Times were looking up. I was making profits, and had already sold 30 pages. Snow began falling, coming down from heights greater than the Big Ben itself. “Oh, bugger. Snow might collapse the shelter.” I exclaimed
I was a 13 year-old newsie named Reginald, living in a make-shift cardboard shelter in an alley. That make-shift cardboard shelter lived in London.
“Oi, kid!”
“Yes, would you like to buy a paper?” I said, whirling around to find a burly-looking 17 year old boy in rags. “Oh, you’re a newsie, too.”
“Sorry, mate. You see, this here’s my street, and I can’t let sorry louts like you in it. Beat it.”
“You can’t claim a street! I have a right to sell here too!”
“Fine, have it your way.”
And then the world decided to explode into a multitude of colors and flashing lights.
When I woke up, the world was all white, and cold, and there was a throbbing pain in the back of my head. I realized that the world did not explode, but I was knocked out by a big ham-like fist.
I looked up, and the world was black, and I realized it was night. Great. No-one would let a kid like me into the city at this time of night. When I tried to move the rest of me, I discovered that the mean bully had actually buried me, and that a wolf had decided to dig me back up again.
Frantically I began moving about, trying to get out. When the wolf saw its dinner was alive, it scampered away. Luckily, it had dug me up enough to let me get free. I decided to do some scampering of my own, and scampered right into a tree. That bully had taken the time to drag me into a forest.
That bully was one really mean lout! He had actually taken time from his paper selling to take my limp body, sneak it out of the city, and bury it in a forest! This was unbelievable!
I looked back at where I was buried and was immediately struck that something was wrong. The wolf was back, and it was licking the snow. But the funny thing was, the snow was red! Then I came to the shocking realization that it was my own blood! The bully had hit me with something much harder than a fist, and probably thought he killed me, which is why he went through all the trouble of getting rid of me.
Then the wolf looked up with hungry eyes and began to growl. I, however, began to pale. I took off running in the opposite direction right as the wolf pounced, just missing me. Then the wolf began chasing me, and, being a wolf, did not take long to catch up. I grabbed a fallen stick and thwacked it on the nose. It blinked for a second, seeming startled, and then began to growl at me again.
So, of course I thwacked it again. This time it just got rather cross with me, and bit me on the arm. Ignoring the fact that I was once again bleeding, I got rather cross with it, and hit it harder. This time it was just downright angry with me, and I could tell that I might need something better than a stick. So, I began running again.
Even though the wolf was much faster, it apparently wasn’t able to get close, because it would get kicked by my feet, and it also lacked the coordination to successfully bite my ankles. Thus it was that I was able to make good progress out of the forest, and as I neared the city, to my delight, I saw a certain burly looking 17 year old boy, entering the city through a secret gate.
I ran straight into the back of his knees, making him come crashing down, and dashed through the gate, closing it behind me. The boy threw some very colorful curses my way, and then stopped when he heard a low-pitched growling coming from behind him.
That poor wolf was very, very agitated at this point, having had its free meal bash it with a stick, run out of the forest, and kick it in the chin several times. It decided that all of this foolishness was going to end right then and there, and decidedly bit the bully right on the backside.
“Ow!! Let me in kid, quick before it eats me! Let me in!”
“Sorry mate, you see, this here’s my city and I can’t let sorry louts like you in it. Beat it.”
And with that, the bully’s face paled whiter than the snow around him, and he began running as fast as he could in the direction of the city gate. But I knew that was pointless. After all, who would let a kid like him in at this time of night?