jerzeygrl wrote...

"Charlie, Charlie, Charlie," the crowd chanted madly, fading in and out of focus as the boxer wiped the sweat off his brow and slowly shuffled back into the center of the ring.  Silence.  Then a bell.  Immediately followed by instant transformation into a raging beast, an unstoppable force, pounding, pounding, pounding....

The change in wind rouses him from the past with a few swift whips of freezing rain across the face.  He pops his collar, ducks his head, and is off into the darkness as if he had never left.

jerzeygrl wrote...

He was only six when he learned how to live off the land.  From his mother, in fact.  Barely able to add, he could tell you just about every dumpster in town where you could get a decent meal.  Not just the garbage and leftovers of others; day-old bread, lettuce as crisp from the garden as the priciest salad at a fancy restaurant with the exception of a few brown leaves, and sometimes entire pies and cakes, reminiscent of forgotten birthdays and discarded congratulatory wishes.  One day he returned with a birthday cake for his mother but in her place was a hollow pile of clothing and bags.  Blood and yellow tape.  Cake on the ground. He opened his mouth but no sound came out.  He was silent for years, shuffling through a system that preferred him mute so he would not speak of the life inside an emotionless, mechanical society.  

He walked downstairs and stepped outside (continue) 

jerzeygrl wrote...

Flashbulbs were popping like firecrackers on the sidewalk during a 4th of July parade.  People were screaming and noises were blending into nothing at all.  He could only hear his heart pounding, "boom, boom, boom, boom" and could only see a blur of the world turned upside down.  He stumbled forward, shirt pulled up over face, trying to avoid the countless arms reaching and grabbing at him.  He only had a few blocks to go.  A few blocks were an eternity away but he had to make it there within a few minutes.  The ground started shaking violently. "Not again," he thought.  He felt himself falling wildly, then all went black.

jerzeygrl wrote...

Kaya put her candy on the counter and looked back at her brother, who was opening bags of Cheetos and shoving them hungrily in his mouth. "Come on," she growled, "It's gonna be dark soon!" The bell on the door jingled and a tall man walked up to Kaya.  "You need some more change for that?" he asked, seeing that Kaya was rifling through her pockets for a couple more nickels.  She looked up at him with sad eyes. "Um, yes."  Kyle came running up and smacked his Cheetos into the man's hand. "Can you buy these for me, mister?"

"Where are your folks?" the man asked, taking a few bills from his wallet to pay for their snacks.

Kaya looked at her brother with a look that said, "don't say a word".  She looked around quickly then turned to the man.

"We left them," she whispered.

The man smiled.  "Do you need a ride somewhere?" 

The cash