-- It is dark in Egypt. Winds rustle outside the land yearning for trees. Our same girl from earlier begins the trek home. She is tired from he rlong day of work. In present times it would be about midnight, but all she thought was of the position of the moon. Coins jingled in her hand as she walked to the vendors. A few stayed up at this time of night for those that were working in the palace. They got out late and arrived early. Because of this there was very little competition between the merchants.
She walks over to one. "The usual?" he asks her. "Yes." She replies simply. Not many words are spoken. She had learned long ago that it was fruitless to try and begin conversations with others. He bundles together the amount of food she usually asks for, enough for one day at a time, and hands it to her. She carries it in a basket with the robes and other articles of clothing she takes home to mend. Though she was grateful for her steady job at the palace, it did not pay all the bills…
This same girl walks into her house. As she walks in she does not light the oil lamp. Oil is expensive and she only used it if she absolutely had to. The wind blew the flame of the street torch so that a glimmer of light flickered into her home. It was all the light she needed.
Placing the food on the little table that it went on, she went over to the water jugs. They were nearly empty again. The last bit of remaining water she did not drink, but used to clean the few dishes that were left on the table. She did not believe in allowing crusted food to remain on these plates and dutifully washed them each night, though some in Egypt did not think it was necessary.
Before she got to work she dutifully checked on her parents that were quietly sleeping in the other room. Softly she heard them snoring and smiled. She had done this every night for many, many years. Thinking that she would not have her orders finished in time if she did not get to work she turned away from the pleasant scene.
Sitting down on her mat in the corner of the room, she takes out a dress. It was to be ready in two days time. She went to work, busily making the small and precise stitches that many craved for. She did not just mend clothes, but made them as well. This acted as the rest of her income. After about an hour's time she replaced it into the basket with the others. She was nearly done with the other orders. She could finish them during lunch the next day. It had been a long day for her however, and she was dreadfully tired. Closing her eyes she slept, knowing that she must wake at the dawn to prepare for the upcoming day. There was the run to the river, where she had to refill the jugs for the day. Then she had to drop of the finished bits of clothing. Then it was off to work at the palace again. She let out a long breath in her sleep and snuggled in to the soft piece of cloth that she used as a pillow. And in her sleep
She smiled.
Joey and Tristan walked down the street, making jokes back and forth about what the other had been doing that day. "I'm telling you, it's those friggin' keys! If they weren't so small, I would have OWNED you." "Well man, you had better learn how to press the X button if you plan on beating me anytime soon." Joey says. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can take care of myself on the street. Who cares if you can beat me at some stupid virtual game? Pssht! Like I care." Tristan replies, looking away. "Yeah, you might try to sound like you don't wish you had these kind of gaming skills that I have, but I really know you do!" Joey repeats, placing his hands behind his head and looking up at the clouds in the sky. "So much for those skills. Did you see the look on your face when that nine year old beat you? Ha! I thought you were gonna die!" "I wouldn't be talking if I were you, Mr. I couldn't get past level two!" Joey says, stopping now and looking at his friend. "Well, if you didn't screw up and hit the wrong person, I would have gotten farther!" "Don't blame me for your poor tactics!" "I'm gonna kick you're a-"
They are interrupted by the tingle of a bell. Stepping aside for a moment, they back up. " 'Scuse me, I was just about to teach this good for nothing chump here a lesson!" Joey says. "Yeah, well I'm about to trounce this litte…Wha?" they both say as they see the figure of a blonde headed girl trying to walk away from them as quickly as possible. "Hey- wasn't that-" "Alyssa, yeah!" Tristan says, having interrupted Joey. They run and catch up to her, going in front of her. "Hey Alyssa!" Joey says smiling and waving. "We didn't know you lived around here." Tristan says. "Oh, well, that's okay." She says nervously, trying to get around them. Blocking her, they ask, "So. Where do you live around here?" Joey says. "Oh…around." She says, evading the question, once more trying to get past them. "You want help bringing that home?" Tristan says, eying the brown paper grocery bag. "Oh no, I'm fine, thank you." She says, trying to push in between them this time without success. "What's the hurry?" Joey asks as she tries to walk out into the street to get around them. "It's nothing