Suzy's Origin Part 1

ya, I'm not a writer, but this was stuck in my head and I had to put it on paper so here ya go:

“Why me? Why me?” was the only thing Suzy could think as she fled the small house. Another gunshot exploded behind her and she ran faster, tears streaming down her face. To be honest they hadn’t been great parents. However, unconditional love is strong in 9 year olds and she looked past the drunkenness, the beatings, the swearing, dirty living conditions, and meager food. It had never occurred to her that things could escalate so fast as she hid behind the couch until the gun was drawn, and then she ran. Sirens wailed past her as she slowed her escape. She hadn’t been wearing shoes when she left and three blocks later, as the adrenaline drained from her system she noticed her feet throbbed from rocks sunken into the soles.

Panic slowly set in. She had no family outside her parents and not really any friends since her parents wouldn’t allow her to regularly attend school. Basically, she had just become very alone in a very big world. After pulling the rocks out of her feet she walked on at a more thoughtful pace. She wasn’t particularly worried about the cold because the early spring was getting warmer, but food and a place to stay were prominent in her mind. She had heard of orphanages, but one they didn’t seem like particularly nice places according to Mr. Dickens and two she had no idea where to find one. She walked quickly through a park still trying to figure a way out of her mess when a thought struck her.

Nearby a family was having a picnic and a dog had jumped onto the bench and stolen a burger patty. The family laughed as an older man, who must’ve been the dad, pushed the dog off the bench. “If a dog could do it she could too” she thought and waited, watching for her chance. After a while they got up and unpacked a football and moved off a distance to start playing catch. Even the woman, who must’ve been their mom, got involved and helped the smallest child, who was a little girl in a blue dress, catch the ball. The game slowly got more involved and a bit rougher and at a huge touchdown Suzy took her chance and ran, ducking under the picnic table. Her breath caught in her throat as she waited for someone to say something; someone to raise an alarm that an intruder had entered their happy family.

After a minute she exhaled slowly; she was safe. She poked her hand out from under the tablecloth and grabbed a hotdog sticking off the plate. Even without appropriate topping which would’ve been impossible to get from under the table it tasted delicious and whetted an appetite she didn’t realize she had. After eating her fill she sneaked out from under the table and sprinted towards a line of trees. As the sun set she found herself a soft peace of ground and settled down. She tried to convince herself it would be a lot like camping, but the lonely girl jumped at every sound and shivered well into the night before finally falling into an uneasy sleep.

The next two weeks followed much the same pattern and Suzy quickly adapted to her new life. During the day she stole food from picnickers with a tenacity that surprised even herself, and during the night huddled under an old forgotten blanket. The first day of April woke her rudely as a wet droplet hit her squarely in the forehead causing her to lurch to her feet. Sporadic droplets rapidly changed into a downpour and quick thinking led her to run into the local library. It had been a happy place before the “incident” as she had come to call that day in her head. Books had always held a special meaning as tools to escape her less than perfect life. She spent the day happily looking through old friends, but the whole time a thought nagged at her head that the rain wasn’t letting up and she couldn’t stay there forever. She was the last one out as the doors closed at 9 o’clock and she stood under the brick overhang sullenly staring at the water as it washed away the world.

Suzy walked back to the park quickly, staying under cover as much as possible, but when she got to the open fields of the park there wasn’t much she could do and she couldn’t get much wetter as she squashed through the sodden grass. Deciding it would be a little dryer under a picnic table she crawled under the closest one and rolled herself into a ball in her ragged blanket. She nodded off listening to the rain splattering onto the wood table and her empty stomach growling.

“Oh my god, she’s dead!” The scream pierced her dreams and for the second day in a row she lurched to her feet . This time there was a considerably hard object over her head and she crashed against it and landed harshly back down. She sat in a daze until another scream sent her bolting out from under the table and across the field. Looking behind her she caught the drift of what was happening. A maintenance worker in an orange vest was standing, staring agape after her from next to the picnic table and several people were running over to check out what was going on. Two of the curious onlookers went chasing after the poor 9 year old. Cops didn’t take well to finding small children sleeping under picnic tables and wanted to correct the situation, 9 year old don’t take well to being chased after and also worked to correct the situation running even faster into the shade of trees to lose herself.

10 feet in a voice called down from above her “up here”. The voice had a hand attached and taking the proffered hand she hauled herself up the tree. Not long after the two blue uniforms ran past her perch farther into the park. “Ha, Damn Coppers! Go chase your tails elsewhere!” her rescuer stuck his tongue out at the fleeting backs. Her rescuer was about her age and had short, crazy curly, brown hair. “thankyou” she said offering her hand to the youth, but before they could shake she was racked with a coughing fit that almost sent her out of the tree, not helped by the sudden light headedness she felt. She clung onto the tree and lowered herself to the ground, so that the ground wouldn’t come up to meet her first. “You alright?” the young man asked. “ I don’t feel so good” she answered breathing deeply. “I’ll take you to my mom. She’ll know how to help. My dad always says to help people out cause ya never know when you’ll need a favor and then they’ll owe you and all. “ He talked amicably and quickly as he lead her across to the other side of the park. Suzy had never been over to this side and across from the park sat a huge house. “Oh, by the way, I’m Alan.” He added as an afterthought to his considerable narrative about needing help if zombies were to attack and all. “Suzy” she replied staggering along behind him.

Alan slammed the door behind them as they entered the mansion like abode. “Young man what did you think you were doing leaving this house this early! You should be getting ready for school. How dare you be so…” The woman towered in front of the two youngsters. In all fairness she was only about five and half feet tall, but she could still tower over the two children. Her graying hair was clean cut, but friendly and her plump exterior gave her the impression of happily well-off in life. At the moment though, she was shocked for the first time in 15 years at the pale, ghost like child with unfocused eyes standing slumped behind her youngest son. “Mommy look who I found” Alan interjected into the pause, “Her name’s Suzy. She doesn’t feel so good so I thought you could make her better!” He smiled innocently up at his mother.

The caregiver knelt in front of Suzy and ran a well practiced hand over her forehead as she clucked apprehensively, “You’re burning up dear, where do you live? We need to get you home and to a doctor.” “She was being chased by coppers just cause she was sleeping under a table. I mean it’s a public park ain’t it?” Alan blabbered on in the background. Alan’s mom looked sadly down at the little ghost, “Sleeping under a table, were ya dear? To think in this weather. Well best get ya to bed. We’ll get ya all better. Albert get down here. I need a hand. “ She called up the stairs leading off the main entry. A stocky Irishman strode down the stairs, “what is it dear? Oh my.” He paused at the foot of the stairs looking at the pale child. “Help me get her to bed” The portly woman cajoled. The sturdy man picked up the twig of humanity and carried her delicately up the stairs. Suzy fell asleep in his arms.