AN: Hmm... so I haven't written HA! fanfiction since I was in like 7th grade. Actually, I haven't really written any fanfiction in a long time. So here goes… :)

She never ran away before, even if she had threatened her parents in the past with doing so. Today just happened to be the last straw between her and her family.

Olga had returned home for her spring break. She would be home for two weeks. As much as her sister annoyed Helga, she could put up with her usually. What she couldn't deal with were her mother and father who thought Olga was the most great, perfect, wonderful daughter. When Olga came home, they had cleaned the house, made a huge dinner, and were waiting by the door to welcome her. Helga was tired of always be thought of last and always being forgotten. Since her parents remembered that Olga was coming home that weekend they had completely forgotten that they had another daughter.

And she was sick of being a servant to her mother and father. She was getting behind on her schoolwork because she had to clean and make dinner every night; Miriam was always lying on the sofa either sleeping or watching daytime TV. Her father worked all day and then joined Miriam in the living room, sleeping in his recliner. The worst part was that if Helga didn't finish her chores or get dinner ready in time, it would be all her fault. Nobody berated her mother for sleeping all day; somehow it was like everything was always Helga's fault.

So that day, Helga had had enough. Her alarm clock woke her up like usual. She got dressed and packed her bag for school. Before Miriam was even awake and after her father had left for work, she left. It wasn't until she was nearly at school that the idea came into her head.

She hadn't had time to finish her homework for her classes that day, so she would definitely be in some trouble. Instead of heading into the building with everyone else, she ducked down an alleyway and waited for the bell to ring and for everyone to go inside. Then she headed to the bus stop.

Now she had the whole day to herself. She walked around town for a while, window shopping and stopping at a deli to get lunch. Finally, she ended up the in park, where she sat under a tree and people watched. When it finally started getting late into the afternoon, she went to head back and catch the bus.

There was a bus at the bus stop and Helga ran to catch it. Unfortunately, it pulled away just as she got there. More unfortunately, that was the last bus of the night. She was stranded.

"Oh Mommy, Oh Daddy!" Olga cried out upon arriving home, "It's so lovely to see you! And where is my wonderful baby Sister? I can't wait to see how much shes's grown!"

"Oh, hmm, where is Helga? She's probably just in the kitchen getting dinner ready."

Olga hurried around the corner and into the kitchen to greet her sister, but was left puzzled. Helga was nowhere in sight and there was no dinner on the table. Miriam's plates from a late breakfast were still sitting on the counter.

"Where is my baby Sister at? She's not here!" Olga exclaimed.

"What? Helga didn't prepare your 'welcome back' dinner? She's going to be in a lot of trouble!"

Bob then went upstairs to find Helga's room completely deserted.

"Maybe she's at a friends house and forgot to tell us," Miriam suggested, "You know how kids are these days, they're so forgetful."

"Well when I get a hold of her!" replied Bob, "I guess we'll just have to go out to eat then."

Helga wasn't sure what to do. For one thing, she was scared, but on the other hand she was exhilarated. She really was on her own and could do anything she wanted to do.

She didn't have much money with her, so she decided to just walk around and maybe go see a movie. As she was walking down the sidewalk, she looked at all the happy families enjoying dinner together or the friends out for the night together. It wasn't so upsetting until she walked past an Italian restaurant and saw her own family sitting there… without her.

There they were, her mother and father and her sister Olga. They didn't miss her at all. Had they even noticed she wasn't there?

After that, Helga ran. She ran as fast as she could and didn't stop until her legs hurt. Tired, she found a place to sit and eventually fell asleep.