I just-" "want to put your stuff down?" Tristan says. Looking around and grasping at straws she says, "Yes, so if you could please just" "Just help you bring this home? Why certainly." Tristan says as he pulls the bag out of her hands. She gives a little gasp as they leave her hands. She tries to reach for them to get them back but Tristan moves them away from her. "No, I've got them now." Tristan says. "It's no problem. Besides, we want to talk to you." "But I-" she begins to say, but Joey cuts her off. "what, you're house dirty? That don't mean nothin'. Tristan and I don't care." No, it's not that, just-" "Don't want to let two stranger sin?" Tristan jokes. "You're not strangers, and that's not it, just-" "Man, you must like peanut butter." Joey says as he looks in the bag. "What else you got in there? Peanut butter…peanut butter…three loaves of bread. Hey! You forgot to buy some jelly!" Joey jokes. "Can I just have my stuff back?" She says reaching to take it, but Tristan moves it. "Come on! We just want to walk with you." He says. Besides, if you don't want to see us anymore you can kick us out when we get there." She stops and tries to catch Tristan off guard, but he evades her once more and takes a few steps. "No. You're not getting it back until we get there. What kind of person would I be to make you-"
"FINE!" she shouts. "Just…fine!" she says again. "Keep it! I don't need it anyway!" she says and hurries off down the street. Chasing after her, Tristan and Joey yell "Hey wait! "You forgot your stuff!" She darts down alley after alley as they pursue her. "She aint gonna lose me so easy!" Joey says. "Really? Good! Then you lead because I have no idea where she went." "What?" Joey says coming to a screeching halt. "I thought you were leading?" he says. "I was following you!" Tristan says. "Oh great!" They both say, eye to eye. "This is all your fault!" Joey says. "Shut up for a second, man!" Tristan says, tilting his head. "Don't you tell me to shut up!" Joey says, pointing a finger towards him. "You just-" "SHHH!" Tristan says. "Eh?" Joey says, now listening as well.
They turn into another alley way and see a tent hidden on the other side of a dumpster. Coming closer they hear Alyssa's voice." "Now, if I cut it down to one and a half pieces a day, then I can get through until the next time without wasting any of the other money. But then I can't- ah!" She exclaims as Joey and Tristan pull up the flap to the broken tent. It's circular, and sitting squarely in the middle is Alyssa. Around her is a small pile of change, a red shoulder bag (like a backpack, almost), an old can of peanut butter, and a dry, half eaten loaf of bread.
"What are you doing in here, Alyssa?" Tristan says, wide eyed. She just sits there in shock and looks at the two of them. "Yeah!" Joey says. "What about your hou…se…oh…" he says, embarrassed. He sees Tristan looking at him. "You are such a moron." He says. As if she broke out of her spell, she says "I don't need it. Just go away. Leave me alone!" she grabs her bag and pushes her way out of the tent. Joey and Tristan stumble back in there surprise. She starts to run, but Joey catches her arm. "Wait." He says. "No…let go of me!" she says, trying to pull her arm out of Joey's grip, which only gets tighter. She steps on his foot, "Gaah!" he exclaims, releasing her to hold his aching foot as he hops up and down. She turns to flee again, but Tristan blocks her path. Backing up, she hits into Joey, who stumbles slightly, off balance. He straightens up and just says simply "Hey, that hurt? Why'd ya have to go and do that for?" "Ehah." She says, looking between the two of them, blocked on both sides. "Back off you two. Don't make me…don't make me do to you what I did to those other guys last night!"
"Would you really do that to one of us?" Tristan says. "Yeah, come on! We're your friends!" Joey says. "Friends or not, I'm leaving without you. Now… now get out of my way before I have to do something I'm going to regret!" She says. "See? You don't want to do anything!" Joey says smiling. He walks up to her. She pulls her arm back, getting ready to stun him, but feels it grabbed by something. Looking up she sees Tristan holding her arm. "If you really want to do something, now would be the time to do it." He says. She tenses her body and tries to pull her arm away, but he has too firm a grasp on it. Sighing, she allows her body to relax and falls against him.
"That's better." Tristan says, relaxing his grip a little but still not letting his guard down. "Now, if I let your arm go, do you promise not to run?" She simply sighs. "Do you?" he says, tightening his hold on her again. She pauses for a second and then merely nods her head. "Okay then." He says, and releases her. She straightens up. "Now just wait a bit while we sort all this out." he says. After talking it over for a few minutes with Joey ,he tells her, "Get your stuff." She picks up her bag and stands up. A few feet away, Joey has pulled out a cell phone. "Yugi?" he says, glancing over at Alyssa. Tristan has put his arm around her shoulders as she looks at the ground. "Yeah…we got a problem."