Dark, cold : a dismal life. The concrete rug of her home provides no comfort, just memories and reminders, reminders that she is useless and once had it all but now has this hard rug. Everyone can see this rug. Everyone can see her nothingness. They do nothing! They stare and if she is lucky, say hello. They are outsiders who she used to be among. Now, she is stranded in a concrete jungle. She only has herself and a crumpled piece of paper. She is Gail.

Gail used to have a home, family and friends. She used to enjoy the luxuries of this jungle, those that which tear her down now. Happy faces are nothing but alien. Gail shrinks her shoulders into her turtle shell made of garbage bags. The cold wind kisses her on the cheek: another reminder that she is nothing. Gail sighs and grasps a tiny pencil. With shaky hands she writes about her old life and new. She has nothing else worth saying. What was there to say? She messed up her life and now is a speck on the street. Her rich friends pushed her away once she had no money and her family hated her. But who could blame them. How could anyone respect a person who wasted her life on alcohol?

As Gail writes, she cries. Her tears blend in with the fresh rain. Another burst of cold air, this time slapping her. Gail takes this as a sign to stop crying. She does and closes her puffy eyes. She dreams of blue skies. A few days pass and Gail is still on her patch of concrete. After waiting awhile to see if anyone is kind enough to throw something edible, she pulls out the paper. Running her hand over her scribbled script and taking an agonizing breath, Gail continues to write.

The rain has stopped and it is refreshing to breath in the fresh atmosphere. When she closes her eyes, Gail envisions her old life. She has done this before, blocking out the commotion that surrounds her and goes back to her past. As she does this, she often tries to change it. Gail constantly goes back to when she had her first taste of alcohol. The taste was bitter at first but the overall soothing sensation which coursed through her body has just what she needed. In her mind she never took that beer at her friend’s party and her parents forever saw her as their precious child. Seeing this revised future, Gail smiles but once she opens her eyes reality sinks in. With a sigh, Gail writes down her vision.

It was days like this that she wished she had an actual home, perhaps a dog. Gail laughs at the idea of having another mouth to feed. She lifts up her frail hand and the small pencil glides through the crumpled paper. She reads her thoughts and satisfied closes her eyes. As she drifts away, Gail feels something hit her. Thinking it is rain, she dismisses it and pushes further into her shell. Gail is about to drift away when the object hits her again, but with more force. With a grunt, she slowly opens her eyes. Her eyes move up the sidewalk and finally rest on a vibrant young face.

The face has bright blue eyes that sparkled in the sun, a wide smile and freckles. This young face burns a hole in Gail’s soul. A memory is sparked of when Gail was a child, so full of life. She was so bubbly and wild; nothing could penetrate her happy demeanor. A tear falls down as she closes her eyes. Gail wants to remember this sense of invincibility by keeping her eyes closed but her efforts are destroyed by a little, “ Ahem.”

A sigh escapes her and she slowly opens her eyes. The face seems angry now. “ My mamma told me that when someone is nice to me I betta be nice back,” The young face squeaks. ‘ Your mamma is right,’ Gail thinks. The face doesn’t appreciate Gail’s silence and continues squeaking, “ So ya betta be nice cause’ I gave ya food.”

‘ Food? Is that what I felt?’ Gail wonders. Her face must have shown this confusion because the young face holds up a bag of what looks like bird seed. Gail lets out a laugh, “ I am not a bird.”

“ I know that. Ya a person like me,” the young face says proudly pointing finger to itself.

“ Good,” Gail says giving the face her best smile.

“ Amy. Where are you?” a voice penetrates the concrete jungles wall of sound. Gail has never heard such a strong voice since her mother. A memory overwhelms her and she closes her eyes. “ Don’t sleep. That’s mean.” More bird sees hit her.

With a laugh Gail asks, “ Are you Amy?”

“Yah”

“ Your mom is looking for you.”

“ My god,” the mother’s voice exclaims now closer to Gail. “ Amy! Leave that women alone.” ‘ Why? She is not bothering me.’ Gail thinks, ‘ Just pelting me with bird seed.’ A smile spreads across her face and she decides to write this down. Amy sees the paper and asks,” What’s that?” ‘ My, you are nosey.’

“ Amy be nice. Oh what is that?“ the mother says. Gail lets out a sigh, ‘ Like mother, like daughter.’ “ Oh, how rude! I am sorry. That’s my reporter side coming out. I’m Robin and you are?” Gail blinks, unable to believe what she heard. This woman wants to know her name.

“ Ga, Gail.” she stammers.

