A stream of sweat rolled down his face beside his eye, around his cheek and off his chin onto his blanket. From where he was sitting he could see outside through his window. It was the same as his dream, which he now struggled to recall. He could now hear the pitter-patter of the rain gutter, it often rained in Vancouver and he was coming to hate it. The thick fog that had covered his world was starting to thin out. There was no moon on this night, and if it had been a clear night, James could have easily seen all the stars which the sky can hold.

James loved watching the stars, and he would stay up late, looking out his window, just marveling at their beauty some nights. He often thought of them as cradled, as a mother holds her new born baby. But there had been no stars to be seen tonight, only the dark night.

James decided to get some water to drink. He went to the kitchen and turned on the light. He was quiet as not to wake Sally and George. He went to the fridge and got the water and poured it into a glass and drank slowly while standing near the counter next to the fridge.

James was pretty tall, just under six feet. He was also fairly thin, and had short black hair which was wavy in the back. He had brown eyes. He did well in school, never failed, but he rarely passed with flying colours. Just average. He had a lot of time to himself because he had no brothers or sisters. He often stayed in his room when not out with friends and wrote, drew, or listened to music.

Sally and George Witfield were not James real parents, so he never referred to them as mom or dad. You see, James doesnt know where his real parents are, he spent the first five and a half years of his life in an orphanage. At the time he was thrilled to finally have a family to call his own, but as he grew older, he was 16 now, those feelings gradually went away. It wasnt that he disliked Sally or George, it was just that there was something that was missing in his life. He wanted his real parents. All he knew of them was that their family name had been Mackenzie. He preferred to be called James Mackenzie rather than James Witfield.

James crawled back into bed, he was extremely tired now and he had school the next day. He was excited though because there were only a couple weeks left until school was going to be over, and couldnt wait for it to be over.

During the last two weeks of school James had gone through many tests and had to do a lot of studying. When he did have free time, he did a lot of thinking and talking to his friends. The need to find his parents, and find why they had put him in an orphanage was eating at him. He had talked a lot about this with his best friend Kevin. He trusted him the most out of everyone he knew.

"Hey James, Whats up?" asked Kevin.

"Just thinking, you?" replied James.

"Nothing really. Youve certainly been doin a lot of thinking lately. How about we go get something to eat, and you can tell me about whats up ok?"

"Yeah. Sure. Sounds like a plan to me." James said as he got up and began to walk to the little fast food place down the street with Kevin.

Kevin and James went to the counter. They each ordered a hamburger, fries and a drink, then went to the booth nearest the window, and began to eat.

"So? Whats happenin with you man? Youve been in your own world for past couple of weeks. Tell me whats bothering you." Kevin asked with a questioning look.

"Well, its just that I want to find out about my parents. I want to know who they are, what they do, and why they didnt keep me. Ive gone through every possible situation in my head and I just want to know the truth." James replied.

"Oh. Well what do you know about them already?"

"Not much. Just that my fathers` last name was Mackenzie, and that I was born in Montreal."

"Isnt there some way that you can look them up and see if your mom or dad are still living there? Check it up on the net or something?"

"Ive tried that. There are like a hundred Mackenzies in and around Montreal. I just dont know where to start or how to go about things."

"Come on, there cant be that many, I mean if its really bothering you this much you should try to start contacting them." Kevin replied as his cell phone rang in his pocket.

James was in deep thought now as Kevin talked to the person on the other line, James only caught a couple of phrases of the conversation because he was thinking to himself. When Kevin got off the phone he began to clean off the table.

"It was my boss," said Kevin as he was putting on his coat, "They need me in the shop. Sorry but Ive got to go. The new guy is having problems making orders for next week, and the customers are getting restless. Sorry I have to run out on you like this, but I really hope you figure this out, Good Luck, see you next week."

James said bye, and that was it. He was on his own again with his thoughts. He didnt know what to do, but he figured some good sleep would be nice right now. So he went home.

It was Friday evening, and there was a dance at the school. Some of his friends had asked him to come, but he turned down the offer. When James got in, Sally asked how he was and if he wanted something for supper, but he declined and told her he was going to get some sleep.

James awoke to the bright warm sun entering through the window. He sat up and yawned as he looked around the room. He had some studying to do but decided it could wait until tomorrow. He got up, decided to take a shower, and while there, he came to the realization that he was going to go to Montreal to find his parents. He needed to know where he came from, his families past, and why they gave him away. He figured if he was really going to look for them, Montreal would be a good place to begin his search. James decided he would go, after the school year ended.

Next James thought about what he needed to do so he could go and what he would do when he got there. He decided to make a list so that everything would be in order. First he would need money. He would have to buy a train ticket, and food. He would also have to bring some clothes. He checked the place where he had been saving his money. In the drawer of his desk there was only $54.35. This was definitely not going to be enough!

