"Mama, aren't you going to eat?" Kalandra looked at her mother.

"Later sweetie." Alice smiled at her ten year old daughter.

Kalandra nodded and finished her bread and went to get ready for bed.

Alice sighed and cleaned up a little. She couldn't support herself and Kalandra as well. It worried her what she should do. She tried not to think of it as she got ready for bed. She sighed and looked down at her tummy and rubbed it lightly. She couldn't support to children. She closed her eyes and got into bed.

"Mama? May I go play in the park today?" Kalandra asked one morning over breakfast.

"Of course you can. Just be careful." Alice said, not really paying attention to her daughter. Kalandra smiled and finished her water before leaving for the park.

Alice watched her daughter leave. She knew it would be the last time she saw her.

Kalandra stared at the open room. She swallowed as her chin trembled slightly. The apartment was bare. Nothing was left. She walked in slowly, a little afraid of what she'll find. She went straight her mother's room. It was bare. The bed was still there, but the covers were gone. The little jewelry her mother ever had was gone. The only small detail that was there to tell that someone had been there, was the spots where no dust was. Indicating something had been there. Kalandra sniffled a little. She bit her lip and went to her room. It was bare. Except for some small clothing on the floor.

"Mama…" she whispered. She feel to the ground and hugged her knees, rocking back and forth. Her emerald eyes welling up with tears. She whispered to herself it would be all right. That her mother was just out. She would return later for her.

Kalandra looked up at the old apartment building. The last time she had left the place, it had been 3 years earlier. She had no idea what to do, where to go. She had no idea why she had come back. Someone else was probably living in their apartment. Living in her room. Eating at a table where she was suppose to be sitting. She sighed and shook her head. She didn't belong here. Her mother left her for a reason. Kalandra looked to the left of her for a moment, and then to the right. She bit her lip and sat on the curb. She looked up at the sky.

"What do you want me do?" she whispered to the heavens. "I have no place to go." She sighed and rubbed her face. She had to find something to eat. Somewhere to sleep.

She sat there for a while, thinking her life over. Three years she had been on her own and it had been rough. She had stayed at the apartment the first night, but knew the landlord would not approve of that. She didn't have enough money to pay the rent. She left the next day.

She had roamed around for a few days, finding shelter under boxes and crates left behind in alleys. She slept on a few park benches, but that ended real quick after her back couldn't take much more. After a few months, she had made her little home in the back corner of an alley. Blocked off by pieces of cardboard boxes, her small `house' was all she needed. She had searched through some trash and found an old ragged blanket so she could at least stay somewhat warm.

She shook her head as she looked at an ant crawling by. She smiled slightly and moved some dirt away that it was headed for. She watched as the ant roamed around, going in circles, trying to find it's way around. That's how she felt was life was like. Going in circles, leading her no where, until by some miracle, she found her way home. Safe. Just like the ant, trying not to get killed on the adventure. She sighed and got up and walked around. She had no idea where she was headed.

Kalandra looked up from the ground and threw her cigarette to the ground. She looked around before sneaking into an alley, away from the street. The sixteen year old girl swept the stubborn pieces of her light brown hair away from her face. She looked up at the sky, the clouds building up. She sighed to herself and went in look for shelter. Her `house' had `fallen apart' two and a half years earlier. She stood against the wall of a store, watching the rain, but staying dry. She sighed and looked at the sky. No signs of clearing up. She took a seat on the store steps and waited.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement. She looked over and saw a girl slowly walking in the rain towards the building down the street. She watched her, wondering why she wasn't walking faster. Kalandra watched the girl, her curiosity getting the best of her. The girl stopped in the rain for a moment and then continued inside the building. Kalandra shrugged to herself and brought her knees up and held them to her chin. She shivered slightly and closed her eyes.

"Warmth, fire. It's hot. The sun is shining on me brightly." Kalandra whispered to herself, trying to not think of the cold rain. The wind was blowing the rain to her. She bit her lip and put her face to her knees, guarding it from the rain. She tried to get some much needed sleep, but it was no use.

After a while, she got sick of it. It was no use. She wasn’t going to get sleep tonight. She stood up and sighed as she rubbed her face. She looked around at the deserted streets. Kalandra wasn’t quite sure of the time, but it didn’t matter. She quietly walked down the street, kicking some rocks along the way. She pushed her hair out of her eyes. She passed a few bars, peeking in, seeing different people at the bar, chatting. Talking. She sighed and continued walking.

When she passed the third restaurant, she turned back around and entered. Just to get out of the cold and the night. As she entered, some people turned her way, but quickly ignored her. She sat down at a table in the far corner. She looked at the lines in the table, studying them. Her finger trailed the lines. She was interrupted deep in thought.

"Excuse me, miss. What can I get you?"

