Maru went to the slums once more. From there, he could again exit the city with the use of its sewers. When he was halfway through the slums, a group of children barred his way. He tried running but the much older boys were faster than him. Maru got caught.

"Well well well. What have we have here, boys? A mouse! Hahaha!" the leader of the group laughed at Maru. Two boys held him and he got searched all over his body.

"15 pennies. An abundant income wouldn't you say, mouse?" the leader asked Maru.

"Please. You can't take the money. My mother's sick and I need that for us to live." Maru begged the group of boys. He was now crying as he had worked very hard to get those 15 pennies. He spent nine tough hours just to be able to collect those from good people.

Those that had pity left inside them enough to care for a little beggar like him, even if they too, were mere servants with meager incomes.

"You know the rules inside the slums, mouse. You can take what you can if you don't get caught. But if you are, you have to pay the price. Beat him!" the leader commanded the boys with him. They were mostly ten years old, ganging up on one small six year old child. It was brutal.

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"Learn your lesson, mouse. Don't come here again." The leader advised Maru after they were done with the beating. He looked so miserable he could barely walk. His red hair turned even redder because of the blood that covered his broken face.

If his mother and sister would see him now, they would find it hard to recognize their family member. Maru was horrible to look at. He had only one eye that could see because the other one had swollen already.

He crawled towards the sewers until he could stand on one foot while dragging the other just to find his way back home before dark. It was dangerous if he got stranded here inside the city. There were those who preyed on children and ate their meat. The cannibals of the slums.

Maru was glad those boys hadn't sold him to those monsters. These were what his mother told him to look out for. It would also be unsafe to travel in the dark outside the city. He had no light on him and he still had to travel 30 minutes back to his family.

That time would be longer now that he was injured. Maru could only hope that the moon would shine bright tonight because he simply couldn't make it home before nightfall as he had promised his sister. When he got inside the sewers, shadows were everywhere as the light of day welcomed the dawn of the evening.

He limped while he dragged his right leg. It was broken. Moving any part of his body hurt but he had to endure. His remaining left eyesight was also beginning to dim because it too, was getting bigger as it started to swell also. His tears had long been emptied.

What he wished now, more than ever, was only to go home and be with his family.