Newly Homeless

The fictional story of a guy who has never been homeless before finds out how hard it is.

Having packed the possessions that he most wanted to keep, Hudson left the house that is no longer his. He knows that the new owners will soon be arriving and that they know that the front door is unlocked. Hudson couldn't stay any longer, that was the agreement. Hudson left his former home.

Hudson had never been homeless before. He had been expecting to become homeless for some time but couldn't prevent it. He had only his clothes and belongings with him. The 25 year old carried with him some clothes and some possessions of entirely sentimental value. He kept these in a sack. He also kept a wallet in his pocket which contained no money as the lack of money was the reason that Huntington had become homeless.

He had not long been homeless. It was today that he had become homeless. From leaving the house that he used to own, he decided to visit his friends to see if any of them would let him stay with them if only for a short time. Hudson has no girlfriend that he could possibly stay with, only friends. Hudson is a man of average height, around 5"7' and has finely cut neat brown hair. Among his possessions is a mobile phone which he could not use as it had no credit. This means that to reach his friends, Hudson would need to walk.

So Hudson went to the house of his nearest friend, Jarvis, entirely on foot. It was a half hour walk. Jarvis' house is a small terraced house which showed brickwork on the exterior and a wooden front door with no knocker. Hudson had only ever known Jarvis at social gatherings and some parties. They got along well enough as friends. Hudson only knew where Jarvis lives from the one time where he was invited to a party at Jarvis' house, but ultimately couldn't go as he had a fierce cold at the time. Hudson rang the doorbell. The front door opened and Jarvis, a relatively short casually dressed man, stood in the doorway. Jarvis said "Didn't expect to see you here" with some surprise. Hudson had not had the chance to tell Jarvis what had happened. Hudson said in response "No. I've had a few problems. Maybe you could do me a favour?". "A favour?" Jarvis enquired "What kind of favour?". Nervously Hudson said "You see, I need somewhere to stay for the night, perhaps you'd let me stay here?". Jarvis answered "No, actually, I have someone staying here already. Maybe some other time.". Then Jarvis closed the front door. Hudson knew that Jarvis likely wouldn't be the first person to let him stay over. Hudson knew that this was Jarvis' polite way of saying no and for the sake of their friendship Hudson decided not to press the matter.

Hudson knew of 3 other friends who might be willing to help him, but one of those friends, Lucy, lives out of town and Hudson could not reach her on foot. Hudson had no money to travel to reach her anyway. Within the town that Hudson is in, he has 2 other friends, one of which lives close to the town centre. From where Hudson currently is, outside Jarvis' house, he should reach the next house within half hour. Hudson slowly walked away from Jarvis' house disappointed but not too surprised that his friend didn't help him. It was clearly just inconvenient, but with the possibility of staying another time and really not wanting to lose a friend, Hudson thought it better to try Jarvis another time. Hudson walked along the road with his sack over his shoulder to his next destination.

