they could think to do was to run likewise, nothing in their minds but survival. They didn’t know where they were going, but all they cared about was getting away. They looked back to check if their mother was still chasing them, but they saw that they had lost her and decided to stop somewhere to catch their breath. They saw a grocery store across the street, so they decided that was a good place to stop. As they were crossing the street they saw a car coming right for them. The car seemed like it was going in slow motion and all they could do was hold each other's hand tighter and tighter as the car approached. They then felt a strong blow to their bodies and soon they saw black.

Harry‘s POV

I was awoken by a stranger next to the bed I was sleeping on. Thinking this was a dream I was taken aback by how realistic everything seemed. Everything I saw and felt seemed so real I couldn’t help but think: was this actually real? My thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a stranger. The stranger seemed as surprised as I was. He was frantically smiling and crying, and he then hugged me. I was startled by how unfamiliar these events were to me. I had never seen a full-grown man crying with such a happy smile, nor had I ever been hugged with such passion and kindness. I was wondering what was happening when I heard someone say exactly what I was thinking. I had been taken aback by everything that was happening and hadn’t even noticed that there were other people also in the room. 

I turned to my left and saw that I was holding an unfamiliar girl's hand really tight as if our hands were stuck to each other. There was another unfamiliar adult hugging the girl in a very tight hug like me and the strange man. The younger girl looked as confused as I felt and she seemed strangely familiar. I knew that I had never seen her before but she still felt familiar. She then turns and looks at me, as we make eye contact, and then I had a sudden realization. This was my twin sister Penny and it seemed like she also had the same realization. I just knew she was my sister. I had this strong intuition that I couldn't be mistaken. We embraced each other in a tight meaningful hug. We didn’t want to let go of each other. We hoped that this was real because we didn’t want to return to our old life. We hoped that this was real because we didn’t want to return to our old life. We then felt other hands wrapping around us, it was the hands of the unfamiliar adults that were in the room. 

“I’m so glad the both of you are awake,” the lady said with a shaky voice

“I don’t know what I’d do if the both of you didn’t wake up,” the man said with a distraught voice.

“Who are you?” I and Penny ask at the same time.

The lady and man's faces immediately change from hopeful to devastated. I surprisingly felt bad for causing their sudden change in attitude. They ask us if we really don't know who they are and we respond with no. I felt guilty because they seemed to be genuinely sad, but I wasn’t going to trust any adult. They then explain that we had been in a coma because we were gravely ill. They believe that because of this we got amnesia and that's why we don't remember who we are or who they are. They then explain that my name is Henry and that Penny’s name is actually Penry and that they're our parents. I don’t know what world we were in, but I soon realized that this wasn’t the world I came from. I was glad I didn’t want to return back there anyway. Our new parents weren't like the old ones they cared for us and loved us. We accepted the fact that this was real life because we were together and safe and that was all that matters to us. We finally received what we had wished for: two caring parents.