JackCharles
11-15-2012, 12:13 AM
Any and all comments welcome. I hope you enjoy.
“He Got Up Early”
Crawling from the tent with cat like precision, not disturbing a soul as he steps out into the frosty morning air, he rubs the sleep from his eyes and glances into the rising sun; another bitterly cold day begins. Spotting a half empty bottle of water lying on the ground he picks it up, unscrews the cap and pours a little into his hand to wash the sleep off his face, the rest he uses to wash the sleep from his mouth. Looking around this dusty make shift encampment he notices a few of the other inhabitants’ beginning to stir. Before heading out he slips his head back inside the tent, checks on his two young children and gives his wife a kiss, he notices the dark circles and lines forming around her eyes, she shouldn’t have to live like this; no one should have to live like this.
Walking out of the barren lot that he and his family have been calling home for the past three months he heads out across the street slowly zipping up his dirty thread bare military jacket, the one thing he has left from his time of service in Afghanistan. Coming home two years ago he never imagined that they would end up like this.
He finds an empty corner and removes his worn cardboard sign which upon is written in faded black lettering “please help, homeless vet, needs to feed his family” and begins his day of panhandling. He recalls how he used to always look down on those begging for money or food, always assuming they were there by choice, either too lazy or to addicted to drugs to work for a living. Here he was side by side with them just trying like hell to find a way to get food for his family. Standing there with the sign in hand he stares into the eyes of the drivers as they pass by, most turn away pretending to adjust the radio or look across the street not wanting to make eye contact, they seem to be afraid of him. Some look at him with such disgust in their eyes that it makes him feel like just crawling into a hole somewhere. He knows that had he made other choices in life things might have been better, but this wasn’t his entire fault. He went and gave four years of his life to this country and when he returned and needed help this country turned its back on him and his family. As the cars continue to roll by he tries not to make eye contact anymore. The pain burning deep inside of him is becoming too much, but occasionally a compassionate driver would offer him a bottle of water or a couple of dollars maybe enough to feed his family tonight. As the sun begins its descent towards the horizon he begins to make his way back to what is now home, with a couple of bottles of water and about eleven dollars in his pocket, enough to feed his family tonight.
Arriving at the encampment and crawling into the dusty tent he gives his wife a kiss and his children a hug letting them know that tonight they’ll be able to eat. His wife tries her best to smile but as hard as she tries she can’t hide the sorrow in her eyes. These past few months have aged her, aged all of them immensely. Her silky soft radiant blonde hair is now a tangled dirty mess full of split ends and the shadows under her eyes increase by the hour. His children once vibrant and outgoing are becoming thinner and more and more lethargic every day. Their once clean clothes are now grimy and worn. He knows he needs to get them off the streets, but how? He doesn’t have a job or an address and if he goes to Social Services he’s afraid they’ll just end up taking the children away which he knows would devastate his wife even more. As bad as it is out here he keeps believing that it’s best to stay together.
Night begins to fall as they walk the half mile over to the McDonalds. With the little money he has they can at least all get something to eat off the dollar menu, not very nourishing but it will get them through the night. They decide that his wife should go in alone as he and the children wait outside. They’re afraid that if the entire family walked in looking the way they do they would get tossed out before they had a chance to order. She goes inside and orders four hamburgers, three small fries and one large soda. They have barely enough to pay for tonight’s meal and they have no idea where tomorrow’s meal will come from. After getting their food they begin the walk back to their tent; hopefully nobody has moved into it while they were away. The nights are getting colder as winter approaches. They’ll soon need to find something more to keep them warmer then the light jackets they now have. He does his best to reassure the children that this is just temporary and that soon he’ll find a job and they’ll be back on their feet. He can see even in the darkness the doubtfulness in their eyes. Kissing his wife and children goodnight they all settle down and try to get to sleep.
