The clouds were darker than dark. The sun was nowhere. It was not close. It had dissipated into oblivion. It was no more. It would never be again. She was certain of that. The sun had vanished into nothingness.

The rain was something else. It wasn't the type of rain that cleansed the soul, mind, or body. It did nothing more than contribute to the darkness. It was like sorrow raining down on the earth from the clouds above.

The dirt — red clay with clumps of grass mixed in — was mud now. Rivulets of water streaked through caverns and valleys created by the falling rain.

She raised her eyes to the sky and let the rain mix with her warm, salty tears. It was like sorrow was falling from the sky and mixing with her own.

There had been days she longed for this. Not actually this, but a part of this. She didn't want this. Never this. She had just wanted to be … free. Free. Wasn't she free now?

No. She wasn't. If anything, now she was in Hell. She was lost. She was broken. She no longer even knew who she was.

Life itself was broken. The pieces were lying in front of her. More pieces were standing beside her. It was like a broken picture frame, even glue would never make it look the same again.

Nothing would ever be the same. It was done. Forever.

She harshly wiped the sorrow from her face and looked down toward the bulky mound of dark red, muddy clay.

Suddenly, she fell. Her knees hit wet earth with a thud and her hands planted firmly in front of her. She bowed her head, her dark, wet curls dripping water around her. Water also dripped from the tip of her nose.

She grasped the mud around her in her fists and pounded her hands against the sodden ground. She hated it all.

Then she felt the hands. The hands were on her back, on her neck, on her head. On her arms.

And then, someone sat beside her, "Let her be," a voice said, cracking with the emotion she felt deep inside.

"Let her be."

"Let her be."

Let her be.

Let me be.

Let me …

Let …

And that was the last thing she remembered of her mother's funeral.

"This family is a nice one, Callie. I realize this is your first time in the foster care system, but you and your brother will like it here. The couple has three other children, two boys and a girl. They were not planning on fostering any other children after adopting their twins, but they agreed when I told them about the two of you," the social worker told the sullen fifteen year old girl sitting in the back seat.

Callie Jacob didn't say anything. She just looked down at her hands. They were caked with red clay. Her black dress had the same clay caked on it. So did her black tights and her flats. They also had bits of grass. She didn't care. She'd never wear this dress again. It was just a reminder of what today had been — the day she and Jude buried their mother.

Why would she ever want to be reminded of this day? If she could find out a way, she would burn the entire outfit. She hated this outfit now. It had been one she was so excited to buy when she and her mom had gone shopping for it. It had been for an art gallery opening they were supposed to go to in a couple of weeks.

Instead, she wore it to her mother's funeral.

She hated her father now. He had done this to them. He had done this to her and Jude — and now they were alone. They had no family.

"Hey Lena, I have the children with me. Like I told you on the phone, Callie is 15 and Jude is 10," the social worker — Callie thought his name was Bill or Paul, she wasn't sure — said. She hadn't even realized the front door had opened. She held Jude close to her and looked up at the woman who had opened the door.

The woman was tall, thin, and she was pulling her thick mane of dark curls up into a ponytail on top of her head.

Her eyes were dark brown and her skin was the color of toasted almonds.

"Hi, Bill. Callie, Jude, hello. Why don't you come in?" Lena said, opening the door wider to allow for the three to come in.

Callie could feel Lena's eyes watching her and Jude, but she didn't look up at her. All she could do was look at her dirt covered shoes.

"Callie, Jude, I put the television on, why don't you both go watch something while Bill and I talk. The remote is on the coffee table. We will be right through here in the kitchen, okay?"

Jude nodded, but Callie just kept looking at her shoes.

Lena watched as Jude pulled his sister into the living room, then quickly went into the kitchen to talk to Bill.

"Callie, how long will we be here?" Jude asked his sister. He had never seen Callie like this. It was starting scare him. She had destroyed her bedroom two days ago, and had been almost completely silent since they found out about their mom.

Then, at the funeral, she had completely fallen apart. It had been raining since the day their mom had died — unusual weather for San Diego — and Callie had refused to stand under an umbrella and had then fallen down on the ground and just screamed.

"I don't know."

Jude stared at her. He wanted his sister back. Not whoever this person was. He already lost his mom and his dad. He was afraid to lose his sister, too.

AN: I know this is short, but I just wanted to get people's thoughts on this new story. I have quite a bit of it written. Please let me know what you think.