Revival

Chapter 1

It was a freezing winter morning when it all began. I was seated in a restaurant that offered food at decent prices. The foggy weather allowed an obscure view of the street on the opposite side of the restaurant. Despite the inconvenient weather, the streets of London were bustling with activity. As I waited for the breakfast to be served, I habitually observed the silhouettes of people walking around comfortably like it was summer. 

The buildings in the area were old and most of the shop's sign boards were covered with dust . The only building that stood out in the surrounding was a beautiful mansion. The colour of its walls as white as salt . The mansion was so extravagant, it seemed unreal to me. The huge Black gates allowed very little view of the most beautiful garden it held inside .

My eyes shifted to the beggar sitting next to the gate. He wore a ragged jute shirt and torn trousers. It looked as if he had come for a fancy dress show ,with different shades of patches stitched at various places . A cardboard sign next to him said ,

"I AM BLIND , PLEASE HELP ME ."

God knows who wrote it for him , I thought .

People passed by him without giving him a second of notice , as if they were blind too. The blind man's eyes seemed to wander in the endless darkness that he dwelled in.I would have suggested the filthy beggar to find another spot to beg as he was clearly at his loss over there, but I didn't care for the pathetic beggar. He didn't have a favorable fate and he had to live with it and there is nothing more to him. I'm not sure if I believe in fate and I'm not even sorry for the beggar.

 Call me cold and cruel like the others do. I don't give a shit to what the world has to say about me.Finally a young girl ,of about 20 stops, in front of the old beggar, interrupting my true but bitter train of thoughts.I saw her reaching for her bag that hung all the way from her shoulder till her waist. After a good amount of shuffling, she pulled out a permanent marker and took the cardboard in her other hand , flipped it and began writing something on it . I couldn't see her face since she had her back faced towards me .Her deep mahogany hair complimented her pink jacket and white skirt.

The beggar seemed to realize what was happening . He ran his fingers through her smooth brown boots .After what seemed like 5 minutes , she placed the cardboard back beside him and without another word walked away .Nothing changed .The ragged beggar was sitting where he was .And his tin remained how it had been,EMPTY. But as time passed by people began noticing him and the next minute , a man dropped a quarter dollar into his can.

Nothing remained the same for him anymore as more and more people dropped money into his can .As the number of people dropping the money increased , I made my commitment .As a series of evil decisions clouded my mind , my eyes fell on those rewritten words that had miraculously made the day of that silly beggar. The cardboard now said ,

"It's a beautiful day ... But I can't see it."

Those words didn't really get that silly rag any pity from me and as for those people , the cold really knocked them off their minds. A simple change of words resulted in the change of hearts? How crazy is that? What she wrote was just like saying 'pity me and drop some of your precious dollars '.

I couldn't watch people dropping money into his can again and again. Why not bother for themselves and stick to their own lives . A part of me couldn't take all this softness anymore. It was unfair how he got to sit and do nothing to earn him money while I had to do unthinkable things to keep our underworld business running . Not to mention the whole killing and stuff .All of that , just for the sake of money !

Go ahead ! Make him a billionaire in a day ,I wanted to scream at them .

Despite the misty air around me , I saw the same mahogany hair appear again .She stood in front of the beggar again but this time she dropped him a dollar .I didn't know how that creep knew what was happening with him . I think it was due to his over sensitive sense of smelling , hearing or something like that . He ran his fingers through the same smooth boots and seemed to recognize them immediately .

"My dear woman, what did you do ? " , he looked towards the sky , expecting to get a glimpse of her angelic face but in vain .

She smiled, " If we want to change the world ..we must change our words."
Not that I understood any of those but it did add to my irritation . Saying those words she walked away .

Its was exactly 9:05 A.M when the breakfast I had ordered arrived. I ate the chicken sandwich then sipped the coffee in silence . After having what seemed like a good meal , I started to leave when something caught my attention . The gates of the huge white mansion slid apart and a well dressed man followed by his servant stepped outside.

 The man wore a white collared shirt and a formal grey blazer so stiff that if it were to be stamped by an army of marching soldiers,it would not show a single crinkle .His unfaltering poise and condescending looks made his value and pride evident. After realizing the beggars presence, the rich man glared at him and ordered one of his servants to get rid of the filthy beggar. After all, it was the wealthy man's immaculate pavement where the beggar was.Gesturing that he stepped into his Ferrari and drove off. 

The servant following the directions of his master , spat something harsh at the beggar which made him jerk with fright . He collected his things clumsily and staggered away . Grabbing the moment I walked towards him . His slow pace did not get him any farther than a block. I reached him easily and stood before him. He was several inches shorter than me and bumped right into my chest. I looked into his wandering eyes now staring at me . Although he couldn't really see me he clutched the money can harder in his hands .

Think that will help you , I laughed in my mind .

I did not really care if someone was watching so I snatched the can out of his grasp and paced few steps back , leaving him searching for his lost can on the pavement.I shifted all the money into my pocket and threw the can towards the ragged man . The impact of metal hitting against the road made the beggar jerk with surprise . Desperately he reached towards the direction of the sound . Holding his empty can he began to sob silently. A tear flowed down his right cheek .I paid no attention to it and made my way to home.

 I didn't reach far when suddenly my eyes fell on a band of pink petals flying in my direction .One of which landed softly on my shoulder . Irritated , I shoved it off .And the next moment I saw the red headed girl walking swiftly towards me . She stood in front of me breathing heavily .

"Hi ! I'm Claire," She said breathlessly, extending her hand towards me .