Who and Why?

So from this photo of "Winfield", I created a backstory!

When Winfield was 15, he was placed on the list of missing children.

But if you looked, you wouldn’t find the name “Winfield” there, because he wasn’t Winfield then.

He was born as Wilson Ruderford, to a well known family in a small town. Winfield Granbull was his childhood friend, someone he considered his own brother. At an early age, the Granbull family had to move away to a quieter place, as the mother’s eyesight worsened.

Wilson and Winfield lived opposite lives; Wilson hated being the center of attention due to his father’s reputation, and Winfield hated being looked down upon by gossiping townspeople. Wilson’s family only tolerated Winfield because he saved Wilson’s mother from getting hit by a rampant carriage. What they disliked the most however, was that they didn’t want Wilson to breathe in Winfield’s neverending cigarette smoke. They were relieved to hear that Winfield’s family was going to move far, far, away.

Wilson was only 7 then.

He was 15 when he heard back from Winfield.

Wilson was in a deep sleep when he heard a loud rapping sound at his window. Wilson recognized Winfield right away, even though he had heavy dark bags under his eyes and sunken cheeks. With a paranoid and delusional nature, stuffing food into his mouth vigorously, Winfield begged Wilson to help him….begged him to help his mother.

That was a week before Wilson ran away.

Together they planned out the path Wilson had to take in order to leave the fewest clues and fewest traces. The whole week, Wilson made sure to note who would be out at night, and who would become an alibi for him. He acted normal to his family and friends, and carried on his daily life, carefully stashing away food he could take with him.

He couldn't wait to disappear.

Everywhere he went, his last name Ruderford followed. He didn't want to take over his father’s boring job. He knew that his classmates were only his friends because of his status. He was living in a world where strangers took care of him more than his own busy, greedy, family.

He had always wished that Winfield’s mother was his own mother. Even with her frail body and weak voice, she would make the sweetest treats and take Wilson and Winfield out to beautiful places...places money could never even touch. Before leaving the town, she had given him a batch of his favorite cookies, made with her shaking, loving hands. When Wilson’s mother found them, she threw them away.

Winfield’s mother was fully blind now, and her mobility had worsened.

But it wasn't as bad as Winfield’s condition.

Winfield’s voice was scratchy, and he fought to breathe with every breath. Chain smoking since age 6, his lungs were slowly starting to fail him at the early age of 16. He no longer thought he could outlive his own mother.

The night Wilson left, he made sure to leave everything behind, the way it was. He left all his money and his prized possessions. He carefully ran into the woods where he met up with a wheezing Winfield, where they hitched a rather uncomfortable squished ride with a peddler.

Only two weeks later after they arrived, Wilson had to bury Winfield. That was the day he took up his name.

Winfield’s mother never knew Wilson was there. In fact, she called him Winfield till her last dying breath.

Winfield’s neighbor was the only one who knew about Wilson. They helped to take care of Winfield’s mother, and helped Wilson adjust to the new life...adjust to becoming Winfield. No one in the quiet town would know about the Ruderford family until news traveled that their son had gone missing, but no one suspected the Granbull family. The Ruderfords had completely forgotten about the Granbulls.

No one had seen or heard from Wilson the night he ran away, and no one had suspected anything suspicious the weeks prior. Families began dressing up their children as Wilson, handing them in to the Rutherfords for a reward, only to be turned away empty handed and humiliated.

For 56 years, Wilson, now Winfield, lived under his best friend’s identity.

56 years have passed, and Wilson, was never found.