Young Writers Society

Kamea~

I gave the small, nervous-looking man in front of me a huge, apologetic grin. "I'm so sorry, sir, I didn't see you there! I was trying to catch up to my mommy and I guess I wasn't looking where I was going." I pointed to the woman behind him, walking away from us. As his eyes followed my finger, I slid my other hand into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. From the weight and the feeling in my fingers, I could tell it was full of money. I quickly slid the wallet into my own pocket, keeping my hand on the item so it wouldn't fall out of the large hole there, as he looked back at me and gave me a small smile.

"That's quite alright," he said. "Go catch up with your mommy, then." He continued walking, and I dashed off, unable to keep a self-satisfied grin off my face as I passed the woman I'd claimed was my mother and toward the small park where Yamren, Astra, and myself had been making our home for the last twelve months, ever since Mommy and Daddy had left us.

My footsteps slowed, though, as I passed a small store. I couldn't read the lettering above the door - there was an "a" and a "c", I could read that much - but the shelves of items I could see through the window caught my attention. 

Particularly the small, shimmery flower hair clip displayed prominently near the entrance.

As I looked at it, I felt the steal-ache creep up my chest, telling me that if I didn't have that clip, I would just die. The steal-ache that made me want to take the clip and run with it. The steal-ache that made me take things for no reason, that weren't worth anything.

The steal-ache was irresistible. 

My feet took me into the shop, the bell over the door dinging cheerfully as I entered, and to the display shelf with hundreds of little flower clips, none of which were as enticing as the blue one the steal-ache was making me need. 

The clerk gave me a strange look and opened her mouth to ask me a question, probably where's your mother, little girl? Before she could get the words out, I snatched the clip, stuffed it in my pocket, and turned to leave.

She saw me, definitely. She saw me take it, and she's going to yell at me, call me a thief, and make me give it back. 

She said nothing.

And I left with the clip in my pocket.

Yamren~

I looked up as I heard footsteps drawing nearer, ready with an answer if it happened to be some concerned stranger wanting to know why two little girls were here, seemingly by themselves, and if we needed help. That happened more often than I thought it should. Leave strange little girls alone, please. We don't need help.

It was just Kamea, though, returning from her walk. 

She wordlessly offered me a leather wallet.

"Who'd you get this off of?" I asked, rifling through the contents of the wallet. Enough cash to keep us all fed and clothed for a month or two at least. 

"I bumped into a guy and his wallet fell into my hand," Kamea said innocently. "It keeps happening, Yammy, I don't know why."

I sighed and set the wallet aside. I didn't like it when Kamea stole stuff, because stealing wasn't right, but when the things she stole paid for food, I wouldn't complain. 

Kamea shuffled her feet and I tilted my head questioningly at her. "The steal-ache happened again," she said. "I'm sorry, Yammy, I tried to stop it, but I had to." She blinked at me, violet eyes large and pleading for me to understand.

I just shook my head and got up. "My turn for a walk," I said, brushing aside her comment. The steal-ache happened so often now that it wasn't worth discussing. "Astra should wake up soon and you'll need to feed her."

Kamea nodded and took my place on the bench next to the sleeping one-year-old. I took the wallet, slipped it into my pocket, and started off. 

Technically, I was on baby shift right now, and I shouldn't be forcing it on Kamea, but the voices were getting too loud.

The voices had been happening ever since Mommy died. Voices and strange noises, most often, sometimes with strange tastes and strange tingles in my body.

The voices were mostly meaningless and I couldn't understand them, but sometimes there were words. Words like "no witnesses" and "kill the baby" and "hurt yourself." Strange words. Bad words. Words that I had to ignore to keep Kamea and Astra safe.

Right now, though, the voices were meaningless. Just loud. I couldn't hear myself think.

I was out of the park now, walking down the street, passing people who didn't give me a second glance. Most people didn't, too busy with their own lives to pay attention to me. 

I payed attention to them, though.

I liked to watch them, guessing what their names were, what they did, what they were like, if they had a family or not. 

If they were human or not.

Not all of them were.

Some of them had strange, glowing eyes, and sharp teeth and claws, or skin that rippled like a curtain, or oddly coloured hair. 

I didn't see the monsters every day, though. Those were the boring days, the voice-less days.

On a loud-voice-day, like this one, I saw lots of monsters.

They were fascinating.

I could watch them all day.

I had a mission right now, though. Food for Kamea and Astra and myself. We were running low.

Food.

Food.

Food.

Repeating the word helped me drown out the voices and focus on what I wanted.

Food.

Food.

Food.

food.

food.