He figured that he needed a job to make some more money, but what could he do?

On Monday James went to see the guidance counselor of the school. He asked him about a job that he could get for the beginning of the summer that would make him, a fair amount of money, quickly. The counselor had a few ideas, but the one that seemed the best was landscaping. James would go to people around his neighborhood and see if anyone wanted their lawn to be mowed. He already had his own lawn mower and would use that to do the work. It was the perfect plan.

The school year had ended and James had done very well on his exams. He had also managed to collect nineteen people to cut grass for. With each person paying him five dollars every week for the work to be done, he figured that he could leave in three weeks.

James decided that he just couldnt tell Sally and George because they would probably would not let him go. He was just so determined to find out the truth that he couldnt let them stop him. Plus, it might break their hearts in some way. James felt that he was just making up excuses to not tell them. He decided he would have to tell them, just he could not do it just yet.

The three weeks before he left were long and boring. All he did mostly was mow lawns and hang around with Kevin or at home. Kevin was the only person he told of what he was doing at this time. Kevin tried to convince James into telling Sally and George. James old him that he would. James had also got his train ticket which cost him one hundred and ten dollars. He was due to leave July 14^th.

Finally the day came, and James was on his way to Montreal. He had planned everything perfectly. He had to tell Sally and George that he was going to go to Montreal to find his parents, and that he would be back in a couple of weeks. At first they said he couldnt go because it was too dangerous and he was not old enough. So James told them passionately about how he felt and how important it was for him to find out about his past and why his parents had given them up. Sally and George thought about it for awhile and finally agreed to let him go.

When James got aboard the train he found a seat, on one of the last cars, next to a window. He enjoyed looking out at the scenery. It was going to be a three day trip. He had not thought of any ways of entertaining himself, and figured that he would just sleep most of the way. This was a hard thing to do though because he was too excited. He also reminded himself that he might not be able to find them. He was also nervous though, because what if he found them and they did not accept him and shut the door in his face? He shrugged this thought off.

James had kept money aside to buy a ticket home. He placed it in a separate part of his wallet and then sat and looked out the window. Two days passed uneventfully and it was now about eight hours until he would arrive in Montreal. His eyes began to close as he saw an attendant talking to an elderly woman up in the front. He gave a little chuckle as it looked like the attendant was having trouble with what the older woman wanted. The next thing he knew he was asleep.

He awoke as something jabbed into his shoulder. James looked up with a startled look towards the man who stood in front of him.

"Time to get off sir," the man said with authority.

"Uh thanks. I mustve fallen asleep," he said with a dazed look on his face.

James finally got outside and got a cab and asked him to take him to a place with information about Montreal. The cab driver looked at him, nodded and dropped him off in front of a building with a question mark sign in the front. He paid the cab driver and went in.

A receptionist asked how she could assist him, in French. James, not knowing anything of the French language, simply said, "What?" The woman looked at him for a moment and then called over a man of the name Andre. He was tall and spoke with a French accent. It was hard to understand the man at first because he spoke very slowly, with short breaths, and seemed to be searching for the right words in his mind.

"I need to know all the Mackenzies that exist in and around Montreal." said James, "Or at least somewhere I could get that information."

The man looked at him with a dull look on his face and said, "I am sorry we do not have that information and it would be how do you say it? impossible for you to be able to get that information without proper papers of course."

"Oh, thank you," James was feeling a little down about this, but he decided not to give up, "Do you know of any cheap hotels?"

James got himself another cab and told him to bring him to the hotel which Andre had told him about. It would only be twenty seven dollars for the night. As James got the key to his room, the person at the cash gave him a creepy look but did not say anything. It sent a chill down his back but he told himself not to worry about it. When he got to his room he found that he was very tired, and when he looked at the clock he saw that it was far later then he expected it to be. He soon realized that he was in a different time zone and this was a normal thing for tourists and people just travelling.

He figured that he would start in the morning to look for his parents. He saw that there was a phone book in the room and had a feeling that it would come in handy. He took another look around the room and realized that it wasnt that good looking. There had been stains on the carpet and even on the ceiling and had a kind of stale smell to it. He realized though that it was a hundred times better then sleeping out on the street. He dived into the bed and was surprised at how comfortable it felt. It definitely beat the hard seats on the train. He began to fall asleep as he saw the fake faces of his parents in his mind.

