Street Life

Part 2: Harsh Winter

I shivered, checking the time on my watch for the fifth time since leaving the Emerald Apartments.

8:51

Oh no...
They should be back to the apartment by now...

I started running a bit faster down the busy streets of New York.

What if the police is looking for me?!
Trying to find the Smith family's missing child?

I was wearing a T-shirt and ripped jeans, but it was not the weather for it.

"Watch it!" A man shouted at me as I accidentally bumped into him, while crossing the street.

"S-s-sorry!" I said through clattering teeth.

I was freezing cold.
Most people around me had one or two sweatshirts, and a snow jacket.
Everyone had pants...
These ripped jeans aren't cutting it!

I started sprinting down the sidewalks at the thought of my 'family' finding me.

I had goosebumps on my arms and legs and my short hair was blowing in the chilly wind.

I'd been running in the opposite direction of the Emerald City Apartments for over half an hour.

"S-sorr-sorry." I said, pushing my way through the busy sidewalk.

It seemed like everyone on the sidewalk was rushing to get indoors.

I run to the next crosswalk and shivered, waiting for the cars to pass.

Plan: find a store so I can buy a sweatshirt...
Wait...
No!
I have to get further away.
I can't risk them finding me.

While jogging down the crosswalk I heard some bad news...

"Why are we going inside mummy?" I heard a little girl ask.

"It'll rain soon baby." The mother answered.

Oh no.
As if I'm not cold enough.

I looked at my left hand and let out a shaky sign. My hand was very pale.

"Th-that's n-not go-g-good." I said to myself through chatting teeth.

I checked my watch again, worrying about what my 'family' was doing right now.

9:02

I remained sprinting away from the Emerald Apartments for at least twenty more minutes, until I stopped dead in my tracks.

"No-not r-r-rain." I mumbled to myself, feeling the freezing rain sprinkling down from the nighttime sky.

I started sprinting again, not wondering what I was even looking for. Soon enough my sprint became a jog, and my jog became a walk, until I was just a freezing fifteen year-old barely able to walk anymore.

The sidewalks were completely empty, and rain began to heavily pour.

I can't take the cold anymore...

"You're gonna freeze to death." The voice in my head told me, as I managed to lean back onto a wall of an alleyway.

"S-shut u-u-up." I told the annoying voice in the back of my mind.

"You're gonna die out here." The voice whispered again, as more freezing rain poured down on me.

I sat down, my head resting uncomfortably again the scratchy, cold brick wall.

"W-well, your n-not wrong-g." I told the voice while shivering, my teeth clattering and my whole body shaking.

"You aren't gonna make it much longer." Said the voice.