• We begin this tale like any other with a young boy in a market place on a day as any other, the sun shining as the sun does, a slight breeze in the air and the smell of spring floating among the market, with normal people their faces as colorful as their clothes chattering among each other, but as we take a closer look we see that this boy is alone in the busy market he isn’t colorful nor does he wished to be. He is tattered and torn his clothes have become far to small for his already petite body. His slender form and lanky worn soul moves slowly through the crowds, but as he passes by the rich and worthy they take no notice of him they pass him as he is a small insignificant rat on the pavement.
    The market continues to fill with people the cobble streets become crowded and stuffy. The young boy sits on a stoop off the main road still in sight of the market but now becomes entirely invisible to the rest of the world. The stoop he has chosen to rest his tired body on is the stoop of a young girl. He has seen this young girl walking from her home before, he has followed her on more then one occasion but not out of passion or lust but of curiosity and wonder. He noticed the young girl a few months ago when she first arrived in the small town. In this town word travels fast especially when the news is about new money moving in.
    The young girls father is one of the wealthiest and brightest to step foot in the town. He is an engineer for a railroad in the main city. His job keeps him away from home most of the time and the girls only company is the paid nannies that her father leaves her with day after day. The boy can see her sitting at her window almost everyday, she just stares down at the town with a blankness in her face.
    On this particular day the girl was like any other day sitting at her window but she sees something different today that lifts the blankness from her. She sees the boy on her stoop and begins to walk down to her door. She opens the door quietly so not to startle the boy. She then sits next to the boy as quite as a mouse, the boy suddenly fills her shoulder hit his slightly and jolts to his feet. She becomes startled herself and looks oddly up at him.
    “Oh I am terribly sorry I didn’t know anyone was home please forgive me,” the boy finally gets out after getting over the shock.
    “It is fine my good sir I saw you from my window and thought I would come give you some company,” The girl replies kindly.
    “Well I thank you for you thoughtfulness, my name is Kris,” The young boy says as he bows to the girl.
    The girl stands and with a soft delicate voice says, “I thank you for if you hadn’t caught my attention I would have been trapped in my room all day, my name is Elizabeth, it’s a pleasure to meet you Kris.”
    These two children of only 11 and 12 years had now made great friends and were often found in each others presence. Until the day their fun came to an abrupt end.


    To Be Continued………