Hudson walked up the path to Langdon's house. Hudson had originally met Langdon through mutual friends. Hudson and Langdon found themselves to have common interests and often attended guitar practice together. Hudson came to know Langdon's address by the fact that on occasion Langdon hosted dinner parties to which Hudson had been invited to. Langdon's house is semi detached also with the appearance of brickwork on the exterior. The front garden was tidy with various flowers and shrubs organised in an attractive, well kept display. The front door of Langdon's house is wooden in a dark mahogany colour. There was a knocker on the door and a doorbell to the right. Hudson chose to ring the doorbell. Hudson knew that Langdon is married with kids. As such Hudson was not sure of what kind of reception he would receive, but he hoped for the best. Hudson considered Langdon to be a sensible, compassionate kind of person. He hoped that Langdon would be understanding too. The front door opened and Langdon stood in the doorway. Langdon is a man in his mid 30s dressed smartly but not formally. Langdon was smiling and seemed happy to see Hudson, yet at the same time it also seemed to be a surprise to Langdon. Langdon said "Well look who it is! What brings you here?". Hudson couldn't lie and say that it was a social call, he had to tell the truth. Hudson said "I've nowhere to go. I was hoping that you could help me out". Langdon saw the sack and realised that something was wrong. Langdon asked in a gentle manner "What is it?". Hudson replied "I've got nowhere to live". Langdon said "I thought you lived along Elmwood Drive". "Not any more" said Hudson "I had to sell the house. Trouble is, I can't afford anywhere else, not even a rental. I literally have no money". "Isn't there somewhere you can go?" Langdon asked. Hudson answered "I've tried everywhere. No landlord would have me because I have no job. My nearest living relative lives more than 100 miles away. I contacted all of the local hostels this past week and they all turned me away saying that they're full. I don't know where else to go". Langdon said "Isn't there anywhere else you can try? Or anyone else who can help you?". Hudson replied "I've already tried a friend and he says he can't help me. After yourself I have only one other friend that I can ask and I don't know what he will say. Will you help me?". Langdon said "I'm sorry but you can't stay here. I have a family to look after". This did not fill Hudson with hope. Hudson pleaded "I would not ask if it weren't a last resort. Even just for one night?". Langdon said meanly "What will you do after one night? Want to stay another night,and another and then what? Become dependent on me and my wife? No, go away! Find some place of your own to stay". Langdon firmly closed the door behind him. Hudson thought that Langdon would be a good enough friend to help him out with this. Clearly this is not so. Hudson walked along Langdon's garden path in dismay and sorrow. Hudson walked out through the garden gate and along the road in his journey to reach the only other person who might help him.

The remaining friend of Hudson, Swain, lives on the other side of town, however from near the town centre and on foot it should take Hudson no more than 3 hours to reach Swain. Hudson knew that he would get hungry before reaching Swain's house so he went to the town centre to see what he could find to eat. It was 1:30pm and a Saturday so naturally the town centre was busy. The arrangement when Hudson sold his house was that the new owners would move in sometime during the Saturday afternoon. Hudson had dealt with the buyers through the estate agents. At the time when he requested that he be allowed to live in the house up to the last possible hour before the buyers move in, the estate agents were initially hesitant to allow Hudson to negotiate more time in the house. Hudson had persuaded them to be a medium for this negotiation and paid for the privilege. The estate agent functioned as a message service for this. The buyers who are a family graciously agreed to let Hudson stay in the house on the day that they were due to move in but not a minute beyond midday. It was arranged that the new owners would already all sets of the keys when Hudson left the house. If Langdon was anything to go by then Hudson suspected that the new owners of his house would no doubt refuse to let him live there again in a heartbeat. There is also the fact that the new owners of his house are complete strangers to Hudson and he was certain that no stranger would let him stay over. Hudson knew that musing this would not change his situation or provide him with food.

Hudson looked around the town centre at places where he would find food. He was hoping that he might be able to half inch someones abandoned crisps at the cafe. No such luck. He looked in bins to see if he had a chance of scavenging anything. Again no such luck. The bins were nearly empty, someone must have emptied them earlier. He had the option of asking staff in the shops for assistance in getting some food, however he figured that this would probably yield no success. Hudson sat on a bench. Another guy sat down on the bench although not closely to Hudson. The guy had a briefcase and a bag with him. The guy pulled a lunchbox and a banana out of the bag and placed the banana on the bench next to him and the lunchbox on his lap. The guy took a sandwich out of his lunchbox and began to eat it. While the guy was merrily eating his sandwich, Hudson edged his hand gradually closer to the banana. His hand was next to the banana and the guy didn't seem to notice. Hudson quickly grabbed the banana, hid it in his coat and walked away speedily. The guy didn't notice that his banana was missing until 5 minutes later. Hudson put the banana in the inside pocket of his coat. He never wanted to do this again but knew that he might need to to survive. Hudson decided to save the banana for later when he would be especially hungry.

Hudson quickly left the town centre and began the long walk to Swain's house. Hudson had originally met Swain through a wine tasting club. Just because Hudson is young doesn't mean that he can't appreciate culture. Huntington only knew Swain through their common interest and he only knew Swain's address from the one time when he met up with Swain at Swain's house so that they could go to the wine fair together as Hudson didn't know the way. Swain had been a good friend to Hudson and Hudson hoped that he would be a good enough friend to help him. It's a long walk to where Swain lives and a burdensome one with the sack. Hudson walked along many roads passed houses and local shops. This side of town contained smaller houses with driveways. Like Jarvis' house some of these houses didn't have room for a front garden.

