Among Shadows

It was the dark of night; the way we expect a typical story of this genre to start out. The young boy trekked across the paved streets, as the bitter cold began to engulf him. He wore nothing but rags - a tattered jacket, ripped jeans, worn black boots and gloves, which had become fingerless due to deprecation. His shabby brown hair looked very unkempt and unwashed, and anyone who could have smelt the boy would have been completely repulsed. But he wasn't a bad person. He just hadn't been as fortunate as most.

As he continued to stagger through, fighting the aggressive winds, he reached a small, narrow alleyway. Here, he would be sleeping for the night. He lowered himself gently down to a sitting position, his back against the cold wall. The moon shone through the gap in the blocks not too far away. The foul stench of old rubbish reached the boy's nose, but he had become used to this sort of smell. He closed his eyes. Away he drifted, into a slumber; his fatigue was enough to ignore the cold. That night he dreamed. He dreamed that he was home again. The darling flowers of summer and a bright blue sky filled his mind again, and he played happily in the garden with his siblings. He saw his parents, and how they loved one another so dearly, and lived a life of happiness together, along with their beloved children. He would never have thought he would end up like this.

The story of the boy is a long tale to tell. The life of happiness was turned up-side-down when their father had passed away in a tragic car accident. It was an average day for the boy. He had just returned from school. When he walked in the door, he found his mother alone in the kitchen. She had not said a word. She just stared, stared out of the window. When she had gained the courage, she finally broke it to him. He could have never imagined he would hear such things...