Ethan

Little Ethan is so careless… Well, Ethan is an 18-year-old boy with autism and a lisp. He can speak and communicate normally.

Once again, Ethan's parents were arguing. "Can't you see this child is sick?" his mother shouted, her harsh words hitting Ethan like stones. All his life he had heard things like this: sick, weird, strange, troubled.

Then, suddenly, Ethan's bedroom door bursts open and his mother bursts in, grabbing the boy by the arm and dragging him out of the room. "I can't stand you anymore!" she screams without even looking at him.

She pushes him toward the car and forces him into the back seat. Then she gets in and slams the door. “You’re nothing but trouble!” she mutters as she drives recklessly, the silence heavier than her shouting.

After a while, the car stops. The mother gets out, opens the door, and takes Ethan out of the vehicle without saying much else. “You’re on your own,” she says coldly before getting back into the car.

Ethan stood there, motionless, not fully understanding what had just happened. His hands trembled and his eyes filled with tears as he watched the car drive away, leaving him completely alone.