Casey Peterson wasn’t always a silvery skinned ivory-haired bombshell. Her youth was spent in an orphanage among many unwanted children seeking a parent’s love. Displaced, moving from foster home to foster home after her biological father found himself more in love with gambling than his own flesh and blood. Though it felt as if she were fated to be alone Casey never let it get her down, small arms outstretched to passing strangers believing she deserved love and a home. She was a child worth cherishing but often overlooked, time against the young woman who was getting older as there was always someone younger.
Years passed with no luck and Casey was now in her teens. The women in the orphanage began to allow Casey to do as she pleased, go where she wanted. With torn jeans that never quite fit and a baseball cap turned backwards she looked every bit the stray kid she was. Blending in with the homeless teenagers causing mayhem in the dirty alleys of New Jersey she wasn’t met with much kindness. That youthful smile became more gritted, innocent eyes more weary. A wall was forming, a protective shell to keep the horrors at bay in a child still trying to understand how the world worked. Where she fit in… did she fit in? But she always went back, each night returning to the orphanage once lights were out. A soft click and her small space of the room would illuminate as the soft glow of her Gameboy filled the void allowing that sweet smile to return once more.
SHE WAS GETTING OLDER AND THERE WAS ALWAYS SOMEONE YOUNGER.
Richard and Jackie Peterson were new to New Jersey, they moved from Seattle due to Richard’s work where a year prior they had adopted Isabel who was now reaching her seventh birthday. They were an older couple with so much love to give and a home they felt needed another. Casey had perched herself in a corner, baseball cap tilted low to obscure her features and a Gameboy firm in her grip. She appeared the oldest, the least outgoing and the least interested in her surroundings. A child who would easily be overlooked was the only child to grab the couples attention and man, did they love her. They loved her immediately, their hearts swelling with the emotion. They wasted no time in starting the adoption process while Casey felt she had lost grip on reality somehow.
SHE WAS WANTED. SHE WAS LOVED. SHE WAS HOME.
Casey had her own room, her own clothes that fit, parents to hand her a packed lunch and a kiss on the forehead before sending her off to school. She had a younger sister who adored her and two parents that showered her with more love than she could handle in one lifetime. It was a dream come true for the young woman.
She began to flourish in her new home and her obsession with video games swiftly grew. If there was a new console, a new game, new hardware for her PC Casey would have it. Spare change brought to her room for regular arcade outings. Her parents never judged her, never attempted to sway her to take interest in something else. As long as her grades were good and chores were done they would never try to pry the joystick from her hands.
Casey’s eighteenth birthday was around the corner, her parents excited to throw a massive birthday bash for the young adult. Held at the local arcade that had become her second home it was a close knit group of friends, family and arcade employees who had come to adore the feisty gamer girl. Her night was filled with lots of cake, lots of laughter and a whole bunch of gaming. Hours passed with her hand glued to a joystick, fingers tapping relentlessly and eyes fixated to a flashing screen. Left to her own devices no one noticed that Casey spent hours on the same machine, unwavering and unresponsive.
A soft hum turned into a sharp buzzing, a sound that would cause one to wince and clutch their ears. Lights flickered, power surging, white sound filling the space of the arcade drowning out the noise of one woman still playing Ms. Pac-Man. The power went off in a flash leaving the birthday party in the dark. Panicked gasps and worried words filled the void, employees scrambling and offering reassuring words moments before the power returned, the arcade lighting up once more. Relieved and laughing off the mishap Casey’s parents looked around for their birthday girl but could find no trace of her. They called for her and received no response. They asked and no one had seen her or knew where she went. They could see Isabel, though. Crying in front of the Ms. Pac-Man machine Casey had been using moments before the power surge. They slowly approached as the image on the screen flickered and could’ve sworn for the briefest of moments… was that Casey?
