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The reunion was a blur of tears and thermal blankets. When Caleb felt the familiar fabric of his own bedspread, he finally let go of the iron-clad survival instinct that had kept him alive. As we rode in the ambulance, his bony fingers gripped mine with a strength that defied his condition. Later, as he recovered in the hospital, the truth of his disappearance came to light. It wasn’t a kidnapping or a random act of violence; it was the result of a relentless, cruel bullying campaign at school that had pushed a fourteen-year-old boy to the brink. He hadn’t run away to start a new life; he had run into the woods because he felt the world had no place for him.
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