Hudson stopped at the edge of an industrial estate as he grew weary. He sat down on a nearby bench and ate the banana that he had stolen earlier. It's hard to justify stealing, but Hudson needed to at least survive. He carried no food with him and had no money to buy any of his own. What else was he to do? He didn't have any breakfast because he could not afford that much. Hudson had only his sack with him, full of sentimental belongings, he couldn't forget those, ever. He wouldn't trade anything in the sack for anything else in the world. The sack had to stay with Hudson no matter what. The sack is a physical burden but entirely worthwhile. Hudson got up, picked up his sack and continued walking.

After walking along the edge of the industrial estate and past more houses, Hudson finally reached Swain's house. Swain's house is the end house on a terrace. It's a small looking house painted a variation of white on the exterior. Hudson couldn't be sure what the door was made of, but it had no knocker. Hudson rang the doorbell. After a moment Swain answered the door and asked "What are you doing here?". It wasn't exactly an accommodating question but Hudson had no other choice but to come here. Swain is a blond, relatively tall guy with blue eyes that take no prisoners. Hudson strongly hoped that this would be worth the journey. Hudson answered "I came to ask your help". "What for? It's not like we have to go anywhere" Swain jeered. Hudson had expected some hospitality not spite. Hudson wondered what happened to his friend. He had not made his request yet and Swain was already being rude. Thinking that Swain might be talking about the wine club Hudson answered "It's not about that. It's about something else. I came to ask for your help". Swain retorted "What makes you think you'll get it here?" in clear annoyance. Hudson answered "You're my friend, surely? Wouldn't you help a friend?" Swain bluntly said "No". Annoyed Hudson said "Why not?!" with some vigour. Swain answered "Because I don't help friends who get themselves homeless" and them slammed the door. Hudson couldn't understand it, he didn't make himself homeless, circumstances forced that upon him. If he could have gotten a job, he would not be homeless now. Hudson walked away from Swain's house in the knowledge that Swain is no real friend of his. He had to decide where to go from here. He needed food and someplace to sleep. Where will he find that now that his friends have sent him away. He chose to search for food first then decide what else to do. Hudson knew that if he tried scavenging from bins of peoples houses, he would surely be noticed and possibly attacked. Hudson couldn't take the risk of being attacked. He didn't want to suffer in that way. To Hudson's debatable fortune, he had passed an industrial estate not so long ago. Hudson knew of a food factory on that industrial estate. He might be able to scavenge something there. He walked back to the edge of the industrial estate within 15 minutes.

From the edge of the industrial estate Hudson had to find somewhere that might throw away food. Hudson hates to steal, he had never done anything illegal in his life before today but he was desperate. Most factories were surrounded by fences no doubt to prevent something like what Hudson was going to do. Hudson walked past some factories deciding based on the name whether they would have a canteen or not and perhaps what kind of companies they are. Not that it mattered anymore. Hudson tried to climb over the fence of one place but failed. He had never been good at physical challenges. Hudson's strong suit had been more towards the intellectual than the physical. He just isn't a physical kind of guy.

After a walk, Hudson arrived at the road where the food factory is located. There's no fence around the front of the factory but Hudson could hardly ring the doorbell and ask for food. The windows on the front were too small for Hudson to climb in through. He already knew that he couldn't climb over fences. What could he do? Waiting for employees to leave and asking for their assistance would be no more successful than scavenging through peoples bins. There was no way to break in. There's nothing Hudson could do. Anything he could eat is on the other side of the fence. There is nothing he can do. The factory is closed. Most factories tend to be closed on Saturdays. Hudson walked away from the factory and considered his options.

For food Hudson would have to steal some or persuade someone to buy some for him. Hudson knew that he probably wouldn't be able to persuade someone to buy any food for him. For someplace to sleep, Hudson knew that he would have to sleep away from buildings as if he got caught by the owner or the tenant sleeping near their building, they would at least chase him away. This did not seem to be a good idea. If Hudson had any money then he could gamble to win more, but he has absolutely no money. Hudson had nothing to sell except for the shirt on his back, but he needs that for warmth. For somewhere to sleep, Hudson intended to sleep away from buildings on whatever grass he could find.

