Morning arrived. For most, the day brought comfort. Peace. A sense of well-being, with 2 cups of coffee and a plate of hard-boiled eggs. For one little boy, however, the day brought hurt and pain.

Cobalt sighed and gazed up at the cloud-less sky. It was the first morning without his little sister. He trudged wearily down the tracks in search of anything edible he could get his hands on. Just ahead was a hot dog vender trying his best to persuade a young couple to purchase a hot dog or two. Cobalt perked up and made his way over to the other die of the cart. He sniffed the air and began to salivate. He couldn't help it. It'd been at least two days since he'd last eaten, and even then it had been a quick meal. Cobalt stood on his tip-toes and – as carefully as he could – Cobalt grabbed a raw hotdog from the plate and quickly sat down behind the cart to munch on his prize. Seconds later a shadow covered the boy. Cobalt looked up slowly and discovered the flushed face of the hotdog vender.

"You crummy kid! Where's your mother – she had better pay for that!" Cobalt was startled to his feet. The little boy's face turned pale.
"Uh? Mom? She's, uhh…she's…"

"You answer me when I'm taking to you, boy!" He gave a huff. "If she's not here to pay for that in 5 seconds I swear to God I –" Cobalt did not hear the rest. The 4 year old took off like a rocket down the tracks, running so fast he could barely see his feet move. A sudden thought occurred to him. I'm flying… The little boy was in awe of himself. He glanced back over his shoulder to see the hotdog vender waving a bun at him angrily, yelling into the wind. Cobalt was astonished. You really can run from your problems… And Cobalt did.

"Coby?"

"Coby? He's not here." The voice sounded confused. Eris opened her eyes. Three strangers were looking down at her. Her eyes widened in fear.

"Where's my brother?..."

"Brother? Is that who left you here?" One of the strangers, a woman, wrote something down on a notepad. Eris' eyes began to water with tears. "I want Coby!"

Another stranger, a male, hummed to himself. "Is that your brother's name?" Eris hesitated, tears sliding down her cheeks. "His name is Cobalt…he's my big brother…" The strangers all nodded to each other. The male spoke again. "And…Cobalt…your big brother…how old is he?" Erin counted her fingers.

"Umm…this many…" 4 fingers were held up. The strangers all looked to each other.

"And where are your parents." Eris shook her head. She began to feel better about these people. They seemed to be nice.

"Mommy's gone. That's what Coby said. And daddy…daddy was mean and he's gone too." The cars huddled around her looked bewildered.

"Gone? How long?" The little girl only shrugged. The cars all murmured to each other in low tones as Eris closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep, exhausted.

Night came again. Cobalt sat shivering on the cold ground behind an alleyway dumpster, the remainder of half an orange he'd stolen in his hand. Cobalt raised his head and gazed at the full moon high above his head. He felt both relieved and scared. Relieved that he had been successful in finding his little sister a place to stay, and scared that he'd never make it to see her again.

Cobalt sighed softly and curled up on his side, his head resting against an empty tin can. Tears ran from the 4-year-old's eyes. And in the light of the full moon, he finally drifted off to sleep.