New Year On The Streets Of New York

New Year On The Streets Of New York

By Paul McCann

 

The sun had set and it was a cold New years Eve . Around and around the town the little boy walked with his little bag over his shoulder trying to keep warm . He was looking for a place to get out of the wind and rain  . He knocked on the door of the homeless shelter and the man who opened the door said ,

‘What do you want ?”

The little boy said ,

“Do you have anywhere where I can sleep tonight .?

The man at the door replied ,

“Have you got twenty dollars “

and the young boy replied .

“No “

And the response was ,

“Go away , we’re full “

He walked away to a hotel and asked the person at reception .

“Would you have a place where I can sleep tonight .?

The man at reception replied ,

“No, go away “

The little boy walked away looking for any alternative place to sleep.

One of the hotel’s employees had overheard the little boy’s request for a place to stay and went out of the hotel to the street and called out .

 

“Hey little boy stop.“

He went over to the boy and pointed to the intersection at the end of the street .

 

“Look now , if  you go down there to the traffic lights, turn left and there you’ll find a shelter run by St Vincent De Paul . They’ll take care of you . Good luck .“

 

The little boy walked down the street under the lamplights of the street . The rain came down in buckets as the little boy splashed through puddles in the direction that he was told to go but he got confused and went the wrong way and ended up standing in front of this old derelict building . He thought at first it was Vinnies refuge centre but after closer inspection he discovered  it was the site of an old abandoned Railway Depot with a shed . He stood there gazing through the wire fence , at this very old building . It looked quiet and deserted .  Then he thought to himself , well at least its somewhere out of the rain . He squeezed through a hole in the wire fence and wandered across the spare ground to the main Rail office building . It looked as if it was scheduled to be demolished but in any case no one was around and it was the only place ibn town left to stay that night . Under the light of the moon he came to a reddish coloured door . There was a sign above the handle with an arrow pointing upwards . The sign said  Lift Handle Up .

 

As he lifted the handle the door opened and the little boy walked inside a dark and damp room that had once been the front reception office  . All the light switches and sockets had been ripped out of the wall . There was no furniture anywhere except an old desk that was turned on its side in  the hallway .

Along the corridor there were some other empty rooms . He could still hear the rain  lashing down outside and the wind was wildly blowing . It made him feel glad to be there inside out of the wind where it was dry . He sat down there in in the corner on the cold concrete floor,  content to be there with a roof over his head .

In the silence of that derelict building he recalled the bashing his Father had given him and then he closed his eyes and took a deep breath and murmured ,.

 

“Everything is going to be all right .’

 

He checked some of the bruises and wounds on his body and was glad he had run away from home . After a while he got up and began to check out the rest of the interior of the old building . Guided by the moonlight through the windows he went from room to room . He found a large room that seemed the best room to rest and he stretched out on the floor whispering ,

 

“ I hope the rats leave me alone here in this place”

 

It wasn’t long after that before he fell fast asleep on the floor .

A bright torchlight awoke him from his sleep.  It shone into his eyes and blinded him . A rough voice  asked ,

 

‘What are you doing in here ?”

 The little boy replied .

 

‘I’m sorry I didn’t mean any harm, my feet were sore and I had no where to sleep .

It was so cold outside and I saw this place . It looked empty so I thought it was ok to rest for a while  “:

 

The man with the flashlight switched off the light and said ,.

 

‘Do you realise you’re trespassing ?”

 

 

“Oh isn’t it a funny thing . I was following the directions I was given from a man

who works at the door in that fancy  hotel in town and I just lost my way and ended up here by mistake. “

 

 

The man there smiled and shone his torch around the room checking here and there before it was flicked off . He sat down closer to the boy and said ,

 

“You’re ok . It look’s to me as if some stray cat’s dragged you in here .“

 

The heavy set fella with curly hair looked eye to eye with the little boy and said .

 

“You’re homeless and a long way from home. So what’s going on . Are you ok  ? ”

 

“Well apart from my Father bashing me up and telling me how much he wished I was never born , I guess I’m ok  .“

 

The little boy told the story of how every night his father would come home drunk and angry and after he lit up a cigarette he would hand over a barrage of abuse before slapping him around the room  .The man with the torch began to shed a few tears  and he looked at the little boy and said

 

“Listen son , you can stay here as long as you like . I’ve no problem with you being here . I live in a little caravan nearby so I ‘ll come and check you from time to time .just to make sure you are ok . You can have my torch . I’ve got plenty of those and tomorrow I’ll bring you some food . “

 

Then he left the room and walked out the door of the building . The little boy sat there for a while before reaching up his arms to the ceiling and stretching his legs . Then he stood up on the floor and looked around . When the security guard had shone his torch around the room the little boy noticed a square hole in the ceiling above and thought to himself he might take a look at what was there ,

 

He dragged over a desk and placed it directly under the hole and climbed on top of the upturned desk before pulling  himself up into the roof space . He crawled along this tunnel to the end where a light was shinning through . He heard the a clock outside in the town strike midnight and people were cheering and shouting everywhere .The little boy had no idea what all the noise was about because he had lost track of time since running away from home .

 

He came to the end of the tunnel and discovered there was a huge warehouse there and lowered himself from the ceiling to a staircase there underneath and made his way down the stairs and began to investigate the entire perimeter of the building that was stacked with parcels and cardboard boxes , packing cases and other items in wooden boxes and crates . His eyes were bulging out of his head as his curiosity was electrified into a state of euphoria . He smiled with satisfaction and felt like he had entered Aladdin’s cave . He started to pull through various boxes and found  artworks , gold chains and rings , some other jewellery and ornaments , antiques , fur coats , wine , whisky , gold coins , watches and even guns and ammunition .

Then he opened another box to find a large pouch full of diamonds ;    

“I’m rich  ” the little boy screamed as he put the pouch of diamonds and gold rings and chains into an overnight bag that was there and made his way out of the building into the streets of the town were people were dancing and singing happy new year . The little boy joined in the celebration that continued until the dawn of the new day ..

 

The End

 

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