You Are My Sunshine ~NaLu~

Chapter 1 - Lucy's Shattered Life

Blood. Scars. Bruises. Mud. I'm covered in a combination of those things from head to toe. The disgusting thought that haven't taken a shower in 3 weeks creeps into my mind. Unless dishwater counts. But here I am, leaning my back against the hard brick wall, taking a breath of my retched body odor.  My backpack sits at my feet, slouching. Inside lies a small, brown torn blanket and some crumbs from a sandwich I ate years ago. 

I lean forwards to stand back on my feet again. A surge of pain goes through my right ankle. I forgot, I sprained it earlier. I try to tolerate it and use my other foot to drag myself to my next destination. I limp around the block while others pretend not to stare. Along the way I find a random stick and use it as my temporary 2nd leg. 

Since I haven't eaten in such a long time, I peel my sweaty baseball cap off of my head and set it on the ground. As I sit down, I clench my ankle and then shut my eyes while hoping for the best. I clear my throat and begin singing a song that I'd memorized from hearing radios blasting out of different people's windows. By now I'm a master at it. 

My voice tries to glide through the tune. It gets a little rough in some places, but I improve it with the following note by making that one sound much better. C'mon Lucy, just one more line! Don't make it sound like a terrible ending, finish strong!! My voice carries into the last line, and I finish perfectly if I do say so myself.

I open my eyes hoping that at least one person could have dropped a dime in my hat. Then I hear an applause. "Wow!" Someone yells from the crowd. "You're awesome!" Yells another. My mouth slowly drops open and I stare at them in awe. 

I lift up my cap from off of the ground. The crowd goes away slowly. Wow! I have about 15 dollars in this! Then a hand slaps the cap out of my gaze. I look up to find a muscular 20-year-old waving my cap in-front of me. "Please, um that's mine. Could you give it back?" I ask nicely.

"You," He scoffs at me. "want me to give you back your dumb hat?"  He asks. I nod, then watch as he empties my cap into his hand. "You can have this worthless penny. You should be thanking me because you can finally talk to something that's completely on your level." He throws it at me while I sit there defenseless and useless. Then runs like wildfire. The penny sits on the ground next to me. I lift it up and feel the hot copper burning my fingers. 

The penny sits in my pocket as I lift myself up with my stick. My eyes get watery. No, I can't cry. I've dealt with this thousands of times. I pick up my backpack and think about going back to the park to sit on my bench. Instead, I walk to my little place that I discovered about a year ago.

I walk a couple blocks and find the park then head down a little trail through the forest that I had found. After a couple minutes, I come to a clearing and sit down on the big rock that marks my place. I look out at the sunset  through the  open trees. Colorful glass bottles hang from the branches that I had collected and little trinkets hide in the nooks and crannies of the trees. 

I throw my backpack next to me, then get up and go to the huge willow in the middle of my place. Under it sits a bird bath. It doesn't have any water in it in summer so I store my memorable objects inside. When I get there, I automatically see my two matching lockets. One day I'll give the other one to someone special so they can keep it.  I put my hand in my pocket, and pull out the penny. It's cooler than before, because the sun is going down. 

I toss the penny in carelessly and observe my hands. They are covered in dirt and cuts. My fingernails are all jagged with grime building up underneath them. I pull off a piece of bark from one of the trees, then gather wild strawberries from a bush nearby. I watch the sun going below the horizon as I eat my snack. 

After I'm done, I creep up the footpath that I had come down on, then leap across the field to a park bench. I take my blanket out of my backpack and spread it over myself. The last of the sun disappears as I close my eyes. Tonight, I'll dream well.