<1> Morning Struggles & The mysterious man

It was morning ,I could tell by the rays of sunlight that were peaking through the holes of my blanket. I didn't want to wake up. I hated mornings so much because they were those part of a new day that reminded you about your problems, hardships and pain ,literally everything you wouldn't want to think about. Whereas at night, you go to sleep and forget about all those damn things. But morning comes along and everything comes rushing back in your mind again. You are reminded of the bills that needs to be paid , your kid's school fees or a boyfriend that dumped you or your sick parent, final-exams stress ,it could be a lot. But those were probably other people's problems becauses for me, my biggest problems were always what I was going to eat the next day when it shines bright in the morning or where I was going to hide my poor self when winter laid its wrath upon earth. It devastated me so much but when you grew up all alone , fending for yourself , you learned to survive and that was what I had been doing all my life and that was to survive no matter what.

I ignored and pretended to be asleep as I felt someone's hand on my shoulder , shaking me awake. I knew it was Matilda who was trying to wake me up because I saw a glimp of her face through one of the many holes that were scattering all over that rag I called a blanket. And I also knew that because she was the only person I shared with that dump plastic-covered cardboard hovel that we were living in. Matilda and I have been best friends for as long as I could remember, more like she had become a big sister to me that I have never had. She was only four years older than me and if it wasn't for her ,I don't know if I would have survived living on the streets for so long. We were both homeless but she always seemed to have a better grip on the situation more than I could ever do. Living on the streets didn't faze her at all. She was living it like it was the most normal life ever despite all the challenges we faced each and every day and she was trying to make it as normal as possible as she could for me too.

"Get your ass up now Annie! "Matilda demanded more seriously after I covered myself back up with my blanket again for the third time after she ripped it of my body"You know how much I had to literally beg Simón to give us this job. Now get up ,we can't be late! "

"Fine. I'm getting up"I signed, throwing my blanket to the side and met with the deepest of green eyes of my best friend. I smiled widely, throwing my arms around her neck as I kissed her cheek "Good morning!!"

Matilda chuckled, hugging me back. Her hugs were always so comforting. I loved them

"Since when are mornings good?"She asked me

"They are not"I told her "I'm just saying it to you because normally people say that in the morning right? "

"Yeah. Okay now ,put on your shoes so we can go. We need to catch an early bus so we don't be late" Mattie said , standing up from my bedding and putted on her brown sweater and pair of some leathered platform boots that looked like they have seen better days.

"I'm going to see if Denise is up yet"She told me before walking out of our little hovel

"Okay"I nodded

I stood up too , folding my blanket and hid it under the piles of cardboards that I was using as some sort of a mattress. I pulled out my black body warmer right under my 'mattress' and wore it over the brown long-sleeved wool t-shirt that I was wearing and putted on my pair of Tommy shoes on my feet. At least I took a good bath yesterday at the house that I had went to clean. The woman was so nice and had even offered me some food and pair of changing clothes before I started cleaning her house. I rarely bathed and that was annoying and frustrating as hell especially since I was a woman. It would have been a little better if I was a man.

I took my toothbrush and toothpaste under the mattress (I hid everything under there) and poured myself some water in a plastic cup before I pushed out the short and narrow door of our hovel. I was immediately met with the similar structured cardboards hovels that were lined up in a mess as I stood outside, in front of my door. I watched silently as children in dirty clothes ran around and chasing after each other happily ,Feliz drying her laundry on a rack up in a distance and the old man Charles sitting in front of his hovel drinking hot tea while Martha and Jackie were talking about something in front of Martha's hovel. I looked to the other side to see Rob trying to talk to Matilda who looked very uninterested in whatever the man was saying to her. I chuckled but actually feeling bad for him. He has been trying to pursue Mattie for a very long time now but the woman was just never interested in him or in anybody else for that matter. And others were just walking around , doing whatever and minding their own business. We were a group of homeless individuals and families who were trying to make a living for ourselves despite the hardships and challenges we faced and we were surviving pretty well.

"Good morning Annie!" I heard Charles say from a little distance away, waving at me. He was the most senior person in our little 'camp' as we called it.

"Good morning Charlie. How are you?"I yelled back to him , smiling widely

"I'm alright my dear. You?" He asked

"I'm fine Charlie, thank you!"I told him

After we talked a little, I went on to brush my teeth and after I was done with that ,I splashed the remaining water that was still in the cup all over my face. Mattie and Denise were already heading my way when I quickly walked back inside the hovel to put my toothbrush , toothpaste and the cup away. I was tieing my hair up in a ponytail when I head back outside.

