Over the Rainbow

Cold: Story 9

Mattie sat on his alleyway, clutching the raggy blanket to his shivering frame. It was cold out tonight, below 20 degrees Fahrenheit, and the blanket didn't help at all. To Mattie, it was more like he could pretend the blanket helped, despite the fact the blanket had more holes than the actual fabric. The same went with most of his old clothes, clothes that had an obnoxious amount of holes and were a size too small. Shoes didn't exist to him though, only socks. That also had an obnoxious amount of holes.

His teeth clashed together, small frame shaking against the slowly building wind, and with his luck, it would probably start raining soon. Mattie ducked his head and hid them in his bony, pale arms, hoping maybe that could protect his wind flushed face. His eyes were tired, but he knew he couldn't fall asleep yet. People were still wandering the streets, and that meant if he was asleep he was vulnerable to these people who could do god knows what to the small boy. He sighed, water forming in his grey eyes as the memories flashed by like a movie. He shook his head, trying to will the tears away, along with the memories. He sniffled and stared down at the holes in his pants. He shivered relentlessly, the action only getting more aggressive as the wind picked up, howling through the night. After about three minutes, Mattie counted, the rain came. Not gently either and it was like a blanket of it just fell from the sky. Mattie winced and whimpered as he was immediately drenched and shivering an unhealthy amount now. He pulled the "blanket" over his head, the false hope that maybe it would protect him at least a bit. A tear fell down his eye, or maybe it was a raindrop, as the rain continued its assault on the poor boy. Mattie finally closed his eyes, not really falling asleep, but almost drifting off. As much as he hated the rain, it was soothing to listen to.

...

A man sat on a private air jet, on his way to New York. His leg bounced up and down in annoyance, boredom, and anger. He didn't want to go, but he didn't really have a choice. Being the CEO, this was something he had to do. He rolled his head back onto the headrest of the leather plane seat, a mix of a groan and a sigh escaping his parted lips. He ran a large hand through his auburn hair, only succeeding in getting it to stick up everywhere. He'd comb it down later before he got off this retched plane. He rolled his head forward, retrieving his phone from the pocket of his dress pants, the facial recognition kicking in and immediately unlocking. He scrolled through it mindlessly until a buzzing sound came from above him, and a gravely voice spoke.

"Mr. Jackson, the plane will be landing in about an hour. If you could please put your seat belt on, for now, thank you." There was a click before things went silent, and Jackson sighed as he clipped the seat belt into place, opening the window shade and staring out it, watching the clouds. He could tell it was going to rain, and hopefully, they landed before it started.

Jackson watched out the window for the rest of the trip.

...

Mattie woke to a tiny little sliver of sunlight, the wall in front of him mostly blocking out the light. He groaned, his puffy eyes blinking wearily. He didn't remember falling asleep, but he pushed that out of his mind as he brought small fisted hands up to rub at his eyes. He yawned a cute little noise, before groaning as he stretched out his sore limbs. With no balance what so ever, Mattie attempted to stand, wobbling on his short legs for a minute. He stood to his full height of a whopping 5'2, and stretched out once again, pulling his hands above his head with a groan as he stood on his tip-toes. He blinked, his eyes still crusty with sleep. Mattie rubbed them once again, attempting to remove the icky feeling. He sighed as his hands lowered, stumbling to the opening in his alleyway that leads to the sidewalk, then the street and shops. He blinked and squinted as the sun invaded his vision, bringing a hand up to block the majority of the annoying, glowing bulb in the sky. He walked forward slightly, stumbling into the real world. He looked around to see a bustle of people already up at it, business suits and dresses carrying briefcases or purses. They walked around him paying no attention, and he just let them. He stood there observing, not moving. Not moving until a large figure bumped into him, sending him crashing into the ground. He groaned and whimpered in slight pain before a low, chilling voice spoke to him,