[-kicks Inexistence- =]]
Jack quickly walked down the cobbled streets. He heard a commotion - someone shouting. Another boy rushed past him, some people following him. Jack glimpsed an apple in his hand. Jack crossed the men’s' path, to delay them slightly, why they all swore angrily at him. He ran to a cart and undid the clip that held it in place. The cart tipped, and tons of apples fell of some of the men, burying them. The others had run on. "You want apples, you got apples," he muttered, and walked on.
He felt a strange tingling sensation, and tried to pull his cloak further around him. "What the-?" Jack's cloak had disappeared, and his legs, body and arms were beginning to do the same. Just before Jack's mouth disappeared, he let out a cry. If anyone had turned round, they would have faced a dark cobbled street, silent and empty except for a tripped-over cart, apples still spilling onto the street.
Jack materialised in front of the boy he had saved from being caught before, though he was apple less. Who knew, maybe he'd been caught anyway.
---
James walked quickly back to his home. He had weaved expertly through the stalls and carts and stolen two loaves of bread. It was the best he could do to feed his mother and sister. He would have to grit his teeth and bear it. He was going to have to be hungry tonight - again. James didn't think anyone had seen him, but they obviously had, because he saw an old man hobbling towards him, bellowing his name. "JAMES! JAMES PARKER! GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW."
James was so desperate; he even went back to the place where they knew his name. They, however, did not know where he lived, and this was what hadn't gotten him caught yet.
James began to run, clutching the two pieces of bread close to him, not willing to let them go, even if it killed him. 'My family needs this,' he thought to himself, 'they just don't understand...'
James turned several corners, and ducked into the alleyway. He weaved through the back alleys, knowing that the man couldn't follow - or so he'd thought. He kept running, ten minutes he ran, before he reached a small, wooden shack. He opened the door and composed himself, before walking into the shack.
"James?" a hoarse voice called. "James, is that you?"
"Yes, mother," James replied softly.
"Did you buy the bread, like I asked?" the voice asked.
There was a pause. James did this every day, and hated himself for it. "Yes, mother, but they only had two loaves."
"Oh well," his mother said, "better than yesterday. You must start getting up earlier. Lazy boy. The early bird..."
"I know... I'll get up earlier tomorrow."
"Was there any change?" his mother asked.
James thought back to the coins jingling in his grubby pocket, and considered, for once, saying yes. Suddenly, his mother let out a terrible cough. "No, mother."
James held the bread out to his mother, and she took one loaf. James turned and looked at his little sister, who was shivering and coughing. He knelt beside her. "Here, Arianna," he said, smiling, and gave her the loaf.
"You... you keep it..."
"No, Arianna, you need it... please..."
"You haven't told her... again," Arianna whispered, nodding at their mother.
"I... I can't..."
Arianna shrugged, took the bread, and began to eat. James' stomach grumbled. "Insatiable appetite, really!" his mother said immediately.
"Sorry, mother." James stood up and left to his room. Once there, he slipped his grubby nails under the floorboard and pulled it up. He took the money from his pocket and dropped it into a jar; it chinked against other coins. The jar was labelled, "Family Medicine Fund".
There was a deafening knock at the shack door. James hastily replaced the floorboard and came out. "I'm coming," he muttered, and opened the door. To his horror, the old man had led several other men to his shack, and now they knew where he lived.
"We'd like you to come with us, James Parker," the old man said.
"Who is it James?"
"No one," James replied. "Listen - you can't - please - I need to feed my family..."
"Sorry, mate." The man reached out to grab James' arm, and as he did so, James felt a burning sensation. There was a crack, and he found himself lying behind a river, yelling and pulling himself away from thin air, only for two loaves of bread.
[Um, interesting. Longer than I expected. o.O In fact, my post was stupidly long for a sleep deprived maniac who stayed up insanely late playing computer games with her brother.]
|| Set // WIS < 33 ||
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