George Woodpecker

Chapter 1: A CHANGE OF SITUATION

   There once was a small, poor boy called George Woodpecker. He was homeless and alone on the dangerous roads of a long forgotten town. Day by day he barely survived with what small amounts of scrap and garbage he managed to salvage. He always tried his best at preserving his warmth and managing his hunger but sometimes, this seemed impossible altogether. On a normal, dry spring day he would wake up in whatever place he slept, either in the streets or in whatever abandoned ruins he would find, curled up in an attempt to stay warm. Once awake, he would then search for his first meal, begging, more often than he would like, to strangers passing through the town centre. It would be rare for George to actually get his first meal early on in the day. He was skinny and weak, as some days would pass by without any food at all. Sometimes, the water that flowed downstream in the local river was all he had. He would keep trying to get sustenance, going around the town aimlessly, offering himself to work here and there, most of the times for scarce rations, not for money. However, most people rejected him saying that he was too young, he couldn't help enough and that he was not strong enough, as well as other reasons and excuses. Springs and autumns were relatively manageable for him. It was harsh, cold winters and hot summers that proved to be the worst.

   There would be droughts so heavy that the river would evaporate to be just one long puddle, and winters that would cause it to freeze completely. All of these would be experienced by a frill boy that was all alone. He had no choice but to endure all of it and try to get the best out of the situations he found himself in. He taught himself good enough manners, and slowly, a couple of common folk decided that he wasn't too bad, offering him work and warm food from time to time. Nonetheless, he couldn't count on them. Sometimes their doors would remain closed no matter how hard he begged and knocked. 

   His family, which he missed so much, was dead from a great illness that overcame them long ago. His memory of them was harsher than any winter and any drought, heavier than any rain and more destructive to George than any storm could ever be. The illness which quickly spread in George's parental house slowly killed every single member. His mother was the first to die. She became weaker day by day, until eventually she never woke up. Then came the time of his two brothers, who perished in sorrow and mourning of their mother. Then George's small sister, who was much too young, died too. She was so small that she didn't grasp what was happening at all until the moment it all ended. Once George and his father were left, both ill, his father decided to pay a slightly richer family to take him and make him better. His father knew that he could never afford doctors, or any sort of medicine, and so his fortune went to what he thought was the last resort. The family took the money and George too, but didn't care for him. George's father died too, alone, in the parental house, but he did so with a safe and happy mind which rejoiced thinking that perhaps George was going to be fine and that the Woodpecker blood would still flow. George slowly got better in a couple of months, and, although he struggled to do so, there he was, healthy once again. Still, he was much too young to have a use. The family that his father paid could not afford another mouth to feed, and as the initial payment was consumed, without remorse, they kicked him out of the household leading him to his day to day struggle that seemed to have no end.

   But something was brewing. Amongst all the pain and suffering, and early trauma of a now healthy but unfortunately homeless George, something was about to happen. It would be a change that wouldn't betaken lightly by him, as he was eager to do something about his life. He kept knocking on different doors, none of them opening. When he would look into the distance doors would remain shut at all times with no hope of anyone answering. But it seemed that one door painted in gold was much more promising and inviting. This door, to poor George's surprise, would show him a new way, the way he wished for from the moment he was kicked out of his adoptive house.