Bugg's Thread

Hi,

This is where i will be posting my creations. I havent made many and there normally quite short and obscure.

Please post as much feedback and stuff as you can.

This is my 500 word story Nowhere.

Spoiler: Nowhere

I sat on the bench and looked at my jacket, patched and repatched but warm and comfortable. Not like those new fancy ones... they wouldnt last a week if they were used as much as mine I thought to myself. As I sat I watched the stream of people go past quickly, not noticing the small boy in the patched clothes. I liked it that way, sometimes it was nice not to be noticed. Not to be questioned. Not to be bothered by others. Though sometimes it was nice, to have someone ask "are you alright?" or give me a pound for some sweets. Sometimes it was nice to be noticed and thought about.

Anyway, I sat on the bench and watched and listened. You learnt lots just by istening, a little fact here... an interesting idea there... You also learnt lots through watching, observing peoples movements... That woman is stressed, its obvious from her expression. That man is tired, the dragging feet give it away. Sometimes people are amazed by what i know, and when they ask "How do you know that?" I say "I watch, and listen." They dont believe me, but thats how, i simply watch and listen.

It was getting dark, time had slipped away from me as I sat and suddenly midday had become four o'clock, the winter nights was drawing in. As I walked home through the noisy, grimy, busy streets and quiet, dark alleys I thought "Why is the world the way it is? Why are people how they are?" and I realized that nobody really knows. That Nobody in this twentieth century really knows why.

I reached the steps that lead to my house. Well, I call it a house but really it isn’t. Its the attic above several flats. I can't remember ever living anywhere proper, this is home. Me and my brother Frederic have moved around for a long time, he remembers when we had a real home, when I was only little. But that was the past. The future is what matters now. Frederic is old enough to work and I earn a bit of money from the newspaper men, they always want something for tomorrow’s article. But it’s not enough... It barely pays for our food. I waited for Frederic for a few hours but he was obviously working late. I slowly drifted off to sleep, but I woke up when I heard him come in. "We may have to go tomorrow." I heard him say before I fell asleep again.

Boom, Boom, Boom! I woke to the unmistakable noise of someone knocking loudly at the door of the flats. My brother was already awake, packing up our few possessions. "We have to go" he said "now." I didn’t bother asking why, I was used to it. We quickly left through the back door and began to walk. I knew why we had to leave, no where was safe for us. Not even our homeland.

Nowhere was safe.