The morning arrives way too early and again he’s up with the sun. He plans on heading to the mission today to see if he can get himself cleaned up and receive help locating a job. Arriving at the mission around 7:30 a.m. he asks them if they might be able to help him find a job. He explains to them that he and his wife had lost their home a couple of months ago and with no family to turn to they have been living in a homeless encampment on the edge of the city. He decides not to tell them about the children for fear of losing them. The man in charge tells him that he can use the facilities to clean himself up and that there are some clean clothes that might fit him, but as for helping find a job he was on his own. He explains to him that with the economy in such bad shape and all the cut backs they are not able to help in that capacity anymore. He suggests that after he gets cleaned up he should try the unemployment office or a temporary job agency. He thanks the man but he knows that without a permanent address or phone that both of these options were a long shot.
After getting cleaned up and putting on a fresh set of clothes he heads out into the streets to try and find a job. Walking out of the mission he looks towards the city skyline, it didn’t seem right to him that he and his family would be living in a worn out old tent on a vacant dirty lot with nothing to eat while the politicians, the very people that were elected to solve these problems sat around in their offices and spent their time pointing fingers, blaming the other party or Wall Street for of this country’s problems. His family slept out on the ground in the cold while in the evening they retired to their warm comfortable homes in their secure guard gated communities. He still couldn’t understand how something like this could be happening to him in the very same country that he risked his life to defend. Coming home from Afghanistan he thought that he would come home to a better America, but what he came back to was record unemployment and record foreclosures, good people being thrown out into the streets. All the while the Democrats are blaming the Republicans, the Republicans blaming the Democrats, both of them blaming Wall Street and Wall Street blaming not only the Democrats and Republicans but also the people themselves. With all this blame going on nobody was working on fixing any of the real problems. Honestly he didn’t give a **** if this mess was caused by the Democrats the Republicans, Wall Street or all of them all he cared about right now was finding some way to feed his family and to get them off of the streets into a real home and to allow his children to get back into school. He spent the day walking from place to place looking for any kind of work; he was told the same thing over and over that there were just no jobs available.
As the sun was beginning to set he decided to head back to the lot, back to his family. He didn’t know how he was going to face them coming back with no food or money. He couldn’t face another night watching his children and wife go hungry. He wandered on into a downtown convenience store, he had no money to buy anything but he just needed to look around, just to dream a little. Moving through the aisles he thought about his family and how hungry they had been over the past couple of months. Without really considering the consequences of what he was doing he removed a small package of processed meat from the cooler and looking around to make sure he wasn’t being watched he hid it under his jacket. He was beginning to sweat and act nervously. He knew this was a mistake he had never stolen anything before, he wasn’t a criminal he was just a desperate man trying to feed his family. Making his way towards the door he notices the clerk and his assistant watching him with accusing eyes they had to know. He’s sure he will be caught and end up in jail. He bolts for the door and he makes it just outside when the assistant grabs his arm. He tries to fight him off but he’s so weak from lack of food and sleep, there is a lot of yelling, screaming, pushing and shoving the struggle escalates. There’s a lot of confusion then suddenly he feels a hot sharp pain in his chest. He staggers backwards in a state of shock as the assistant releases his grasp. He sees the blood flowing from his chest; he never even heard the shot. As he falls to the ground he notices the clerk standing a few feet away with a look of shock and horror on his face and a gun hanging from his hand. All he wanted to do was feed his family; all he ever wanted to do was to make a decent life for them it was only a package of meat, he never imagined that this would happen; he only wanted to feed his family.
He can hear the wail of the sirens and sees the blue and red lights flashing in the distance. As he lies there bleeding his thoughts drift back to that beautiful spring day with him in his tuxedo and his wife, the love of his life, in her beautiful white wedding gown her hair bouncing with sunlight and her skin with that soft radiant glow. He can see the love in her eyes as they share their wedding vows. He remembers those nervous nights at St. Johns Hospital seeing his first born son come into the world and then again a couple of years later his daughter and he realizes he’ll never see any of them again. As his blood runs down the gutter mixing with the dirt and the trash of this country that he fought to protect he wonders what will become of his family now, slowly fading away in that dirty lot cast away by society, forgotten like so many others. He draws in his last breath closing his eyes one last time as the tears slowly run down his face.
