What Lilies are thinking about

Prologue

Despite the fact that there was still a lot of time left before full night, the streets of the city were already swallowed up in darkness. The lead clouds hanging in the sky did not let in the rays of the setting sun at all, creating an atmosphere in which anyone would want to quickly return to a secluded house, to hide away from what was happening outside. Not first of all, people think that the city at night is a completely different city.

Everything in my life was simple. It was easily divided into good and bad. The simpler it is, the easier it is to find a solution, to move on. In this world, if there is no movement, you die.

But that day, when the early night covered the city and I was in a hurry, heading towards a safe place, as usual, you were the one who made me stop.

Much smaller than me and very thin, in worn clothes many times larger than necessary. You stood near the window of a bookstore, your gaze completely focused on its contents. The tips of your fingers, cheeks and nose were pink from the chilling wind, but you were intently studying the view of the shelves with books. Your hair shimmered with warm reflections from the light of the lamp near the entrance and even a light layer of street dust did not spoil its light color, and most of all, I was fascinated by your eyes. They were scarlet, but my interest arose not because of that. It was the passion with which you looked at the books. It was not the bright covers that attracted you, there were few children's books in this store, no, you wanted to know their contents. You were so driven by this desire that even your own position in society did not concern you at that moment.

And then for the first time I felt that... I wanted to reach out to someone with my own hands and... help them move.

******

In his haste to finally go home, the owner of the bookstore did not notice at all that a homeless boy was standing near the window, although, even if he had been 100% focused, he would not have noticed the small, thin figure right away. Unfortunately, no matter how sad and compassionate some adults were, they could not allow themselves to believe every homeless child. Among them there were those who, over many years of living on these streets, had gained some trust, but this trust was so fragile that you could not call it something good. Therefore, most often you could witness how store owners drove little beggars away from their outlets in order to nip any opportunity for theft, even if they understood that children were attracted by bright colors, new smells or curiosities that they knew nothing about.

This little boy was also attracted to the place where adults like to collect a lot of interesting information. And on any topic. He did not immediately feel that someone was gently tugging at his sleeve.

- Brother...

Finally he noticed the weak voice.

- Yeah, just a minute. Looks like there are new books about animals... - It was still hard for him to look away.

The other little boy next to him just exhaled helplessly, turning his gaze to the clouds that were getting darker and darker with each passing minute. He didn't want to tear his older brother away from watching, but he also didn't want to get soaked to the skin. He still remembers well how his brother tried to hold back a cough when they were sleeping recently.

- That's enough.

The older boy turned his gaze to the owner of the unfamiliar voice that interrupted his study of the bookcase. It turned out to be a boy no less thin than he and his brother, but older, judging by his height. His hair, long below his shoulders, was the color of the darkest night and hid part of his face.

- The owner of this store is not a pleasant one. His hand would not hesitate to hit a child. And it looks like your younger one is worried about something.