It was a typical summer day in Manhatten. The streets were full of life, buzzing with people, and quite dusty. Every now and then a horse and buggy would go through, having to basically crawl to wait for people to get out of the way.

One person in particular amungst the crowd today was a 16 year old runaway anemd Anastasia Larson (to some she was Anya, but to most she was Sparks). She lived on the streets and had for most of her life. She made her living mostly by being a pick-pocket and a mighty good one at that. To survive she either stole money from pockets and purses or food from stores and restaurants. She was happy with her life, for living on the streets provided her with the adventure she craved. She had few friends because she trusted no one but herself and her dog, Fox, a german shepard pup who she found as a stray and had raised for about a year now.

It was closing in on noon and Anya was getting hungry. She had about 6 cents in her pocket, hardly enough for just herself, let alone the dog too.

She sat down on a bench to scope out the area for an easy target. She spotted a boy selling newspapers who had a patch over his left eye. She laughed at how easy it would be to steal whatever he had in his pocket. Anya then pointed him out to Fox, who she trained very well as an accomplice, and the dog ran over to the boy. He started jumping on the boy and playing with him.

As Fox distracted the boy, Anya silently and quickly went up to the boy to snatch whatever was in his pocket. Before she could even reach her hand out of his pocket, however, he grabbed her wrist.

"What do you tink you're doin?" He asked. Anya tried to twist her wrist free but he held on with a tight grip. Since she couldn't get her hand free, she took the next approach. She looked him straight in the eye and kneed him in the crotch.

He immediately let go of Anya and cried out in pain, crouching over. Anya held tight to the change she was able to grab, raced away and ducked into an alley with Fox right behind her. She stopped briefly to catch her breath and slip the money into her pocket before continuing on her way. She decided to go to her usual restaurant, a place called Uncle Matty's.

The owner of the place, Matty, was a buddy of Anya's who she knew would give her some food for a cheap price. She walked in and was greeted by Matty himself.

"Why, hello Anya. Didn't expect ta see you taday. Who'd ya pick pocket?"

"Whose said I pick pocketed? An' why should youse care where I's got it? Youse getting' it whicheva way." She slapped the money on the counter. "Let's see, dat's bout fifty cents, right Matty?"

"Dat's right kid. How about a pop and a hot dog? Maybe a lil' sumthin for da dawg too?" Matty smiled, knowing Fox always waited for Anya outside.

"Tanks Matty." Anya smiled. She knew that she didn't pay him enough for her and the dog, that he was just being kind. "Hey Matty?"

"Yut?"

"Do youse know a kid wid a eye patch?"

"No kid, I don't."