In the corner of my eye I can see her patiently waiting. A smile dances lightly over my face as I think about the first time I saw her.
/She stands before you naked
You can see it, you can taste it
But she comes to you
Light as the breeze/
She stood just inside the alley, eyes wide open and staring. I could see her fear. I could smell it and felt its bitter tang on my tongue. What little clothing she had was in shreds, and she might as well have been naked. Her hair fell in tangled clumps to her feet, and I'm sure it was the only thing providing her with warmth. Tears fell slowly from her Indigo eyes.
She spoke. "Pity the children," her soft voice whispered in my ears. "Pity the children."
I stopped walking and stared at her some more. "Why?" I asked. It was the only thing I could think of to say. We didn't need pity, so far as I was concerned. The chill air blew through the alley again and I shivered with her.
She smiled slightly. "Pity the children," was her only answer.
"Duo!" a voice called. I looked up to see Solo beckoning. "Duo, hurry up." I glanced back into the alley but she was gone. I ran to catch up with my friend and protector. We had things to do.
I learned what she meant all too soon. That night the first victim of the plague appeared in the hospitals with a raging fever, and swellings around her lymph glands forming little roses.
The plague hit the entire colony hard, but they only made an effort to save the upper classes. The government didn't seem to care about those of us on the street. The elderly died first, but it decimated the children. It was the children who had the highest mortality rates. It felt like the plague was designed just for us.
Pity the children, she'd said.
Nobody did. Nobody cared. Then Solo got sick and my world came crashing down.
/You can drink or you can nurse it./
I took care of Solo as soon as I realized he was sick. He'd hidden it from me during the early stages, during the stages when I could have done something.
We'd been ready to go out. I was teasing Solo about something. What exactly, I don't remember. Then his legs gave out and he went crashing to the floor. I knelt beside him and his fever was raging. My breath caught in my throat as I sensed doom.
Pity the children
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Copyright 2005