FLASHBACK
Years ago, there was a girl well-loved by her parents. They had a stable house, the parents had stable jobs, and the daughter was given the best of everything while still ensuring she grew up to be responsible and capable. All was well but fate had its twists and turns.
The family of three had a vacation in the mountains. It was one of the girl's fondest memories as she was able to spend more time with her parents, hiking, eating meals together, swimming, and generally having the best kind of life any child could ask for.
The drive back home was tricky as thunders clapped and rain pelted the ground relentlessly. The tires squeaked with every turn and the windshield wipers nearly detached to the car at some point yet the father was confident they'd make it back to the ground safely.
The tragedy struck when a drunk trunk driver was passing through the same two-way road, empty bottle in hand, vision swaying, and barely holding on to consciousness.
Perhaps if the driver wasn't drunk he wouldn't have had to suddenly press on the breaks. Perhaps if the father didn't insist on driving home on a rainy night they would have avoided swerving sharply to the edge, breaking infrastructure in the process and ultimately crash to the lower grounds. Too many 'what-ifs' remain only as that: what-ifs. The truck driver survived along with the nine-year-old girl. The parents? Not so much.
END FLASHBACK
~~
Georgina Wells sat up with a gasp from her recurring nightmare, tears stinging her eyes and chest heaving with the effort to breathe.
Her fingers shook as they curled into fists, cold beads of sweat on her skin and the nightmare fading away as the seconds ticked by.
She couldn't get that incident out of her head. It was always haunting her, mocking her...
"Shit." She reached over to the bedside table, waving off the empty soda cans and knocking them off the surface in a fit of rage, fingers finally closing around the pack of cigarettes. After lighting one, she took a long drag, allowing the smoke to sit in her lungs before exhaling, tendrils of smoke appearing from her nostrils and mouth.
Ahh much better.
Now what?
She threw off the blankets, standing. In that moment, something furry brushed her legs and she looked down, confirming it was her Bengal cat Oscar that greeted her, big eyes looking at the human.
Aww cats are the best.
Oscar then swiped at her feet, Georgina screeching in pain and falling back on the bed as Oscar raced out the room.
"Oscar you little shit!"
She was about to give him a pat too. Guess he didn't want treats.
Georgina set aside the curtains a tad to be greeted with the sight of pollution and people from different walks of life bustling about. There were men in fedoras and long coats passing by, well-dressed women either alone or with friends, and street children laughing and playing with each other even as the vendors scolded them for being too rowdy.
Even as early as five in the morning, there was traffic. From her spot on the third highest floor, she could see other people arguing with one another; it was never a pretty sight. Sure she stole things but violence wasn't really her thing. Due to the thick smog in the area, birds were almost never seen for they had all gone once they realized they couldn't thrive in this environment.
Sometimes Georgina wished to be like the birds... free from any trouble but feeding one's family and flying away whenever deemed necessary.
Sadly, that wasn't the case.
Huh... the cigarette was almost out.
Climbing out of bed and shoving her cracked glasses on her face, she went straight for the mini-fridge in search of something to salvage for the morning. She found instant noodles and prepared them, passing the time by scrolling through the many stolen phones she had in her possession.
If she were to guess how long she had been living like this, she'd say it's the fifth year of being a snatcher, her hands deft at their craft and her physique just right not to be noticed or spotted immediately.
At age twenty-three and standing at five feet, Georgina had been living life on the streets since eighteen years old, finishing high school and fending for herself by taking from others and jumping from place to place.
As her parents had died from that car accident, she had been sent to live with her mother's sister and her husband. The couple didn't have any children and they treated Georgina like their own child, showering her with affection and lecturing her sternly whenever she did something wrong. She didn't want to keep leeching off of them so she left their care right after graduating with college plans out the window. She tried living a decent life on her own before ultimately falling to the snatchers' way of life and living like it ever since.
Her noodles fell on the tabletop as she slurped, taking a second to stare at the limp noodles despondently before picking them up and eating them anyway. Not everybody had food so she had to make do with what she had.
Her hand came up to cradle her head, thoughts a scattered mess and heart curiously empty as the sense of finding purpose hit her. She obviously couldn't call Veronica as she had cut ties with her, who seemed to have her whole life mapped out for her. She ran her own cake shop and she was engaged to a good man who was (coincidentally) Georgina's cousin from her father's side. Veronica had a good life going on. If Georgina stayed, she'd only ruin things so it was best to stay away. The only downside of not keeping touch with Veronica was that Georgina wouldn't have anyone to talk to, who'd listen without judgment, and who she can share her crazy life theories with.
A sigh blew past her lips, the feeling of loneliness eating up her being, the sodden noodles sitting heavily in her stomach like lead. It was a heavy and uncomfortable feeling which made her suddenly wish she hadn't eaten anything at all if she were to have thoughts like this plague her.
Her eyes caught sight of the broken wall clock and she mused she'll have to steal a watch today. It struck her she never bothered to change it until today. Still, with mind made up, she set about doing random activities to pass the time till noon struck.
The streets were full of life as she walked the smooth sidewalks, dressed in a casual shirt and jeans under a Chesterfield coat with multiple pockets.
Her eyes zipped to a man talking on the phone, a teenage boy walking a dog, and a pair of children zipping through the streets with careless smiles. For a moment, there was a twinge of jealousy in her heart at seeing the joy on their young faces, living freely even when life didn't have much to offer.
Her shoulder brushed against a woman's in an expensive fur coat, Georgina feigning stumbling as her hand shot out to discreetly reach into one of the pockets before the woman could notice.
A half-hearted apology left her lips, the woman only snorting before walking forwards purposefully.
Georgina looked down at the newly acquired object, walking faster before the woman could realize she had been pickpocketed.
A shrill scream tore through the afternoon air and a frantic voice cried out, "My wallet! She stole my wallet!"
Welp, time to go.