Alley

"Hey, Kristoff." Anna is skipping down the sidewalk while talking to her best-friend Kristoff. Tall skyscrapers surround her, and the mesh of people surrounding her are rushing around to get to their destinations.

"Yes, Anna?" Kristoff responds from the other side of the phone.

"Have I told you about the two really sweet boys at the orphanage yet?" Anna asks. She doesn't wait for Kristoff to respond before saying, "They are called Olaf and Marshmallow. Marshmallow isn't his real name though. Olaf just called him that one day and It stuck." Kristoff chuckles at this.

"But anyways," Anna continues, "They are always together. They even sleep in the same room! One time I saw Marshmallow had fallen asleep on Olaf's shoulder. It as the sweetest thing! Previously, Marshmallow was defending Olaf from some bullies, and I guess he became really tired and fell asleep on Olaf. Kinda like how you would help me sometimes with those big meaners. They would always make fun of everybody and th-"

"Anna," Kristoff interrupts.

"Yes?"

"You're rambling again," He points out.

"Oops! Sorry, Kristoff. Enough of that then. How have you been?" Anna apalogizes.

"Sven tore up the coach," Kristoff said.

Anna gasped, "He didn't!"

"Oh, he did," Kristoff proceeded to tell Anna about how his dog Sven made a mess of his living room.

By the time Kristoff got near the end of the story, Anna was a couple of buildings away from her apartment complex, and the night was fast approaching.

"...and it took me four hours to clean up. Can you believe it?" Kristoff exclaimed.

Clang! A loud noise startled Anna before she could give a response. She looked to her left to see a dim alley. A trash can was tipped over. Its contents spilled over the ground.

"Anna?" Kristoff asks.

"Yeah?" Anna answers back distantly.

"You there?"

"Yeah. Hey, Kristoff. I'll have to call you back tomorrow," Anna says as she stares into the alley. She notices a flash of white every now and then.

Click. "She hung up," observed Kristoff.

Anna continued to stare into the dark alley. A couple minutes went by until Anna saw a small, almost white, figure peek over some trashcans. Anna could see ice-blue eyes peer out at her.

"Hello there," Anna calls out.

The figure squeaked and ducked back behind the trashcans.

"It's alright. I won't hurt you," reassures Anna. The figure slowly peeks over the trashcan again. "I"m Anna. What is your name?"

The figure remained silent.

"Can you come out from behind the trashcans?" Anna continues when a reply was not forthcoming.

Slowly, the figure moves into view. Anna can see the figure is a little girl no older than seven. She looked malnourished and was wearing almost completely torn up shorts and a worse off blue shirt. Nothing was covering her bare feet.

Anna looked at her face. Despite the shape she was in, the girl's blue eyes shown with intelligence and, surprisingly considering how she probably grew up, gentleness. The girl's pale hair frames her small face.

Anna smiles. "Can you come over her, Little One?"

The little girl fiercely shakes her head and looks away.

"Well, may I come over there, then?: Anna asks, still smiling.

The little girl glanced at Anna, but she quickly looks away. She nods.

Anna smiles and slowly walks over to the little girl so as not to scare her. When the red-head got to be only a couple feet away, she crouched down in front of the little girl. The little girl glanced at Anna, but she quickly looks away.

"Are you here alone, Little One" Anna asks.

The little girl nods her head in response.

"What happened to your mamma and pappa?"

The little girl just stood there looking downwards. Tears start to fall towards the earth.

"Oh! Don't cry, Little One! Everything will be alright. I can help. I may not look like it, but I work in an orphanage. An orphanage is a safe place to go for children without parents! Oh, but first, we need to get you cleaned up and fed. It's getting late though, so you can just stay at my place for the night. I mean, only if you want to. It's a nice place, and I think you need a good place to rest and all that.," Anna rambles. She looks sheepishly at the little girl. " I mean, if you want to , that is?"

The little girl looks at Anna in surprise. A ghost of a small smile seems to appear on her face. Slowly, the little girl nods.

"Well, come on then, Little One," Anna beams at the girl and holds out her hand. The little girl looks at Anna''s hand and hesitantly takes it.

"My apartment is just a couple buildings away. We'll get you a bath first thing, okay?"

Once back at the apartment, Anna leads the little girl into the bathroom. Anna left the little girl in the doorway and walks over to the tub to fill it with warm water.

"Little One, you need to get undressed in order to take a bath. I'm going to go coo some food. You just take your time in the bath. I'll keep dinner warm for however long it takes."

As Anna was walking by, the little girl reaches up and grabs the back of her shirt. Anna stops and turns towards the little girl.

"What is it?" she asks.

The little girl responds by looking up at Anna with pleading eyes.

Anna smiles an understanding smile. "Do you need help, Little One?"

The little girl nods almost imperceptibly.

Anna helps undress the little girl. She notices that she could count the little girl's ribs with how skinny she was.

"She just needs regular meals to get healthy," Anna thinks.

Anna makes sure the little girl is settled in the bath.

"I'll leave some clothes on the toilet for you to use. Is it alright if I go make dinner now?" Anna questions.

The little girl nods once again to show that she will be alright.

Just as Anna was done setting the tables, the little girl comes out wearing a baggy, white shirt that looks like a dress on her.

"Your hair is so white! I didn't notice, since it was dirty. Is it your natural hair color?"

The girl nods, looking shy.

"I love it!" Anna squeals. "It looks so cute on you! And it's so nice and soft looking unlike my hair! Mine is curly and so frizzy. It gets really annoying to take care of, but I be yours is the kind that is easy to take care of. It just needs regular washing and brushing. I love it!" Anna says somehow without taking a breath.

Anna looks towards the startled girl. She smiles. "Sorry about that. I ramble a lot. Anyways, come eat. Dinner is ready, Little One."

The little girl sits at the table, and Anna proceeds to talk about many different things like the orphanage and the children there. The little girl just ate her food while listening to Anna ramble on.

Once the little girl was done eating, she sat with her hands folded in her lap. She watched Anna as she animatedly told her about two boys named Olaf and Marshmallow.

"Oh, look at the time! It's already 10 o'clock. We should be getting to bed. You can sleep in my bed. I'll sleep on the couch," Anna decides.

Anna leads the little girl to her bed. She then helps the little girl under the covers. The little girl seems surprised at being tucked into a bed. Anna just smiles at her astonishment.

She pulls the covers up to the little girls chin. Anna looks into her ice-blue eyes and says, " You won't ever be alone again, Little One. You just need to let me in. I will always be here for you. Goodnight, Little One." Anna leans down to press a kiss to the little girl's forehead.

Anna turns to leave when she hears a soft voice say, "My name is E-elsa, Miss Anna."

Anna turns with a great big smile on her face. "Sweet dreams, Little Elsa, and thank you for finally giving me a chance.