The Bar

0.1

Life is peaceful...

The streets are unpolluted, which is although quite the surprise knowing as these are the streets of NYC, the core, Manhattan. But the rascals are joyfully playing, outside with their friends after being released from their six to seven hours of dreading education. The locals are chatting, laughing and sharing meals, strengthening their bonds.

Then sat a girl, isolated and gazing upon the gardens of the park. She watched as a butterfly swept across her vision with a bash full of life, her brown doe eyes began to trail it. Mesmerized in the movement and flutter of the simple creature, pacing and approaching footsteps is heard and the feeling of her hat being snatched off triggered the girl to immediately shoot up from her spot.

"Hey give it back!" She cried yet they laughed, and waved her hat about.

"Oh so the airhead does have hair." One of the boys mocked, the young girl frowns but the group of friends, bullies to the youth continued their mockery.

This wasn't newfound torment for the youth. The peers in her school tend to pick fun of her or address her out of her name either for her being the "easy target" or more so by the fact that she was "different". The school was predominantly white, she is one of the few only African-American/POC children to attend.

"Just give it back!" She cries once more, reaching for the item but the boy with the hat snatches it back and a girl steps forward.

"Or what? You gonna take it elf ears?" The bully pushes the smaller youth to the ground then laughs wickedly, the other joining in.

But the small girl shows no sign of backing down, yet she determinedly rise then runs for her hat resulting to the boy running away laughing. 'For a small girl, she is quite fast.' The boy thought. So to invade her, he decides to glide across the street, but nonetheless the girl kept her trail.

He turns around and sees a bus, hurling and honking its horn while his group of friends had halted from crossing the street. What felt like slow motion, the small girl who just wanted her hat had situated herself in the middle of street with a 2 ton bus screeching towards her. She closes her eyes and braces for an impact, feeling a sense of her life flashes before her eyes but nothing came to be. Reopening them, she sees people checking if she's okay and someone walking away. A gut feeling engulfs the young, powering her to follow thats someone and so she does, ignoring the crowd that surrounded her and forgetting her hat.

"Excuse me, did you save me?" The juvenile asked and the adult turned around with a scowl.

"You shouldn't play in the street." They say and continued their walking, the young girl still followed.

"So you did save me? Thank you stranger, I'm Nala! Like from Lion King!" She beamed with a bright smile, walking on the curb of the pavement.

"Didn't your mom tell you not to speak to strangers." The older woman stopped and turned to Nala, pulling her away from the street.

"Well you are kinda my hero because you saved me." Nala determined and they shakes their head.

"Kid, stop following me and go home." She groans then continued walking and Nala stops.

"Okay..." The young girl looks around completely lost.

She had not a single clue as to where she was.

The youth sighs and looks around again but came to the conclusion to rest on the sidewalk, waiting idly for someone with a phone to walk by so she could call her mom. But the area felt isolated, no one seems to be roaming the streets nor were there any cars breezing by plus the place seemed sketchy. Scared and fearful, she gets up and starts walking again until she spots a fire station.

Beaming with now new hope, the girl skips to the place expecting firemen but jaw drops to see basically no one in the place. Her eyes scan the establishment then they set on to the stranger in the back of the building whom had saved her earlier. Filled with hope once more, she skips to the person to see them typing away on a computer and in deep concentration.

"Excuse me!" She calls catching the stranger off guard.

They immediately scowl and leaned back. Running an annoyed hand down their face, then turn the chair towards the small girl and leaned forward.

"Why are you here? I told you not to follow me." She crosses her arms and Nala fidgets with the hem of her skirt.

"I'm lost, I don't know where I am." She admits and the stranger thinks for a second.

Uncrossing her arms, they pull out their phone and tossed it to the child.

"Call your parents." She ushered and Nala caught the device happily. After opening the phone app, her finger hovered over the buttons, unsure on what to press. Then she remembered something quite vital...she doesn't know nor remember her mom's phone number. Frowning, feeling disappointment and disappointed, she hands back the phone to which the stranger rises an eyebrow. "Why didn't you call?" She questioned and Nala pouts.

"I don't know my mommy's phone number." She admits and the person jaw drops slightly.

"You—" She immediately cuts herself off, a reminder flashes in her eyes that the youth is still a child. "What about your dad?" She decides to ask.

"I don't know my dad." Nala looks down guiltily and the stranger thinks for a minute.

"Do you know where your mom works?" She asks and Nala thinks for a brief moments

Her face brightens because she indeed does remember. Grabbing the device swiftly once more which takes the older woman by surprise, she types in her mom's work of place and immediately dials the number. The line is almost immediately answered and the sound of her mother's voice hits her ears.

"Hello, this is the Metro—" The older woman spoke but is immediately cut off by her daughter.

"Mama!" Nala says happily and there was a few moments silence before realization settles in the mother.

"Nala?!? Is everything alright sweetie? Who phone is this???" The mother immediately began to question, panic is now bubbling in her core.

Nala hands the phone back to the stranger and they take it with a bit of hesitation, uneasiness settling in her bones.

"Uh, hello. This is station FDNY Ladder 8. Your daughter had seemed to gotten herself lost and stumbled into our station here." She spoke as professional as she could muster, the adult not used to having to answer phone calls.

It was meant to be her off day, having nothing else to do with her time so she opted on going for a walk then made up her mind to stroll to her station to get ahead on her paperwork. But a stupid kid just had to get themselves in harms way and nearly killed, ruining her schedule planned.

"She saved me!" Nala exclaimed after the stranger had stops speaking.

"Saved?! Saved how? What happened???" The mother panics once more, there is clear shuffling being heard across the line.

"My guess, kids being kids and playing in the street." The stranger shrugs even though the maternity figure could not physically see such action.

"They were not my friends! They took my hat and wouldn't give it back! They also pushed me mommy!" Nala declares and they pinches the bridge of her nose.

'A loud mouth and stubborn', the stranger thought. She swore she can see physical steam coming from the frustrated little girl.

"I'll be there in a few hours if that's alright with you." Nala's mother tells the stranger.

"All good." She replies and the line is cut. The stranger lets out an exhausted sigh then sets down her phone. "Your mom will be here in a few hours, go sit down over there and don't touch anything." She then tells Nala who nods before doing as told.