Hudson tried to gain access to the grounds of some other factories with no success. Hudson knew that he would not be safe in the town centre as it's a known crime hotspot after the shops close. He knew that he would be safer where he is. After all he knew that the town centre was known for muggings and other kinds of violence especially after dark. He wanted no risk of losing his sack.

After some more time and walking around Hudson became hungry again. Hudson realised that he had only one option. It's a sorry state of affairs to need to take such an option but there is no alternative. Hudson found a field on the edge of town. The field is completely empty. There are gates on both sides of the field but nothing in the field except for Hudson and the grass itself. He intended to stay here for as long as he could survive. He hated what he would have to do next just to survive. He knelt down and placed his sack immediately to the right of him. He leaned forward and faced the ground. It appeared to be a clean patch of grass and there were no berry bushes around. Being desperately hungry he ate the grass. It tasted absolutely foul but he had no choice. He continued doing this until he could no longer stand it. Hudson sat up and put his arm around his sack. The pain of being homeless hurt him so much that he only wanted to sleep. He leaned on his sack and tried to sleep.

Later the sound of a motor raised his awareness. Hudson sat up and tried to determine where the noise was coming from. He looked around and saw nothing with a motor in it. He thought that it would go in another direction in a few minutes and leave. He remained sitting up and listening to the sound just to be sure. The sound remained constant as if it had not moved. Thinking that the sound would just stay and remain an annoyance, Hudson lay down again.

Half asleep there was a sound close by. Hudson opened his eyes and realised that the sound of the motor was nearer. He looked around and could see nothing but the noise sounded close. It sounded more like an engine. He listened and realised where the sound is coming from. Hudson picked up his sack and ran in the opposite direction of the engine. Looking over his shoulder, Hudson saw the vehicle that was chasing him. It was some variation of a quad bike. Hudson knew that he could not outrun it so he began running to his right. He looked over his shoulder again and saw that the quad bike was following him and getting closer. Hudson returned to running in the direction that he was originally running in. Again the quad bike followed. Hudson tried running in various different directions but the quad bike remained in pursuit. He couldn't reach a bush in time to escape the quad bike. There was nothing he could do to escape. The quad bike hit him directly from behind and sent him flying into a bush. Hudson could hear the quad bike coming towards him and he rolled out of the bush into a neighbouring field. He was bruised in various places but continued to keep running with his sack anyway.

He ran as far as he could into the new field but knew that he could not maintain his pace. Remembering that he has a mobile phone with him, he took his phone out and switched it on while running. Hudson is very much afraid for his life and ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He's also generally exhausted due to hunger. The quad biker remained in pursuit by opening the gate to the field that Hudson is in and taking his quad bike through the gate. Quickly Hudson dialled emergency services. It's hard to run while using a phone. Someone had just answered the phone to Huntington when he was hit by the quad bike again. He flew through the air and landed on the ground this time. It felt like he had a broken rib, maybe more. The phone was not far away. Using his arm, Hudson tried to drag himself towards his phone. The raw agony in his chest making this hard. The quad biker drove into him again. This time he lost consciousness. The quad biker laughed casually and kicked the body a few times before leaving.

Emergency services located Hudson by the signal of his mobile phone. They arrived within the hour and took Hudson to hospital, not forgetting his belongings.

Hudson awoke in hospital in an intensive care unit. He was told what injuries he had and that he was lucky to be alive. He was also told that he would be in hospital for a few months. When Hudson asked what would happen when he is released, he was told that hopefully he would have a place in a hostel by then. If not then he would be back to being homeless. Hudson asked for his possessions and was given them. His belongings were his only comfort for they held his memories and sentiments. It's all he has left.

Author's Note

Revised version. Changes in detail. Longer than original version. May be unsteady. Hudson instead of Huntington in this one.

Reviews

[7Stayed]

I have heard of it as a disease, but it is a real name. It's in the names dictionary. It wasn't intended as a reference to the disease. I just wanted to use unusual names. Point taken.

[Black]

I like it
But do you know Huntington is a dissease
a badly one
I would give him another name
or you must have intended it to be like that ..
No fun dissease really