Kalandra looked up at the waiter and shook her head. "I don’t want anything, thank you." she said quietly.

"Then I must ask you to leave. You’re taking a table away from paying customers." he told her.She sighed and got up as she left. She stood outside the door, looking up and down the streets. She tried to think of what she could do, since she wasn’t very tired. She headed to the park.

Kalandra loved the park. It was a place she could be alone and think. A place no one could kick her out of. Where she could sit by a tree and think to herself, with no one else around. She walked quietly, hands in her pocket and head lowered, towards the lake. She stopped by a tree and sat down against it.

She watched a family of ducks pass by in the lake. She smiled to herself and wish she had some food for them. She picked a flower from nearby and played with it. She twirled it around in her hand, her head leaning against the tree. She rubbed her face with one hand as she thought about her life and what she wanted to do with her life. She looked up at the sky and at the first star she saw. She smiled slightly and closed her eyes.

"I wish…I wish my life was better. I wish had a home. A job. I wish I had a family. I wish my mother was still here. I wish I knew where she was. I wish I didn’t live the way I do…" she sighed and kept her eyes closed. A tear rolled down her cheek. She swallowed and wiped it away. She sighed and sat there the rest of the night, eventually falling asleep.

Kalandra awoke when she heard voices yelling. She groaned to herself and straightened up, stretching out her back. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes before looking around. She rubbed the back of her head, which was a bit sore from leaning against the tree. She got up, dusting herself off. She ran her fingers through her hair, trying to get it straight and untangled. It was no use. She reluctantly pulled it back with a green ribbon, which matched her eyes. As she walked along the streets of Brooklyn, she heard her stomach begging for food, but tried to ignore it. She bit her lip as she watched the people around her. People who had somewhere to go. People who had something going for them. ‘Lucky people…’ she thought to herself. She envied them. For where they were going in life and who they were. She wished with all her heart she would wake up from this god awful dream and be back in her bed. With her mother there. But, when she woke up, it would be different. They would be well off. Her mother would not have trouble supporting her.

"It’s a dream. Forget about it. It’ll never happen…" she told herself out loud and sighed.

"Forget about what?"

Kalandra turned around towards the voice. "What?"

"Whatever you were talking about. You said forget about it, that it was a dream."

Kalandra looked at her. "Um…" she shook her head. "it was nothing."

The girl nodded, her coppery hair flowing about. "All right. Want a paper anyway?"

"I don’t have any money. Sorry." she told her

"Oh, all right then. Bye." she said before she walked away.

Kalandra stood there watching her as she left. She shook her head and stuck her hands back in her pockets and continued on her way. To anywhere.

About a week or so later, Kalandra knew she had to do something. She could not live on the benches in the park or the alleys of the city. She sat on the sidewalk, picking at the dirt on the ground. As she heard a carriage coming, she stood up and moved back a little, to not get hit. She watched it until it went out of site before wrapping her arms around herself. She carefully brushed a few strands of hair out of her eyes and sighed. She looked at the sky for a moment, thinking. Wondering. Asking. She shut her eyes for a brief second.

"What is there to live…" she was interrupted from her thoughts as she heard whistles from down the way. She quickly turned her head towards the noise. She saw policemen running towards her, after a small boy. She bit her lip and tried to get out of the way. She pressed herself against the wall to give them as much room as possible. She bit her lip as they ran by her. Kalandra regained her breath and looked after them. She walked down the sidewalk, kicking some rocks along the way.

She sighed to herself as she felt a raindrop. "Of course it rains…" she told herself quietly. She looked around for any shelter at all. She quickly, as quiet as possible, sneaked into a buliding.

She shut the door softly and swallowed as she turned around, being faced with a girl and a guy.

She looked over the blond-haired girl and bit her lip a bit. "I’m sorry…if I uh…interrupted…"

Kalandra spoke quietly.

"No, no, you didn’t interrupt." The girl said.

Kalandra glanced at the guy next, who had strawberry-blond hair. She glanced back at the girl.

"It started raining…"

"Why didn’t you go home?" the boy spoke up a bit. She did not take offense to the question, since he asked kindly.

"I uh, I can’t…" she told him softly. "I’ll be leaving, I’m so sorry again…"

"Don’t be sorry. We didn’t even hear you until you shut the door. You can stay until the rain stops if you would like, or longer." the girl told her, stepping forward.

"Really? I don’t want to intrude or anything…"

"You can’t intrude here." the girl said with a slight laugh. "I’m Charity. And that’s Ransom. What’s your name?"

"Kalandra." she smiled a bit.

"Welcome." Charity smiled.

She smiled back slightly, still a bit nervous. "Thanks…" Kalandra smiled as she tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear before following Charity upstairs to the bunkroom.