Angela

Angela looked up at the stars far above her head.  The night was intensely dark.  No moon offered more light.  It was very cold, and her blanket was very thin.  She chose to focus on those brilliant orbs of light instead of the shivering cold she felt.

As she finally shivered to sleep she was convinced that the stars were singing to her.  The songs were sweet, gentle, light filled.  Angela felt as though she were loved.  The feelings of warmth that came from that love helped her to sleep, in spite of the cold.

A rough hand yanked her upright.  "What are ya' thinkin?"  We ain't got time to sleep.  We have pockets to pick, people to rob.  So much to steal and so little time...a harsh, crude laugh escaped Henry's lips.

Angela brushed off her rumpled clothing.  They never slept in anything but their clothes.  Henry said that nightclothes were just a waste.  In addition he believed that sleeping in your clothes just made them more comfortable for at least a week or two, sometimes more.

A strong sense of smell had always troubled Angela and led her to some pretty severe bouts of nausea.  Since she was adopted by Henry she had done her best to turn off this sensory strength.

She did retch often.  Henry rarely fed her enough to keep her stomach at ease.  Many times the food that he fed her had reached long past the time that it was safe to eat.  Angela had learned to watch Henry.  If he did not eat from the same food he gave her, she threw it out, no matter how hungry she was.  There had been times that she was soooo hungry that she had wolfed the food down anyway.  The result was horrible.

Just because Angela was in the midst of food poisoning was no excuse for Henry to keep her from stealing for him.  He simply accepted nothing as an excuse to keep her from doing the work he had adopted and trained her for.

She didn't dare to run away.  She had witnessed Henry shoot a woman.  The woman he had asked to act as his wife so that he could adopt Angela.  She knew that Henry would shoot her.  Then he would repeat his action and adopt a different orphan.  She could not bear for another human to suffer her fate.

Angela was ever so grateful to be again lying as close to the fire as she could.  She was waiting, watching, for the stars to begin their gentle song.  She didn't want to fall asleep even though it provided her with escape.  She knew that if she slept she would have to face the misery of her days all over again.  So she fought against sleep.  Watching, and listening until the stars began their comforting melody her eyes won the battle.  They closed and sleep fell on the troubled girl.