When he woke it was morning and could feel the emptiness in his stomach. It had been almost more then a day since he had a good meal and he made a point of getting something. After having a shower and getting dressed, James checked the time and saw that it was already 11 a.m. It was time to check out in an hour and he decided was going to keep the room for another night, which was all he could really afford. He stopped by the front desk and said he would stay another night, paid, and asked where the nearest fast food place was. He was told to just walk up the street and turn right and there should be a McDonalds, along with some other restaurants around there. So he left.

When he got to the McDonalds he went in and decided to have a Big Mac Trio, which came to just over five dollars. While eating he thought about going to see some of the sights around Montreal, but changed his mind after thinking about finding his parents and said to himself that there would be plenty of time to see everything after he found them.

He went back to his room and watched some television. He was watching the news and saw that the weather was going to remain hot and clear for the next two days, but there was going to be rain after that. There was then some talk about the Montreal hockey team. James wasnt a huge fan of hockey and only been to one game which Vancouver had lost when he was twelve years old. George had gotten tickets from work and wanted to have some time to bond with him. James figured if he had lived in Montreal his whole life, he would most likely been a huge hockey fan as most people were around here.

James reached over for the phone book and began searching for Mackenzie. He saw that there must have been a good forty or fifty Mackenzies in it. Well, gotta start somewhere right? James thought to himself. He picked up the phone and began to dial. He didnt really know what to say at first. Some of the people would say sorry and hang up, others thought it was a practical joke, while a couple would just hang up. One of the numbers he called led to a message machine.

Hi, this might sound a little weird, but Im looking for my parents and I would just like to know if you or someone in your family ever put a boy up for adoption in the year 1985, or around that time. My name is James Mackenzie and it would mean a lot if you could call me back if you know anything, you can contact me through the hotel I am staying at. Here is the number: 366-4444.

James continued on with the numbers but had no such luck in finding anyone who knew anything. There were a couple of more message machines and he left relatively the same message each time. When he got to the last number he prayed that it would be the right one. A woman answered. He told her his story and waited for a response. The woman said that it would have been impossible for her to be his mother or even a relative for her own personal family reasons, but James barely heard anything she said because his heart had fallen into his stomach. She said sorry and wished him luck. He just sort of nodded a nod she would never see and hung up the phone.

He didnt know what to do now. Everything was just a disaster. He had not found his parents, not even come close to finding out anything about them, he was in a foreign place, and was running out of money. He had to go back home. He fell back onto his bed and thought about how everything had turned for the worst. But what he didnt know was that it could be much worse.

He decided to go out sight seeing for a little bit and get something for supper as it was now nearing 4 p.m. By the time he got back to his room it was 10 p.m. He crawled into bed after cleaning up and went to sleep. He woke up a little earlier the next day at 9 a.m. He watched some TV for a couple of hours and then went to check out for once and for all.

He went to the front lobby and gave in his key and paid what he owed. As he turned around and began to walk out, the man running the place called him back.

"Hey, kid. Wait a minute." said the man.

Oh great, hes probably going to charge me extra for all those phone calls I made yesterday, James thought and then said, "If its about the phone calls, Im sorry but I dont have enough to pay you for them."

"No thats not it. There was a call for you last night. A woman named Jesse. She said its important that you call her back, she told me to give you this." the man gave a piece of paper to James with a phone number and address on it.

A smile crossed James face, but only for a second because he knew that he shouldnt get his hopes up, "Thanks." He said and walked out the door.

James went to the train station and checked the times. He was going to have to wait till the next day for the train. He decided he had to call that number. He went to the public phone and dialed. One ring two rings three rings and finally someone picked up.

"Hello?" said the woman on the other end.

"Hi, its James Mackenzie here, you wanted me to call you back?"

"Oh Hi. James, I dont know how to tell you this, but I think Im your aunt."

"Really? How can you be sure?" James said in denial.

"Well, My brother, he umm had a son in 1985 like you said in your message, and well his name was James Mackenzie, so when I got your call I knew you must be his son."

James was speechless in his shock and excitement. But managed to get out, "Well where is he now, and my mother?"

She cleared her throat, as if she was having a hard time to start whatever it is she had to say now, and then it came, and it hit hard.

"Well, I dont know how to tell you this either. James Im sorry but they are dead. They died in an accident when you were just over a year old. That is why you were sent away to that orphanage. I hate to be the one to have to give you this news. I would have thought that someone would have told you. Do you have a family now?"

James was overwhelmed with the news, he felt as if he was going to faint. The feeling in his legs had left him. After all this time of wondering who his parents were, and believing that they were out there it was all crushed.

He realized that Jesse was waiting for a response and told her that he lived with Sally and George, and that they had been very good to him but he just wanted to know about his real parents. He thanked her for being able to help him with doing that, even though on the inside he felt that he hated her for it, and said that he had to go. She said bye and good luck with his life before James hung up.