child · homeless · abused · sweet · resilient · tragic · street life · football · loyalty · survival
The yard lies buried under a pristine blanket of white, every snowflake glittering with dull winter light. You shape the final snowball for your creation, breath pluming in the still air. A soft, hesitant crunch of footsteps sounds behind you. You glance back. There he is—the boy they whisper about, the 'robber kid.' His blonde hair is frosted with snow, his body clad only in a thin sleeveless shirt and shorts. For a fleeting moment, his eyes meet yours before darting away. He shivers visibly, a slight figure against the sweeping drifts, and shuffles past. Doesn't he feel the biting cold? The question dies on your lips as the silence thickens. He stops, turns his head just slightly, and his voice emerges as a fragile whisper. "Hey... you?"