On a cold winter night, a man by the name of Faris was sitting down on the wet and dirty ground of a random street. His feet were freezing as the thick snow covered them, the water soaking his thin socks through his ragged shoes. He trembled since the cold made his fingers, toes and nose hurt. Faris had been abandoned by his parents. With nobody to help him, he had no choice but to live on the streets for days, months, even.
His clothes were torn and covered in snow. The poor man's stomach kept rumbling. He held it, obviously feeling very hungry, "Can't... Can't take it... anymore..." Tears dropped down his face, immediately freezing up as soon as they hit the snowy ground. The wind was blowing violently, as if it was trying to take him away.
Faris silently wept to himself, the hunger and the cold being too much to handle, "Why me..? What have I done to deserve this?!" The man kept crying and shaking, he even started to feel a little dizzy.
"Yeah, and then– oh..."
Faris' sad eyes turned towards the cute couple that was passing by, "Please..." he mumbled. The cheerful words of the teenage girl were cut short as she passed by the homeless man while holding her boyfriend's arm.
The petite brunette frowned and cleared her throat before rushing her boyfriend and walking faster, "He looked at us... He looks so scary..." She whispered after giving Faris a nasty look. The teenage boy laughed before wrapping his arm around his girlfriend's waist, "Don't worry, honey... I'll protect you if he decides to attack us." The couple disappeared into the foggy scenery, leaving Faris to suffer from the cold alone.
At this exact moment, Faris felt more sadness and loneliness than pain. He tried to control himself, but he couldn't take it anymore, "I am about to die! Please... Help me!" He yelled, tears blurring his vision, "Why... Why do people treat me like this..." The man covered his dirty face, cried and shook even harder. He was so cold and hungry, it felt like his own stomach was eating him from the inside.
Faris started praying to whatever Gods were up there. He prayed for pity, for forgiveness, even if he didn't know what he did to deserve this pain, this punishment. He was cold, alone, his parents abandoned him... He was solely nineteen and had no one. He was all alone.
The young man kept crying and crying, hoping that a good Samaritan would come at his rescue, but it never happened.
"Wow, who would've expected that from you..." Faris heard the sound of snow being crushed by boots getting louder and louder as the owner of the sassy voice stepped closer to him, "What I'm saying is, you're a total i– oop–!" A woman slipped in front of Faris but managed to catch herself. She sighed out of relief before glancing down at the homeless young man with her small, sleepy, green eyes.
Faris' teary eyes turned towards the girl who had almost fallen on him. He was feeling weak, his head was spinning and his stomach was hurting so badly... "Please..." He begged in a weak voice, "I need help... Food and maybe a shelter, please... I won't survive this much longer like this..."
The woman stared at Faris nonchalantly, her eyes analyzing his whole figure. At some point, she sighed deeply before adjusting her purple scarf to protect her throat from the cold winter breeze and brought her phone to her ear, "Mhm, Seb? Yeah, I was about to call you an idiot..." She said before turning around and walking away.
Faris felt hopeless, he couldn't do anything. He could only watch how the woman walked away without even looking at him. He held his stomach again which was hurting really bad. His vision started to get blurry, he was barely conscious, "I'm gonna die... Please..." The young male felt pathetic. Tonight, he felt even less worthy than a rat. Even more people walked by, some gave looks of disgust, some didn't even look at him, some just tossed cents in his face... Nobody respected him, nobody cared for him. He was nothing, mere trash.
Around half an hour later, Faris heard a voice, "Hey, hobo!" The young man sobbed and turned his head towards the voice, expecting a punch or kick again. But he was wrong, "Do you prefer... Err... What's it called?.."
It was the girl with the purple scarf and green eyes. She was holding two McDonald's bags, looking through one of them as she tried to remember the names of what she picked. Faris felt alive again when the girl appeared before him like an angel, "You are back to help me?" He asked eagerly, unable to handle the hunger anymore, "I am so hungry and cold... I have nowhere to stay..." The young man added sadly while staring at the girl. He was tired, alone, hungry, dirty, weak and cold.
The woman glanced back at him with a raised eyebrow, "I can see that?? Look at you, you look horrendous.." She said without a filter, "Err... I think I picked a Generous jack for you... A big menu. But if you want I took a chicken burger too" She said before crouching down next to the man.
It didn't take long before the young woman gagged, scrunched up her nose and frowned, "You smell like sh– Ugh... Stand up, my house is right around the corner."
The hungry Faris felt so happy that someone was finally willing to help him. But he was quickly embarrassed when the classy woman commented on his smell... He shivered again, the cold breeze caressing his cheeks, "Thank you!'' He mumbled as he stood up, "Which way is your house..?" He asked while rubbing his arms, desperately trying to warm himself up, "Right around the corner, I literally just said it. Follow me." The mysterious girl had a thick accent, she definitely wasn't from England. She started walking away again, guiding Faris to her home.
Faris followed her, trying hard to not mind the hunger. His head spun, he couldn't think about anything else other than the warm food in her hands. Eventually, they reached her home. The young girl stuffed her hand in her big coat's pocket, trying to fetch her keys.
The girl opened her front door and let Faris in, "Shoes off, literally just throw them away. They look as bad as you..." She winced before closing her door.
Her home was warm, welcoming. Faris wanted to collapse, the difference between the coldness of the streets and the warmth of the small, two sided house made him emotional. The warm and comfy feeling of the house made the young Faris sigh of relief. How long has it been since he had felt this... comfortable?
He entered the house and stood awkwardly behind the girl, "You live alone?" She closed her door and placed the bags on her coffee table, "No, I have a roomie. But he's away tonight." She sat down on her couch and sighed, "Go take a shower before eating, you smell horrible. Have you been rolling in poo or something?" She asked as she pinched her nostrils, "Bathroom is left to the stairs. Use the blue towel, I'll drop some clothes in front of the door."
Faris was really embarrassed by her mean comments. His clothes were ragged, old and extremely dirty. His brown skin was so dirty and he probably had an insane amount of knots in his black hair... He couldn't blame her for complaining about the smell. "Thank you..." Faris looked at her with his droopy brown eyes before asking, "What's your name?"
"My name?" The woman repeated before turning her television on, "Salima. What about you?" She asked with her nonchalant expression. "My name is Faris, nice to meet you."
Salima looked at Faris and smiled, her beautiful green eyes squinting as she did so, "Nice to meet you, Faris."
