Smolder

Chapter 1

The crow shook to get rid of the water from last night, spraying in all directions. The water droplets were little diamonds in the morning sunlight. The rain spared none; not aviators nor man.

She was getting comfy there, but for the hand that suddenly gripped the rail; then she had to fly away.

The hand was small but bruised. Slender And delicate fingers indicated that's a girl's hand. Soon a faced popped up from behind the wall. Dirty but fair skin, short black hair, large black eyes, like a serene lake, holding great mysteries.

However, the expression on her face at the moment was not a very mysterious one. It was the strain from hoisting herself up.

But it was soon replaced by satisfaction as she succeeded to sit on the wall. She was wearing a blue dress that was worn out to almost black. The sleeves and edges were ripped in places.

She looked down at the boy sleeping on the pile of leaves , snoring peacefully. He was wearing a shirt that was now rolled up to show his belly. His arms and legs spread in a way that resembled backstroke swimming. Drool fell by the side of his mouth in a glistening path.

"Oi", she issued.

The boy didn't move.

"Oi," she said again, with no more result than the last.

She sighed. One swift movement brought her down.

She walked from the sunlight into the tin shed, the ground splotching under her feet. Standing by the boy, she kicked his feet. The boy groaned. Feeling motivated, she kicked again. The boy's eyes fluttered open.

Russell was relieved to see Vivi standing by him when he woke up. But he did a good job at hiding that under his morning scowl. Well the scowl was to be expected.

The previous night had been a rush. Rain came and Russell barely found this tin shed before getting soaked. It was an odd place, though, for a tin shed to be.

"Get up sleepyhead! The kids are gonna take em all."

By them, Vivi meant mangoes: Russell understood instinctively.

It was summer and most of the branches of the large mango tree at the center of the town were so full of fruit that they were practically brushing the ground. And after a night of storm, the ground beneath the tree shined golden. It's the street bum's treat of the year.

The craving for it's rich, juicy, meaty sweetness burned away the last of Russell's sleep. He extended a hand up. Vivi grabbed it and pulled him straight up to a stand(with much protest from his bones.)

Russell pulled his shirt down, wiped his drool and tried to fix his hair. Failed at the last one.

Then he looked at Vivi and asked, "Where did you sleep last night?"

"Cuppers bakery had it's shed up last night. I squeezed in with a bunch of others. Thank you for abandoning me." Vivi huffed.

"Hey, I looked for you," Russell stretched his neck.

"Where? In an abandoned old house?"

Russell had nothing to say. The rain came so suddenly. Everyone was running and so was he. Vivi seemed to take a slight satisfaction from his quiet and grinned.

"Okay, let's get going." Vivi said after a little while.

Russell picked up his pouch from the ground. He fished something out of his left pocket after he did.

It was small black disk. Like an old coin, a little sharp near the edges. But instead of the tally found in old coins, there was a weird carving on it. Details couldn't be made out, but it looked like a weird star shape. Russell had picked it up last night, from the hay he snuggled in.