I sat in the alley I called home. Its been this way since I was little, since before they were gone. By they I mean mom and dad. The alley was between a row of restaurants so the pickings were good when it came to eating, not so much for sleeping, however. Most nights I had nestled my self between a dumpster and its respective restaurant, on the nights I couldn't do that I had to find another arrangement.

Tonight was one of those nights that I had to find a different place to sleep. It was windy and raining but silent none the less. I decided to sneak to a different alley tonight. I hear from my friend, Ray, that it was rather nice behind the hospital.

You see there is an entire network of people like me. Young, broke, and orphaned. Its best to make friends with them because in times like this, they can really come in handy. Besides you didn't need to make friend friends with them, you just needed to be nice to them. You shared your food, your money, your things. It was the principle of the thing, you didn't leave them needing more than what they started with.

Of course if they have a home then you can ignore them completely.

I made my way to the hospital alley quickly, trying not to get wet as well as I could. When I arrived I saw Ray was waiting for me under the canopy the third floor balcony created.

I ran to him and pounced on him. He laughed and pushed himself.

"Well hello to you as well Gerard." He said strands of his damp curly hair falling in his face. "I trust you are here because I tipped you off."

"Yeah, my usual spot is to wet for me tonight." I said with my own black hair blowing in the wind. I got up and pulled him up.

"I know how that is." He laughed.

I looked longingly at the windows. The people inside were safe warm and dry. Us, Ray and I, haven't been safe for a long time.

A flash on the second floor caught my eye and for a second I thought I saw a boy look at me. Only for a second, but then he was gone.