Jack knocks on door after door looking for a place to stay "Hello? Hello? Do you happen to have-" Slam!* but nobody opened, it was already dark out and he didn't know where else he could look so he runs into an alley and curls up beside a pile of trash "Nothing new here huh?"
Back on Earth way in the past...
Two brothers were playing in an alley one day
"Where are you?" "I'm here. Just trying to fish this, something? From the dumpster. I think it's gonna get us out of here!"
They were poor. Very very poor in fact, owning nothing but the rough clothes on their back and the names they so desperately clung to. Their old lives gone forever
"Will you quit it already? Let's just leave. That's nothing but garbage" "You lack adventure Jack. The world is huge! One day I'm gonna show it to you!" "I highly doubt it"
Two brothers were just playing in an abandoned alley way, the more they played the further they got until they reached a section of the city that was closed off
"Jack!! Come here, you gotta see this!" Jack hurriedly ran to his brother and he sees him standing in a near open area that was very wide. Buildings that stretched upward, their windows boarded up and mold coming off the side. This place was like a secret garden with lush green coming off the steel fence, gently cascading into the small pond and in the middle of this garden was just a bunch of planks and old items that were thrown away
"You thinkin what I'm thinkin?" "Maybe~"
Two brothers spent the whole day gathering the planks clumsily stacking them against the tall wall "See? What'd I tell ya? A little adventure and poof! A house!" "It's not that big, but it ain't half bad. What if it rains?"
"Uh... Maybe, that tarp!" Jack runs to get the tarp when he hears a sound coming from the alley, he tiptoes towards the sound peeking behind the wall and he sees
A man with a gun pointed at a couple with a child
"Hey Jack, what's goin- on?" "do you see that?" "yeah, we'll call for help!" "where? This is a closed alley, only one way in and out"
"Hand me your wallets and nobody gets hurt!" "Please, here just take it! Now leave us alone" a moment flew by in Jack's mind and he acted out of thought "I can't, not again"
"Wait, Jack! NO!" Jack runs toward the man and throws a can at him, the man turns to the boy and points his gun at him. The father of the couple shoved the man with the gun away but he still fired his shot
It didn't hit Jack but when he turned around he saw Tobi standing there with blood on his shirt
"Tobi?" Tobi looked down to see red all over his shirt and he looked at his brother who was running towards him, trying to catch him. Meanwhile the man was pinned and his hands around his back while the mother called for help "Sweetie call an ambulance! Now!"
"Jack?" "Be quiet Tobi, just hold on" "I wanna go on an adventure" "Yeah Tobi, we'll do just that. Just shut up!"
Tobi looked up at the sky as he slowly closed his eyes
"Why is the sky so blue?" he whispered
"Tobi? Tobi? Don't close your eyes! TOBI!!!"
"Jack? Hello?" "Tobi...?" "No, it's your teacher. What happened?" Jack looked around and realized it was already day time, he got up from beside the bin "Yeah uh, sorry Mr. Finnegan. wow it's really bright" "Hmm, Come with me. Let's get you out of those... Clothes and for heavens sake let's get you a shower" Arthur and Jack both head to a cottage just outside of town "Darcy? Get me some clothes, children's size please"
"Why whats- Jack doing? Jack? Why are you here?
Sniff* ugh you smell" "Jack there's a tub in the back go wash yourself off will you?" "Yes, Mr. Finnegan sir"
Darcy went over to Arthur "Hey what's he doing here?" "I found him next to some trash bin, filthy and I'm a mouse. Hey Jack! Here!" Arthur tosses him a towel "I don't want a naked child running around this place, no one would" Jack proceeds to give himself a bath in the tub, while the two teachers talked
Later...
"Uh, are these for me?" "Yuhuh, sorry. Those are all the clothes I got" "It's okay Miss Darcy" "So Jack? Why a bin?" Arthur asked "I didn't have a place to sleep and I tried knocking on doors but, no one seemed to be interested in taking me in." "Why not the church? They always take in the homeless" "I don't know where that is" "It's very close I'll show it to you" "Thank you Mr. Finn" "Ok, one more question. Who is this Tobi? You called out his name whe I called you." "Oh, tobi is my brother" "So where is he? Is he off somewhere?" "No he died a long while ago" "I'm... Terribly sorry to hear that, your mother and father must also be devastated."
"No, the-they also died, before him... However" Arthur paused to look at the young man befor he spoke "So, you're alone?" Jack didn't want to say yes, so he simply nodded his head.
Darcy nudged Arthur "you know we do have an extra room. I could use some more, well- human help" "are you sure? this is very impractical. why would you even want to?" "It just feels right y'know? weren't we in his shoes before? nobody would take us in but even befor we met someone picked us up." Arthur thought carefully about it until "Why are you guys mumbling?"
"Jack, how would you like to live here?" "What? Ms. Darcy I couldn't possibly-" "Back then we said the exact same thing. We couldn't possibly accept, but we did. It takes a lot of strength to admit you need help, and you are still a child, no child should have to shoulder any kind of weight on their own" Jack couldn't find any words to turn down his teachers offer. "I don't know what to say" "Don't say anything! But we're going to be working you" "Ms. Darcy will be working you, I believe in free charity" "Thats just his way of saying he's a pushover" the three shared a laugh as Arthur argued with Darcy.
A boy who lost his brother, his mother. Seemed to have finally found a place to stay. It may not be his home, but he felt an empty space somewhere was filled in his heart