A Girl

Clutching a teddy bear to her chest, a girl walked around the brightly lit streets of New York, finding her way back home. The animal she held close to her heart had stuffing sticking out in places, an ear missing, and a badly sewn eye. This teddy had surely seen better days. Yet, this naïve child loved it with every part of her. It was after all, the one thing she could.

Shivering, and lips blue from the cold, the young girl barely seemed to notice. Long, wild hair the colour of cinnamon framed her round face as it fell down her back. Emerald eyes shone like beacons, seemingly warming her up on the cold night. Snowflakes were catching on her lashes and hair; somehow giving the otherwise begrimed ten-year-old a pristine and soft look.

With a tattered jacket that reached below her knees, and cargo pants peeking out from underneath it, this child was in no state to be outside. The pair of old, dirty sneakers on her feet suffered worse as she sloshed through a muddy patch of snow. In spite of this, she continued on her trek, still holding her toy- her best friend- tight to her chest.

Nearing her home, the corner of a dark alley, she settled down with food she had fished out of a dumpster that morning, contentedly eating the rations she had. With nothing other than a teddy, to a name she didn’t have, the child sat, expecting the best, unaware of the worst.