Savoirs

Lia

I darted down a dark street and nearly tripped over the woman sitting against the wall. I peered at her, curiosity at her lack of reaction making me wonder if I tripped over her or my own feet. The blue lips and cold, glossy stare revealed that she had froze, probably in the middle of the night. It had been bitterly cold last night, more so than it should have been and I'm sure many more died of the cold last night too. I shuddered and heard men shouting behind me. I remembered the police chasing after me for stealing and stepped back against the wall, knowing I'd be safe. I stood next to the woman as the police ran down the alley and saw nothing but a dead end that I could have climbed over and the dead woman. The younger one paled and froze in place but the older one simply walked over and picked the woman up, his face sad but expressionless.

"What are you doing?!?" The younger one exclaimed, horror etched into his features.

"Can't have her sitting here rotting now can we?" The older one replies and the younger one stares.

"Well what do we do with her?" The younger one asks and the older one shrugs.

"They get buried same as everyone else but we don't find all of 'em before they start to stink. Its a shame, this one must have been rather pretty before she kicked the bucket, still had a lot of life to live too." The older one mused and I slowly crept forwards just behind him. The younger one didn't notice me and I knew the older one didn't because they couldn't see me. No one could as I crept out of the alley way and ran silently down the street and into the alley where most of the street rats lived. When I was out of sight of the busy streets I became visible again and went to my little tent made out of ratty old blankets and scrap wood. Mary was there, as usual, sitting in the corner rocking back and forth slowly. I sighed and knelt in front of her.

She sometimes got like this, when she was scared or we were out too long and she woke up to find us missing. Then sometimes she was just seeing things that we couldn't and it scared us most of the time.

"Mary, what's wrong?" I asked timidly. Her eyes darted up to my face and she screamed. It was a blood curdling scream that was heard in every tent I knew. I clamped my hand over her mouth which made her swipe at it and claw at my arm. I gritted my teeth against the pain while she thrashed and screamed and tried to get me away from her. Slowly she stopped, the wild look in her eyes left and she calmed down. Slowly I brought my hand away from her mouth and examined my arm. There were a few ragged cuts that were bleeding but nothing that needed a rare bandage so I just went on with the nights chores. I pulled out two small loaves of bread and pushed one into Mary's hands. When she looked down and saw the food. Slowly, with shaking hands she brought it to her mouth and wolfed it down. I broke mine in half after I watched her eat hers and told her I'd be right back to which I only got a distracted nod. I stepped out of my small tent and scurried down the alley to where the young woman lived with her baby. I pushed the curtain out the way and she looked up. I smiled at her and stepped inside. She smiled up at me and the baby cooed.

"Hello Lia." She said. I pulled out the bread and handed it to her, knowing she'd be hungry and so would the baby.

"Here, you need something to eat." I say. She took it gratefully and ate it with just slightly more control than Mary had. I took a bite of my half and stepped out of the tent. I saw the old woman hobbling to her 'home' and walked up to her. I held out the bread to her and she took it gratefully. I helped her to her own little tent and she chattered as we walked.

"You are a very considerate young lady, Lia. Especially for being in your place. Most younger people wouldn't consider others like you do if they were where you are. May God bless your soul. Yours and Tanners. You two are the only reason why some of us rats are still alive." I smiled at her.