A boat was arriving at a London dock, and there was the outline of two men. One of the men looks young in appearance a meer man-boy with chestnut brown hair, light blue eyes and fair skin with a gap in between the two front of his teeth. He dressed well for a sailor boy, and his eyes showed glee as he looked at London. The man next to him was older with a glum look on his face, he has pasty pale skin with dark brown almost black eyes with red lines under them. He was lean and slightly muscled in the arm area with black messy hair with a streak of stark white going through it.
The boat arrives at the dock and the man-boy looks at London excitedly as the older man, sees a beggar woman lying on the ground and he scowls at her appearance.
(Italics= Older man and Underline= Manboy)
I have sailed the world,
beheld its wonders
from the Dardanelles,
to the mountains of Peru,
But there's no place like London!
The older man rolled his eyes at the boy and said
No there's no place like London...
The boy raised his brows at the older man. "Mr. Todd?"
You are young
Life has been kind to you...
You will learn
There's a hole in the world like a great black pit
and the vermin of the world inhabit it
and its morals aren't worth what a pin can spit
and it goes by the name of London...
At the top of the hole sit the privileged few
Making mock of the vermin in the lonely zoo
turning beauty to filth and greed...
I too have sailed the world and seen its wonders,
for the cruelty of men is as wondrous as Peru
but there's no place like London!
The man looked over at the boy who seemed to be in slight shock at his choice of wording over this magnificent city.
"Is everything alright ?" the boy asks, looking at his friend with worry. Why would Mr. Todd speak of London with such disgust and malice?
The man coughed and then looked at the man-boy, noticing that he was looking at him. "I beg your indulgence Anthony, but my mind is far from easy. And these very streets are filled with shadows, every last one of 'em." His eyes looked darker as he watched the beggar woman jump out at two drunks.
"Shadows, Mr. Todd," Anthony asked, looking at him strangely.
There was a barber and his wife
and she was beautiful...
a foolish barber and his wife.
She was his reason for his life...
and she was beautiful,
and she was virtuous.
And he was naive.
There was another man who saw
that she was beautiful...
A pious vulture of the law
Who, with a gesture of his claw,
Removed the barber from his plate!
Then there was nothing but to wait!
And she would fall!
So soft!
So young!
So lost
and oh, so beautiful!
Mr. Todd looked wretched and in pain, as looked like he was fighting back tears. He looked away from Anthony, frowning heavily, the pain still in his eyes.
"Oh! The lady, sir, did she succumb?" Anthony asked.
Ah that was many years ago
I doubt if anyone would know...
The man sighed and then looked at the boy that he has come to see as a friend of some sorts. "Let us go..."
They both walked off the boat and into the streets of London. The beggar woman spotted them and held out her dirty hands, her blonde hair messy, covering her face.
"Alms! Alms! Please sirs help a pitiful woman!"
Anthony handed her a coin. "Here, take it mam and leave."
"Thank yer! Thank yer sir! May God bless ya! *she looked at Mr. Todd and held out her hands* Alms! Alms! for a desperate woman..." she said, grinning at him.
Mr. Todd shook in disgust, and snarled at her. "Off, devil women. Off with you Isay! Off! Leave us be, women!"
"Please sir have mercy on a poor soul..."she trailed off but then got a good look of Mr. Todd's face and her eyes flashed a look of confusion before she smiled. "Don't I know you mister? Your face seems familiar..."
Mr. Todd bellowed at her as rage with slight fear entered his eyes, "I said off with you, old hag!" Mr. Todd's hand goes up, as if he's ready to strike her across the face. The beggar woman flinches and tries to cover her face.
Anthony restrains him and the beggar woman fearfully scurries off.
Anthony lets go of Mr. Todd and says, " Mr. Todd I have honored my promise to never in my life question you. I have honored my promise to you, but my curiosity overwhelms me Sweeney, why do you hide your face from strangers? Why does a crazed beggar woman frighten you so much, sir?"
Sweeney looked dazed and said absent-mindedly, "I didn't think anyone would recognize me after all these years..."
"She did not recognize you my old friend. She's just a crazed beggar wo-"
Sweeney cut Anthony off by saying, "I'd like to thank you Anthony. if you hadn't spotted me, I'd be lost in the ocean still."
Anthony frowned but then said, "When will I see you again friend?"
"You may find me if you like, around Fleet Street. I wouldn't wander..." he said looking at Anthony.
Anthony nodded his head to him and said, "Till then my friend." He was then off, going to explore London and find the riches that lay within it.
Sweeney scowled as soon as Anthony left, thinking of the old beggar woman and then shook his head. He was going to pay a visit to Ms. Lovett who lived below his barber shop when he lived in London. Maybe she could tell him what happened to his wife...
Sweeney slung a beige brown colored sack over his shoulder as he made his way to Fleet street, his words hanging in the night air of London.
There's a hole in the world like a great black pit
and it's filled with people who are filled with shit,
And the vermin of the world inhabit it…~