The bustling city of Helix Gates never seems to stop with the action, no matter what hour of the day. More people come and tour this city than any other in the world. But, what comes with one of the greatest cities in the world are many beaten down and broken paths.
Meet Cass, a 15 year old girl. She's homeless. She has nowhere to go. Her father lost his well earning job 6 years ago and hasn't been able to find another one like it since. His wife left him 4 years ago because of that event. Now, Cass and her father live on the streets of Helix Gates. Cold. Shivering. Hungry. Out of resources and choices. This girl's been through a lot. She's not your average, ditzy high school girl who complains about how bad her hair looks. She's got street smarts. She's not very strong physically, but has a lot of mental strength. She spends her thoughts well by caring for those who mean the most to her.
"Cass," her father began.
"It's time for supper. Looks like we're dumpster diving again." he continued. Cass remained silent. She got up and followed her father to the dumpsters.
There were already quite a few homeless people at the dumpsters already. Some with half of their bodies in the dumpster, other had climbed in and were standing in the garbage itself. The elderly of the homeless leaned against the wall and waited for the younger ones to provide food for them, for they were too weak to climb in and rummage around for food. Most of the homeless were men in their 40s - 60s, including Cass' father. There were a few younger men and not very many women, but out of all of them, Cass was the youngest.
"Looks like we're next. Want to climb in and scavenge for your old man this time?" Cass' father asked.
"Alright." Cass muttered, barely audible.
She grabbed the side of the dumpster, jumped up and swung her left leg over the edge. She stood up and pulled her right leg in and started to scavenge around for food, ripping open the shiny, black garbage bags in hope to find some decent food for herself and her father. In the end, she managed to get away with some moldy bread and a few pieces of badly bruised up fruit, already half eaten from the rats of the streets. It definitely wasn't a satisfying meal for the middle and upper classes of Helix Gates, but it worked out for the homeless. Cass passed down the food to her father. She would've kept looking for more, but she wasn't selfish. She cared for the other homeless because they were in the same situation she was. Cass was always a generous, almost selfless girl.
"Is that all, Cass?" her father questioned. Cass nodded without hesitation.
She crouched down, grabbed the greasy sides of the dumpster with dirty hands and hopped out. She stood beside her father, who held the contents of the dumpster in his arms.
"You did some good picking tonight, Cass. I'm proud of my little girl. Let's go have our supper and call it a day." he beamed. Cass looked up at her father and smiled back at him, shyly.
They both headed back to their "house"; or basically, what was a large piece of cardboard fit for Cass and her father, and Cass' large, raggedy childhood blanket. It's one of her prized possesions that gave her memories of the good life before her world turned upside down.
Before long, Cass and her father arrived - the cardboard mattress was still a little damp from last night's rain, but it was better than sleeping on the cold, hard, concrete ground. Cass sat down first and her father followed shortly after. She reached for a piece of bread from her father's arms and started eating it, picking apart the moldy bits and eating the rest of the bread that was still good. While eating, she observed her father closely. Because she was an independant girl, she never really got a close look at her father now. He used to be a dashing young man with dark brown hair and hazel eyes - he still is, but now he has salt and pepper coloured hair slowly invading his original dark brown. His wrinkles on his face were so deep that they were almost like craters or crevices. As with all of the homeless, he lost weight, and a lot of it. He used to have plump cheeks back in the day, but now Cass could almost see his cheekbones popping out - he was pretty well like a bag of bones now. His pale skin got tanned quite well from being outside all day, not to mention the amount of dirt that got piled up on it. Cass' father looked up and noticed his daughter looking, almost staring at him.
"Something wrong, Cass?" her father pondered. Cass jumped a little from being awaken from her trance.
"O-oh! It's nothing, dad... I'm just, uh.. admiring your complexion." she said quietly. Her father chuckled in response.
Cass finished her supper and looked out on the horizon. Nothing in Helix Gates but skyscrapers and a bright, luminous sunset. She had never seen stars before - the lights of Helix Gates were up all night and wouldn't go away until the first hours of dawn came. She lay down on the soggy cardboard and covered herself up with her prized blanket. She snuggled up to the wall, making sure her father had enough room to sleep on the cardboard. Shortly after, he joined Cass and laid down beside her. Cass made sure her father was warm and shared the blanket with him. She fell into a deep slumber, ignoring the cold that possessed her body.
