I sighed as I made my way down the street. I was careful not to crush the bananas that I had hidden under my bed blanket. I noticed a bend in the long wooden fence; bends usually meant a place where I could stop and settle down to sleep.
I called Snow and Ash along trying to hurry, but they kept walking at their usual plodding speed. Poor dogs, they were sleepier then I was. The bend turned into an alley, but I knew if a car turned into the alley it would send me scrambling. Glancing up I saw that there was a little inlet along the fence. I reached the cove and found that it wasn’t occupied. It was out of the way enough that I wouldn’t have to worry about any cars, and it couldn’t be see it from the entrance of the alley.
It was almost perfect, and if it hadn’t been for the pile of trash, it would have been perfect. Deciding it was the best place I was going to find, I unrolled the plaid blanket that I always slept on. Snow and Ash both knew that meant we were staying here for the night and quickly plopped down on the blanket. Smiling, I reached down to scratch Ash’s head as I put down by backpack. Unzipping my bag, I pulled out the rope that I used to keep them from wondering off in the night like their mother, Jessie. I ran the rope through their cheap collars and tied a knot. Glancing around for something to tie the rope to, I saw two holes that were close together so I fastened the rope to the fence. I hoped it would be enough to keep the dogs with me for the night.
I noticed that the dogs were looking up expectantly at me. “Right,” I mumbled, “water.” Grabbing my backpack and I dug through it until I found the small water dish and the half-empty water bottle. The water bottle was covered in so much dirt and grime that that you could barely tell if there was anything in it. After I poured some of the water into the old bowl, I looked inside the bottle, trying to decide how much water was left, but gave up after a few minutes. I made sure the top was firmly on and tried put it back but dropped the bottle. Scrambling out after the bottle I had single thought running through my head, “Get the water!” I managed to grab it before it rolled past the dumpster. As I picked up the bottle I caught a glimpse of something small and brown. Curious more than anything else I reached under the dumpster and picked it up.
I realize what I had found was a wallet! Trying not to get my hopes up, I opened it up and immediately noticed that there was no credit card but the driver’s license was still there. I pulled the license out and stared at it willing myself to remember how to read. After a few more seconds I started to sound it out, “Rikd Jacubs, Rikhd Jacobs” and finally I made out the proper name, “Richard Jacobs.” I struggled to remember if there were any markets for licenses, probably not the cops had started cracking down on false ID’s. Smiling to myself I slid the license back into the wallet. I then checked it for money and found… twenty-five dollars!
With that I could get some food for me, Snow and Ash! For a brief minute I had to resist the urge to dance. I took a look at the wallet itself and realized that it was hand woven leather, which I knew was worth at least fifty dollars! Sliding the wallet into the inside pocket of my jacket I returned to my makeshift bed. Ash and Snow who had long since finished their water had curled up on the blanket.
Lying down on blanket, I pulled them both close to me and made myself comfortable. Grinning, I patted them both and said, “Don’t worry you two, Old Hank’s going to get somethin’ to eat real soon.” Ignoring the oddity of a sixteen year old calling himself old, I closed my eyes and entertained myself with thoughts of the things that I would buy with my newfound riches as I drifted off to sleep.