“He Got Up Early”
Crawling from the tent with cat like precision, not disturbing a soul as he steps out into the frosty morning air, he rubs the sleep from his eyes and glances into the rising sun; another bitterly cold day begins. Spotting a half empty bottle of water lying on the ground he picks it up, unscrews the cap and pours a little into his hand to wash the sleep off his face, the rest he uses to wash the sleep from his mouth. Looking around this dusty make shift encampment he notices a few of the other inhabitants’ beginning to stir. Before heading out he slips his head back inside the tent, checks on his two young children and gives his wife a kiss, he notices the dark circles and lines forming around her eyes, she shouldn’t have to live like this; no one should have to live like this.
Walking out of the barren lot that he and his family have been calling home for the past three months he heads out across the street slowly zipping up his dirty thread bare military jacket, the one thing he has left from his time of service in Afghanistan. Coming home two years ago he never imagined that they would end up like this.
He finds an empty corner and removes his worn cardboard sign which upon is written in faded black lettering “please help, homeless vet, needs to feed his family” and begins his day of panhandling. He recalls how he used to always look down on those begging for money or food, always assuming they were there by choice, either too lazy or to addicted to drugs to work for a living. Here he was side by side with them just trying like hell to find a way to get food for his family. Standing there with the sign in hand he stares into the eyes of the drivers as they pass by, most turn away pretending to adjust the radio or look across the street not wanting to make eye contact, they seem to be afraid of him. Some look at him with such disgust in their eyes that it makes him feel like just crawling into a hole somewhere. He knows that had he made other choices in life things might have been better, but this wasn’t his entire fault. He went and gave four years of his life to this country and when he returned and needed help this country turned its back on him and his family. As the cars continue to roll by he tries not to make eye contact anymore. The pain burning deep inside of him is becoming too much, but occasionally a compassionate driver would offer him a bottle of water or a couple of dollars maybe enough to feed his family tonight. As the sun begins its descent towards the horizon he begins to make his way back to what is now home, with a couple of bottles of water and about eleven dollars in his pocket, enough to feed his family tonight.
Arriving at the encampment and crawling into the dusty tent he gives his wife a kiss and his children a hug letting them know that tonight they’ll be able to eat. His wife tries her best to smile but as hard as she tries she can’t hide the sorrow in her eyes. These past few months have aged her, aged all of them immensely. Her silky soft radiant blonde hair is now a tangled dirty mess full of split ends and the shadows under her eyes increase by the hour. His children once vibrant and outgoing are becoming thinner and more and more lethargic every day. Their once clean clothes are now grimy and worn. He knows he needs to get them off the streets, but how? He doesn’t have a job or an address and if he goes to Social Services he’s afraid they’ll just end up taking the children away which he knows would devastate his wife even more. As bad as it is out here he keeps believing that it’s best to stay together.
Night begins to fall as they walk the half mile over to the McDonalds. With the little money he has they can at least all get something to eat off the dollar menu, not very nourishing but it will get them through the night. They decide that his wife should go in alone as he and the children wait outside. They’re afraid that if the entire family walked in looking the way they do they would get tossed out before they had a chance to order. She goes inside and orders four hamburgers, three small fries and one large soda. They have barely enough to pay for tonight’s meal and they have no idea where tomorrow’s meal will come from. After getting their food they begin the walk back to their tent; hopefully nobody has moved into it while they were away. The nights are getting colder as winter approaches. They’ll soon need to find something more to keep them warmer then the light jackets they now have. He does his best to reassure the children that this is just temporary and that soon he’ll find a job and they’ll be back on their feet. He can see even in the darkness the doubtfulness in their eyes. Kissing his wife and children goodnight they all settle down and try to get to sleep.
