Ripples - Chapter 3: Delivery

He's just a homeless guy!

 

        Stephen and his new friend returned nearly nine dollars worth of bottles and cans, but they didn’t make it across town soon enough. By the time they got there, the truck was already unloaded. Jenna, the manager, could see the air leave Stephen’s sails when she told him that the truck had arrived early and she’d already unloaded it. She felt terrible to disappoint him and so she did what she could to help him.

 

        “I have a half dozen burgers that are fifteen minutes old. I have to throw them away anyway and I’d rather give them to you than throw them out.”

 

        Stephen was still full from breakfast as he wasn’t used to having quite so much to eat, but he knew enough to take the burgers and put them in his cart for later. Though he was disappointed that he didn’t have that extra fifteen dollars, he was mindful of his good fortune. His stomach was full, he had eight dollars and thirty cents from his bottles and cans, he had a furry new friend and he had half a dozen hamburgers to eat when the hunger returned. A room with a bed to sleep in would have been fabulous, but he was definitely far better off than he’d been twenty-four hours earlier. He knew a place beneath the Grant St. overpass where a grate covered a hot water discharge. It was a warm place to sleep, but you had to get there early to claim the spot. It would be dark in less than two hours so he started for the Grant St overpass.

 

        But tragically, he never got there. The last thing that Stephen Wilton saw was the grill of a delivery truck. The driver was distracted, and made a hard right turn into a back alley without signaling or paying very much attention. But for the second time in about seven hours, he saved the little puppy’s life, shoving the cart clear at the very last moment as it became clear that the truck would hit him. The cart hit the curb, and tipped over spilling the puppy to the ground at the exact same instant that Stephen hit the road.

 

        The driver of the truck, terrified that he’d loose his job, decided that one homeless man wasn’t worth his livelihood so he left Stephen to die in that, gray, damp, dreadful back alley. The little puppy stood there next to Stephen and licked his face, trying to make him better for nearly a half hour before anyone came across the pitiful sight.
 

Reviews

[Tara]

Oh, my! no time for lenghty comments...got to see what happens next!

[Ourebro.]

Tragic. Can't wait to know what happens next.

[Emily B]

I'm thinking Stephen will find himself sleeping in a bed this night . . . I'm hoping anyway.