AN/ Hey guys, this is my first time writing anything (Like, at all) so please be nice :) (But constructive criticism is always appreciated x)
Ella woke up behind a dumpster; Damp, sore, and hungry. The cold New York air drove through her aching frame as she tightened her grip on the thin flannel covering her, in hopes to coax some warmth out of the soaking material. Living on the streets for the past ten years had wrecked her small body, each rib dangerously poking out of her sallow skin, threatening to split her open with one more missed meal.
After the accident, no matter how much she ate, Ella was never satiated, and now with so little to eat, it seemed as though she was running on fumes alone.
Groaning, Ella lifted herself from behind the bin, searching around for her threadbare backpack. She found it a few feet away in the alleyway; She must have been in a rush last night to find somewhere safe to crash, and thrown her backpack before she fully passed out. With the minute amount of energy she could muster, Ella slung the backpack over her shoulder, and set off to try and find some food, or at least a compassionate stranger who would share their leftovers from breakfast.
After a kind old man had given her the last few bites of his hot dog, Ella tried to find a busy street corner where she could at least try to earn a few dollars. Although it was humiliating, Ella stood up as straight as she could in front of an old mug she had found in someone's trash, and began to sing. It was all she could manage to earn some loose change, and before the accident it was something she loved to do, but now it just made her more ashamed to be seen by the public.
After mustering a few dollars, Ella bought a cheap hotdog from a vendor on the street near where she performed. The kind vendor looked at her frail frame and snuck an extra sausage into the bun when Ella wasn't looking, before thrusting it into her small hands in exchange for a dollar note. Seeing the remaining money in her hands, Ella saw a small second-hand store a few feet down from the stand, and made her way inside.
Sitting on a bench in central park, a resolute Ella bit into her meal and almost moaned a sigh of relief; It was hot and filled her stomach for the first time in weeks. Sadly, in a few bites the hotdog was gone, and the small girl looked close to tears, it was so rare to be able to buy a meal purely for herself, and she knew it was going to be much longer until her next one, with a biting winter around the corner. Sighing, Ella picked up her backpack, and headed to find a secluded alleyway to call home for the night.
On the way to her usual spot, Ella heard a small cry coming from the corner of the park as she was leaving. Pausing, she strained her ears to find where the noise was coming from.
"Hello?" Ella called out into the quickly approaching night.
A little girl, no older than seven slunk out from behind a tree to her right. With a red tearstained face, the child looked up at Ella and looked as though she was going to start wailing all over again.
"Hi, my name's Ella, what's yours?" Ella knelt down to the girl, holding out her hands in a gesture of goodwill.
The little girl's whispered reply was so faint, Ella wasn't sure she would have heard it if it wasn't for the accident, and her improved senses.
"Amelia"
"Well Amelia, how about we find out where your Mum and Dad are, and get you straight back to them?"
"Okay" Came the equally quiet reply.
Ella held her hand out to Amelia, who took it with a tentative pause, obviously weighing the importance of stranger danger versus finding her parents, and deciding that the latter was more important in the moment. Before setting off, Ella remembered her previous purchases with the last of her meagre share from earlier in the day, and dove into her backpack to retrieve a slightly beat up plush elephant, pushing it into Amelia's tiny hands.
"Have this, It's not much, but I find something to hug is always helpful when you're a little afraid at times"
The small girl took the elephant and clutched it to her chest in a deathly grip; Wide-eyed and blotchy faced, the girl held out her left hand and Ella took it once more, straining her eyes and ears to try and find a set of parents wandering around the park.