The morning arrives way too early and again he’s up with the sun. He plans on heading to the mission today to see if he can get himself cleaned up and receive help locating a job. Arriving at the mission around 7:30 a.m. he asks them if they might be able to help him find a job. He explains to them that he and his wife had lost their home a couple of months ago and with no family to turn to they have been living in a homeless encampment on the edge of the city. He decides not to tell them about the children for fear of losing them. The man in charge tells him that he can use the facilities to clean himself up and that there are some clean clothes that might fit him, but as for helping find a job he was on his own. He explains to him that with the economy in such bad shape and all the cut backs they are not able to help in that capacity anymore. He suggests that after he gets cleaned up he should try the unemployment office or a temporary job agency. He thanks the man but he knows that without a permanent address or phone that both of these options were a long shot.
After getting cleaned up and putting on a fresh set of clothes he heads out into the streets to try and find a job. Walking out of the mission he looks towards the city skyline, it didn’t seem right to him that he and his family would be living in a worn out old tent on a vacant dirty lot with nothing to eat while the politicians, the very people that were elected to solve these problems sat around in their offices and spent their time pointing fingers, blaming the other party or Wall Street for of this country’s problems. His family slept out on the ground in the cold while in the evening they retired to their warm comfortable homes in their secure guard gated communities. He still couldn’t understand how something like this could be happening to him in the very same country that he risked his life to defend. Coming home from Afghanistan he thought that he would come home to a better America, but what he came back to was record unemployment and record foreclosures, good people being thrown out into the streets. All the while the Democrats are blaming the Republicans, the Republicans blaming the Democrats, both of them blaming Wall Street and Wall Street blaming not only the Democrats and Republicans but also the people themselves. With all this blame going on nobody was working on fixing any of the real problems. Honestly he didn’t give a **** if this mess was caused by the Democrats the Republicans, Wall Street or all of them all he cared about right now was finding some way to feed his family and to get them off of the streets into a real home and to allow his children to get back into school. He spent the day walking from place to place looking for any kind of work; he was told the same thing over and over that there were just no jobs available.
As the sun was beginning to set he decided to head back to the lot, back to his family. He didn’t know how he was going to face them coming back with no food or money. He couldn’t face another night watching his children and wife go hungry. He wandered on into a downtown convenience store, he had no money to buy anything but he just needed to look around, just to dream a little. Moving through the aisles he thought about his family and how hungry they had been over the past couple of months. Without really considering the consequences of what he was doing he removed a small package of processed meat from the cooler and looking around to make sure he wasn’t being watched he hid it under his jacket. He was beginning to sweat and act nervously. He knew this was a mistake he had never stolen anything before, he wasn’t a criminal he was just a desperate man trying to feed his family. Making his way towards the door he notices the clerk and his assistant watching him with accusing eyes they had to know. He’s sure he will be caught and end up in jail. He bolts for the door and he makes it just outside when the assistant grabs his arm. He tries to fight him off but he’s so weak from lack of food and sleep, there is a lot of yelling, screaming, pushing and shoving the struggle escalates. There’s a lot of confusion then suddenly he feels a hot sharp pain in his chest. He staggers backwards in a state of shock as the assistant releases his grasp. He sees the blood flowing from his chest; he never even heard the shot. As he falls to the ground he notices the clerk standing a few feet away with a look of shock and horror on his face and a gun hanging from his hand. All he wanted to do was feed his family; all he ever wanted to do was to make a decent life for them it was only a package of meat, he never imagined that this would happen; he only wanted to feed his family.
He can hear the wail of the sirens and sees the blue and red lights flashing in the distance. As he lies there bleeding his thoughts drift back to that beautiful spring day with him in his tuxedo and his wife, the love of his life, in her beautiful white wedding gown her hair bouncing with sunlight and her skin with that soft radiant glow. He can see the love in her eyes as they share their wedding vows. He remembers those nervous nights at St. Johns Hospital seeing his first born son come into the world and then again a couple of years later his daughter and he realizes he’ll never see any of them again. As his blood runs down the gutter mixing with the dirt and the trash of this country that he fought to protect he wonders what will become of his family now, slowly fading away in that dirty lot cast away by society, forgotten like so many others. He draws in his last breath closing his eyes one last time as the tears slowly run down his face.