Puppet to the Crown

Chapter 6

Tears were streaming down her face. She sat huddled against the wall shaking lightly. Her tiny pink dress had mud stains down the sides. Her bones were poking out ever so slightly from starvation. Her thick brown was matted and stringy. Everybody walked right by her, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of her.

What was such a sweet, innocent child doing all alone? Slowly I approached her. I tried to meet her hazel eyes, but she continued to stare down at the dirt floor. “Honey, what’s wrong?” I asked her quietly.

She raised her head. Her bottom lip quivered. “I can’t find mommy,” she shrieked, before breaking down into hysterical bawling. Silently I plopped down beside her. Most passed us by without a glance. What was wrong with these people?

“What does she look like? Maybe I can help you find her,” I tried to soothe her. My hand reached out to place a comforting pat on her back.

“I don’t know,” she howled. Her normally golden brown eyes were red and puffy from crying, “We were shopping and I saw a puppy over there,” she mumbled pointing at the alley that stood to the right of her, “I couldn’t catch it. When I turned around she was gone.” My heart went out to the little child as I wrapped my arms around her in a hug.

“Come on. Let’s try and find her,” I told her before standing up off the muddy ground. With ease I pulled her up off the ground and grasped her hand firmly in mine. We searched. It started off with me pointing out woman that looked particularly troubled as they walked by. In the end I placed her up on my shoulders so she could see everyone in the crowds of civilians.

“I don’t see her,” the child cried out, tears once again falling freely. This was not nearly as easy as I expected. I wrapped my arms around the child in a hug.

Somehow we ended up back on the ground right where we started off. My options were reeling through my head. I couldn’t leave her, what if something happened? I couldn’t take her with me, what if her mother showed up? I couldn’t do anything. It troubled me, but looking at the tiny child I craved to do the right thing. It bothered me how people managed to walk by without looking at the poor thing. Were things really this bad? Were they all immune to other’s pain? Or were they just to busy suffering in their own.

Okay so maybe I had never really known how bad things were. Everybody kept telling me things have improved vastly since my father came to rule. It never really occurred to me that ‘vast improvements’ could mean this. I mean come on, what was it like before?

The tiny girl had fallen asleep against my shoulder as we sat. Time had passed, but I had no sense of it. Instead I watched people. Each held their own tale as they wandered down the streets lost. The more I watched the more I noticed. First I noticed a man spitting on another man and shoving him into a wall. I couldn’t figure it out. Why would he do that? Then I heard him call the man a MUTT. The more I watched, the more I listened, the more I heard that word. It disgusted me.

How do any of these people have a right to prejudiced against one another? They are all living in misery. One would think they would join together instead of tearing each other apart.

“Abby!” a voice screamed. “Abby, where are you?” The little girl perked up. Slowly she began glancing around looking for the voice.

A desperate cry escaped her lips, “Mommy!” A slender, worn woman shoved her way through the crowd. Her hair was flung up in a tight bun. The clothing she wore could only be described as rags. In another life, one where she wasn’t worked so hard, I could see her being beautiful. Sadly her skin had began to sag, and her hair had grayed far too early.

Instantly the girl scrambled off the ground and flung herself in the woman’s arms. “I’m so glad your okay,” the woman whispered lovingly in her daughter’s ears. Jealousy seeped into my flesh as I watched the loving relationship they shared.

“Yeah, she helped me,” the girl I’d come to know as Abby pointed at me. Slowly I pushed myself up off the ground and walked over to the pair.

The woman’s eyes studied me. It must have appeared odd considering my hood still hung over my head blocking out any positive identification. “Thank you,” she whispered smiling at me after a few short moments, “Thank you so much.”

“It was no problem,” I told her smiling warmly. Honestly it was the best I’d ever felt. My entire life everything had revolved around me; keeping me safe, entertaining me, sheltering me, educating me, etc. Not today though. Today was about Abby. Today was about helping her.

“What is your name?” the woman asked curiosity laced into her words.

The question took me by surprise. I don’t know why I did it. It was some kind of strange impulsive thing you do with out thinking. I mean come on I could pick any name in the world, but for some reason the words slipped out of my mouth, before I could even control myself. “Gabby.”

Why had I done that?

The woman smiled warmly. “Another child named after her. It was such a shame she was taken so young. She was going to change everything.” Our conversation ended soon after that. She was right though, my mother had been taken too early. If my mother was alive this place wouldn’t be like this. She would never have allowed it.

My mind was lost in thoughts when I returned to the familiar tunnel that lead to the library. On the second go around I discovered why it had been so disgusting and why no one else considered going down it. The lovely escape passage was a sewer. Totally figures.