"We can go ,I'm done" I told both of them , still fixing my hair

"Hey Annie"Denise greeted me

"Hey" I greeted her back

"Okay, let's go"Mattie told us as we followed behind her

The three of us started heading towards the railway station by foot. It was a walking distance from where we lived to the station. The Mary Haknátir Railway Station was the busiest station in Silléaco named after the first Queen of Galloway , Mary Haknátir. Silléaco was the capital city of Galloway and the most industrialized city in the country. It was full of different kinds of opportunities but for people who actually went to school obviously unlike me who had never stepped a foot in a school yard before though I was twenty-two years of age. I still didn't know how to read or write properly ,it was pretty sad if you asked me.

After about a fifteen minutes walk ,we finally arrived at the station but we were not necessarily heading inside the station but a little bit further down the road to where we were going to wait for the bus. The bus was much cheaper than the taxis which was why many people opted to take a bus especially in the mornings and later in the afternoons. It was a fair amount of people queued up by the time me arrived at the bus station and we also joined the line as we all waiting for the bus to arrive to take us to our different destinations.

The bus was taking forever to arrive but we continued to wait. It was not like we had another option anyway ,we didn't have enough money to take up a taxi. I was just feeding my eyes around as I absorbed the pure perfection of Silléaco City and different types of vehicles that were passing by. Tallest buildings and the glimpse of the national bridge that was built to perfection stood in front of my eyes. The city was truly beautiful and the environment was very clean, no papers or plastics littering around. I couldn't help it but wonder if I was ever given a chance to live a normal life like most of the people ,which part of that beautiful city would I have been living in or what would I have been doing with my life right now.

Would I have attended high school?

Would I have graduated or went to prom?

Would I have gotten my first boyfriend?

I wondered about all of that sometimes when my mind decided on its own to disturb my peace like it was doing right now. I didn't like thinking about my past. There was literally no point in thinking about it anyway ,if anything it was only going to depress the shit out of me and I didn't want that for myself. I shook my head in hopes to shove away all those unnecessary thoughts that wanted to cloud in my mind and I was about to look away from where I was looking all along when a certain car caught my attention. It was a black Mercedes Benz ,the window at the back was rolled down and there was a guy sitting on the backseat. Everything was like in slow motion as the man lifted his head up from whatever he was looking at on his lap and right then our eyes met. My breath hitched ,my heart's pace quickening in my chest instantly as I was met with the darkest shades of brown eyes I had ever seen.

Holy mother of God!

My legs felt like they were going to give out any second as I stared back at that man. He was looking at me so intensely and his handsome face was burning my innocent eyes and tainting my brain with certain thoughts. I was feeling so weird all of the sudden. There was heat creeping up my neck and everywhere else on my body to be honest. It was getting hot , too hot. My heart was pounding so hard that I feared it was going to jump right out of chest. I had never seen that man before but it felt oddly calm and satisfying and safe too when he was looking at me. There was something about him that was pulling me in and all of the sudden I wanted to be closer to him.

God what was happening to me?

Why was he making me feel like that?

The man then teared  his away from me and my heart leaped ,yearning for his gaze once again. This was stupid, I didn't even know the man for god's sake. I had just seen him but something inside of me was calling for that handsome man. I wanted to see him again so bad .My eyes stared after the same black car until it was no longer on my sight of view. I didn't understand anything. I was just so confused about what just happened.

Who was he?

"Hey Annie, are you okay?"I blinked, looking at Matilda who was standing in front of me with her hand resting on my shoulder "The bus is here"

I didn't even see it coming

"Y-Yes, I'm fine"I told her , trying to regain my focus "Yes it's here ,let's go in"

"Why are you so red ?Are you not feeling well?"Mattie asked worriedly, touching my forehead with the back of her fingers

"I'm okay Mattie. I'm not sick" I assured her with a smile"Now let's go get in the bus before it leaves us behind. It won't wait for us you know "

I chuckled as she sighed "Fine! But please tell me if you are not feeling well okay? I'll take you back to the camp"

"I'll tell you"I promised her.

Danise was already inside the bus when Matilda and I got in. She saved us two seats that were next to hers. As I sat down on the seat and relaxed back ,my head resting against the window , that handsome face of that mysterious man and his pair of brown eyes revisited my mind and my lips curled up on its own, my heart skipping a beat one more time.

"Who are you?" I wondered desperately

A\N The setting of this story is fictional. I mean It didn't feel right using an actual country or place. So I figured,I'd use my own