Buying some fruit from a stall on the street Issac wondered what he would do if he was disappointed again. Really the most obvious answer would be to go after even harder prey, but if that would fail then Issac would have nothing left.
As Issac walked across the street he failed to notice what seemed like a black bush of weeds running towards him until it was too late as it collided with his legs.
“ Ouch.”
‘ouch weeds dont talk, thinking about it they don't run either’ looking down Issac noticed that the bush of tall weeds was actually a small child around six covered in dirt and grime.
“ Pare, Pare, Ladrão !”
A thin man in glasses wearing a white apron ran through the crowd, shouting at the top of his lungs. In the man’s hands seemed to be a broom that he waved in the air fighting against the crowds as he rushed towards the two.
“ Well, little one I think that man over there seems to be calling you a thief.” Not hearing a response, Issac looked down and noticed that there was no one by his leg anymore, scanning the surroundings proved useless, the child had disappeared in the crowd. Now that caught his attention, rarely does something go unnoticed by his eyes, especially something right in front of him.
“ You fool, you let the little beast getaway, do you know what you just cost me? '' Arriving in front of Issac the store owner reached for Issac’s neck as if to choke out any money that he had on him.
“ That beast has stolen from me repeatedly and I was finally about to catch the darn thing, but now you just ruined that, How do you think I am going to be able to make up for what it stole, I should just let you pay off its debt since you are the one who let it go.``
“ Calm down.” Issac said. “Here take this and leave me alone.” Wanting to quickly find that walking mass of dirt again Issac decided to just pay the man. Reaching into his bag Issac pulled out a wad of money, not caring to even count how much it was Issac just tossed the wad towards the man before taking off.
Money didn’t matter to him much anyway his hunts left him leaving him enough to where he didn't have to worry too much unless he decided to give it all away again.
The thing that really had his attention was the little brat that just got away from him.
“Really?-well that’s good, give me my money, give it to me right now.” Surprised at first the Store owner quickly tried to get the money before Issac had time to change his mind.
“ Here, take this and go.”
Barely paying attention Issac reached into his wallet and took out a fist full of bills before shoving it into the hands of the man's grasping hands. Turning around he ran into the sea of people hoping to find a trace of the little thief.
***
After running around looking for clues for what seemed like hours, going in what seemed like random directions, Issac finally found what he was looking for.
Palm trees lined the streets as the houses behind them were covered in dirt and vines. The houses themselves were less of houses and more like square boxes stacked together to make a tower. And while the homes themselves were dirty and probably packed to the brim with people, the houses themselves were vibrant oranges and yellows, their color barely peeking through the grime, giving a sense of wonder and excitement despite the general feel of dirtiness that accompanied it.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Casually with his hands in his pockets walked right through the front doors, not even bothering to address the people within he just continued onward straight to the roof. As he did, everyone already in the house continued as they did before, not once acknowledging that a stranger had walked through their front door.
Reaching the top Issac could hear the sounds of someone eating, almost as if hearing an animal tearing through its food. Looking over Issac saw the same black frizzled hair that had run into him sitting off the roof, careful not to be seen by the passerbyers on the street.
Through its thick coarse hair Issac could just make out a tattered shirt draped over its body, so large that he couldn't even tell whether it was wearing anything underneath or not. The shirt, like its hair, was so dirty that whatever color it was before was stained to a dirty brown color while its skin was so covered with dirt that what should have been a almond brown instead became a dirty black .
“ You're pretty smart for someone so tiny, running around in circles like that to lose to anyone looking for you, and then just for extra measure decide to hunker down here, a normal enough neighborhood that no one would even think to come looking for a small street urchin.” Continuing to talk as he walked towards the child Issac said. “ What's even better is that even while you were running away, you didn't forget to take the orange out of my bag.”
“AHHH !”
Not noticing Issac until he was right behind them, the child jumped up to its feet turning with the orange in its hands. Looking past the mangy hair and into its green eyes Issac saw fear that was pushing towards a fight or flight response and seeing how they met, Issac was betting on the child running again.
And truly Issac didn't have any more time to waste on looking for the child again.
Stepping forward too fast for the child to act, Issac reached out and grabbed the back of the shirt, lifting it off the ground, and dangling its feet in the air. “Sorry, didn't mean to scare you, I was just trying to talk to you, little one.”
With the child in his hands, Issac took the time to get a better look at it seeing that besides the matted clothes the child didn't even seem to have shoes. And despite his first observation the child did indeed have some shorts on, it's just that they were so large that it had to tie it to its waist with what looked like a piece of rope.
Orange juices staining her already dirty face as they dripped down from her mouth. Her shirt was so old and worn down it even started to tear as she tried to wiggle herself out of his hand. Never once letting go of the fruit that she held desperately in her little hands.
Looking down Issac noticed that the hands holding the orange seemed the worst off with nails chipped or missing. And the orange itself told more about the child’s life as she didn't even try to peel it, deciding to just eat right through the skin as if it was an apple. Lifting it up to eye level Issac asked. “ So do you have a name, little one ?”
“HISSS !” Stopping her struggle she hissed at him through her yellow-stained teeth,
“ Hey !” He commanded as he shook her by her shirt, trying to get her to calm down. “ I’m not trying to hurt you, you little brat, stop moving around.”
Despite his words, she continued to twist and turn trying everything to get him to let her go. Even going so far as to try and bite his arm, and when that didn't work she tried to slip out of her shirt. But all he had to do was hold her under her arms and eventually, she stopped.
Holding the orange closer to her chest she looked at Issac with a mistrustful gaze.
Seeing the child clutching the orange tighter Issac laughed. “ HAHAHAH, no I don't want that orange back little one, I just want to ask you a few questions.”
Curling up further the child finally spoke in a raspy unused voice.
“No.”
Issac, seeing a child that should have by all rights be one of the most stupidly trusting individuals on the planet close itself off from the whole world, grew annoyed. Gritting his teeth Issac had to calm himself down before deciding that if this little brat was going to make this an entire waste of time then he would take what little fun that he could out of this.
“ Well I can’t keep thinking you as the child, soooo how about Lucy-”
“ No”
“ - Too bad it's gonna be Lucy now, to signify our lucky run in together”
Smiling to himself for coming up with a wonderful name, Issac set ‘Lucy’ back down onto the roof. “ Now I'll be letting you go, promise not to the runway ?” Lifting his eyebrow Issac looked down at Lucy who just stared back at him wondering if Issac was brain dead.
“Okay, there you go—and she’s running again, wow not even a full two seconds and she’s already running.” As soon as Issac released his hand the newly dubbed Lucy had already turned and took off, running in the opposite direction.