On the Streets

On the Streets o1

....Eight months later....

Luna's Point Of View

       I thought back to the first week I spent on the streets, getting just enough money for a subway ticket out of town as I curled up on a park bench. I had spent days using the same phrase; "Hello, I seemed to have lost my money for the payphone and I need to call my mom. Would it be too much for some change? She's going to be really worried."

It worked though, and at some point I had managed to gain enough to come down to the place I'm at right now. I'm not exactly sure what it's called, but I do know that it starts with the letter 'T'

      A gust of wind blew past me and I shivered. It was a cold night out, and I wasn't covered up enough. I had gotten used to it, the cold feeling. It always started with the toes going numb, because of the holes in my shoes. It then the wind would proceed to bite at my cheeks and my fingers would lose feeling. After that, the cold would nip at my thighs and lashed at my  

No, October wasn't a good month to be on the streets.

        Drunken calls echoed in the night, keeping my up. I looked at the old watch I had found in an alley, and the time read 3:45. It was really convenient finding things people decide aren't good enough. Take my watch for example. I was walking down the alley when it first caught my eye. I picked it up only to realise that it was still working, and from that day on, I have worn the watch. Knowing the time was a good feeling. It made me feel like my circumstances were more normal.

     I finally stopped thinking and just slipped into a semi conscious state of sleep.

*******

           I woke up with the sun, which was at about 5:30, feeling unrested. Testing my limbs, I sat up and stretched.

The sun was just rising, painting the sky with gold and red.

My back was aching and my mind was telling me to go back to sleep, so I lied down on the slightly soft grass, the bench keeping the sun out of my eyes and drifted off again.

*******

The next time I woke up, it was due to the sound of children's laughter.

I opened my eyes groggily, and looked around.

     There was a child on a swing, with an older man standing protectively a few feet back. The man looked at me with a look of disdain dancing across his features. He just shook his head and pushed the girl higher.

I was used to this as well. People didn't take kindly to teenage girls who sleep in the park.

   Ignoring the man, I stood up and walked down the street through the brisk, cool air. Even in my two sweater that had survived the eight months it was cold.

I might have to resort to the homeless shelter again, I thought with a shudder.

There was nothing more embarrassing than showing up and saying you need help, because you can't handle the lifestyle you chose. My pride simply couldn't handle it.

There was no time to think about that though, right now I need my mind on food. I only need to eat breakfast and a small amount of food at eight-ish. Lunch was a rare occurrence- only people with money can have lunch.

 I searched my pockets for the money I had left over from either finding it, or people giving it to me out of pity. Finally, I pulled out a five dollar bill.

Sweet! There's my food for the next few days, I thought to myself.

I jogged down the sidewalk towards a really run down gas station. That is, I was jogging, until I got knocked over.