Snitch chapter! Woo hoo!! Enjoy! I am a little pressed for time, so shout-outs for this chapter and last chapter will be with Ch. 15!!! I promise!! HERE IS SNITCH!
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He had a knack for telling the truth. He also had a flair for
stealing. How the two fit together is beyond me. Snitch seemed to
know everything about everyone, and could use it as blackmail if
anybody got on his bad side. However, he was a dedicated friend to
the end, and wouldn't dream of using anything he knew against any of
the other lodgers. As hard as we all tried though, it was hard to
keep tabs on him. Before we knew it, he had swiped some bread for
dinner or a few cigars, and we just stared at him. I found it quite
strange that he was good at watching people, and even better at
being unseen.

His childhood was normal for children in working class New York. His
parents were either dead or gone and he was left to live with a
foster family at a very young age. They were never good at dealing
with children in these places. Meals were few and far between, and
Daniel found himself stealing in order to survive. He watched
several "brothers" and "sisters" from his foster home waste away due
to starvation and neglect. He was forever cursed with the mental
images of seeing other children around him die while those who were
in charge of their well-beings simply passed it off, saying they
were weak as they simply sprinkled salt on their dinner.

Daniel, terrified for his life and willing to do anything to
survive, left one night and convinced others to do the same. It
wasn't like he was sacrificing much. He hated the people he was left
with, and despised his parents for leaving him with them. He seemed
to feel at home on the streets, though. In an odd way, it was
comforting and offered a freedom he never had before. He would soon
see it was also quite dangerous.

The sound of boots pounding on the streets as he ran filled his
ears, stolen money in hand as a swarm of officers ran towards him.
He was in better shape than these men, but his legs were shorter and
was malnourished, causing his pace to slow and the bulls to slowly
catch up. Blood was rushing to his head and there was a distinct
throbbing in his ears, when suddenly he was pulled into a dark
alley. He heard someone say, "Ya looked like ya could use some
help," as he watched the bulls continue going straight, not even
realizing what had happened. They waited there for a while in
silence until both boys were sure the trouble had passed. Stepping
out of their hiding place, Snitch turned towards the mysterious boy,
who extended a hand and introduced himself as Swifty.

Swifty knew what Snitch had been through, and decided to help. He
had wandered the dangerous path of thievery and understood what was
going on inside Daniel's mind. Survival was all he knew, and Swifty
felt the need to help him through the agony of being a child of the
streets. It didn't take him long to become one of us, or for him to
get his own nickname. The need to steal, though still existed, was
not as crucial to his very being. Selling papers was now his way of
life, and so it stayed for several years.

He had seen the others go, and believed it time for his own
departure one day. He was eighteen, and old enough to have to take
care of himself. Snitch had certainly grown from the young thief I
had met to the street-wise newsboy I had com to know. Life was still
harsh, and the desperate need to survive was ever present, but he
found other ways to feed himself. Watching him walk out the lodging
house door that afternoon was upsetting, yet they always have to go
find their own way. Snitch wasn't any different.

He graces the pages of the newspapers he used to fight against. A
journalist, Daniel was easy to blend into the background when a
story hit, and had a great ability to describe it in detail as he
sat as his desk, furiously typing on his typewriter. He always had a
knack for the truth, and now he was using it for good. No longer
relying on stealing his food, he gave the new generation of newsboys
the same privilege, with catchy headlines allowing them to make ends
meet. After all, he understood their pain and worked so they never
had to know the anguish of going without meals.
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There! Hope you liked it! I promise I will do shout-outs for next chapter! :::goes back in closet with Specs:::

Stretch