“Nice, like a gail force wind. You must be strong.” Gail laughs a little at that. Amy moves closer to her mother and begins to tug on her pant leg. “Mamma, can she come with us? I tried to give her food but she didn’t want it ‘ cause she’s not a bird. We have people food at home,” Amy states sincerely. Her tone almost breaks Gail’s heart. This little girl wants me.

Robin considers her daughter’s question for a moment. Gail watches Robin’s eyes scan her body. They stay at her turtle shell of trash bags for awhile, and deepen with sadness. Finally, she looks at Gail’s face and extends her hand. “ Welcome.”

The journey to Amy and Robin’s apartment is a tedious one. The wind forcefully pushes Gail along and she constantly trips over herself. It had been awhile since Gail used her legs. They are weary and buckled often. A strong hand grasps her shoulder and steadies her. “ It’s ok, I’ve got you. We’re close,” Robin reassures. Gail looks up at her and a new sensation comes over her. She feels safe.

A large, brick building comes into view. Gail looks at in wonder. ‘ I’m going to feel warmth again.’ She thinks cheerfully. Robin and Amy hurry her inside. Artificial sunlight hits her pale, cold face, illuminating the grime splattered across it. Robin notices it and pulls out a white cloth. With steady and gentle hands, Robin wipes the cloth across Gail’s face. Once she’s done, a warm smile spreads across her face and takes a hold of Gail’s hand. “ Now, just up some stairs.”

After two flights of stairs, a door comes into view. Amy rushes towards it and Robin follows. Gail stands back, taking the whole scene in. ‘ Wow, I forgot what a house felt like.’ She thinks gloomily. The smell of cinnamon twirls around the hallway as Robin opens the door. Gail breaths it in and envisions her old home. A slight punch hits her leg. “ I told ya, sleeping is mean.” Gail rolls her eyes and follows Amy inside.

Inside, the walls are completely covered with newspaper clippings. An old fashion camera sits on a wooden table along with a digital one. Books are piled neatly in a corner and a stack of newspaper lay nearby. A TV stands in the middle of the room with couches around it. Near the TV, a radio is placed on another wooden table along with papers. “ Come, I will give you some clean clothes,” Robin says, gesturing Gail to follow.

Robin’s room is no less filled with newspaper clippings than the first room, in fact there are more. Gail’s eyes scan over the clippings amazed at how many have Robin’s name on them. “ Yah, I’ve been a reporter for quite some time,” Robin tells Gail as she walks out of her closet. “ Here, I hope these fit,” she says handing Gail a sweatshirt and sweats. “ I will be getting dinner ready, but take your time.” Gail looks at her baffled. Robin laughs a little and says, “ Don’t worry, it won’t be bird seed.” Robin leaves and Gail looks down at the clothes. ‘ Wow, they really do care.’

After a few minutes, Gail walks out of Robin’s room and is welcomed by the smell of pork. Gail smiles a little and walks towards Robin and Amy, clutching a crumpled piece of paper. She sees Amy lounging on one of the couches and Robin hunched over a drenched pig. Gail looks down at herself and feels a little embarrassed. ‘ It’s ok. They’ve seen you in garbage bags,’ she tells herself.

Gail tries to be stealthy but she stumbles over herself and grabs a table for support. “ Oh good, the clothes fit,” Robin says delighted. Gail nods her head and gestures for Robin and Amy to follow her to the kitchen table. They sit and she says, “ Thank you for letting a stranger into your home. But, I don’t want to be a stranger anymore.” With that Gail gives the crumpled paper to Robin and allows her to read it. Gail watches Robin intently. Amy leans over her mom’s shoulder trying to read it too. As Robin gets farther down the paper, tears fill her eyes. When she’s finished she wipes her eyes, gets up and hugs Gail.

“ I am so sorry. You are not alone.” Gail sits, shocked. She doesn’t know what to do, what to say. Amy runs up to her and hugs her also. Now tears threaten to fall, but Gail puts on a strong face. “ Thank you.”
The three break apart when a bell rings. Robin races to the stove and gets the pork. She sets it down and goes back to Gail. “ There is a spare bedroom. Seeing as my clothes fit, you could wear my spare pajamas and we could go shopping in the morning.” At the mention of shopping, Amy squeals happily and wraps her arms around her mother. “ Amy, we are shopping for Gail.”

“Oh.” Amy then wraps her arms around Gail. “ Welcome to the family.” A wonderful sensation fills her. Her heart warms up and tears fall. ‘ A family, an actual family!’ After a long time, Gail is finally truly happy.