The Young Stranger (closed)

[DangerousDarkEyes]

Anna Sills had been living with her boyfriend Roger for two years now. She met him during her junior year in college and now she was about to start her final year in the fall. She had just turned 21 years old and Roger had a surprise birthday party for her, which she was truly surprised. She not only found out he had been cheating with her very best friend Michelle, but after fighting with him about it, he kicked her out of his house.

Late that night he gathered all her clothes, some blankets, handed her 200.00 in cash and dropped her off in Brownwood Manor Park. It was a very large park, which was good for her as it had some woods that she took cover in so no one would see her. She had spent that night crying until she fell asleep on the blankets.

The next morning she woke up a mess, but was glad it was still spring time, nice weather most of the time. She sat there for a long while wondering what she was going to do, at least until fall. In the fall her college was paid thru a scholarship she had earned for her grades and was very happy for it. But till then she had no where to go and 200.00 wasn’t going to last her any length of time. Anna had no family, her parents had died when she was 19, that was when she moved in with Roger, having only been seeing him for a few months then. He had been a year older than her and had just finished college and was already getting job offers in the stock market business.

She was 5’3”, a hundred pounds if that with long blonde hair, a slender shapely figure and a fresh innocent face. The first morning, after she quite feeling sorry for herself, she decided to go by a cheap little pup tent, a small cooler, bread and lunchmeat, napkins, a six pack of small bottled pepsi and a newspaper. She went back where she hid her things and put up the tent where no one would find her and then folded all her clothes and cleaned up her area. When ever she would hear someone, or several couples together, she would be extra quiet. In fact she tried spending the next couple days reading newspapers people left in the park and walking around it, sometimes running, just for something to do. But truth was, she was going to run out of food and money and she still had yet to come up with a plan as to what to do.

 

[MagicalFingers]

Tobias Fisher had light brown hair with faint traces of auburn though it, deep green eyes that seemed to look right into you and standing at 5'9" he was your rather average looking everyday guy. He kept himself fit and healthy but didn't go around walking around without a shirt off like some of the younger men. Most of the time being dressed in a white collar business clothes, with tie and all. He didn't work for some high paying, fancy law firm. He wasn't a stock trader by day and a mobster by night. He was a IT consultant. Boring. Everyday he would be advising clients on how to use information and communication technologies to meet their needs and goals. Day in and day out.

He loved Brownwood Manor Park, it was not one of those parks you would find people shooting up a cocktail of drugs or youth drinking stolen acohol. It was one of those nicer parks. A park where families and couples would go to, to be in the sun and have a nice day. This was one of his most favourite places to sit and clear his head, he visited everyday on his way to work. He always sat on the same bench with a newspaper spread over his lap and a coffee in his hand.

He would like to stay there all day sometimes, but being 33 years old with a full time job and bills to pay he eventually had to reluctantly drag himself away to another day in a carboard cutout for a room. A small cubicle with a desk, computer, chair and a pen holder. There wasn't a window insight and it was horribly depressive. Tobias was a fairly outgoing man, but the long dull hours of work offered no outlet for him and when he was finished his day at the office he would walk home, often with another short stop in at the park before going home. That was the only enjoyment he looked forward to in his rather routine life. He wished for something, anything to change in his life. Little did he realise just how much that was about to happen.

 

[DangerousDarkEyes]

Anna spent most of the week reading the classified, looking for temporary help jobs, with no luck. She spent a lot of time walking and running the park, keeping in shape while running off her excess energy caused from worrying so much and doing so little. Her money was dwindling and she didn’t know how long it would be until she could find an answer to her prayers.

She spent a lot of time thinking about who might take her in, but most of her friends came from the private college she went to and she didn’t want any of them to know her situation. She was sure they would look down at her for that, just like she would have to someone else, before it happened to her. It was the first time in a long time she missed her parents. Not that she had never thought about them or missed them before, but really missed their encouragement, the safety of their home and the love they provided.

Having spent the week, this now being Friday, she knew there were going to be lots more people around the park over the weekend. Which would make it that much more difficult to come and go into her little tent. While she had spent time at the Park, she had noticed during the week their were several regulars, people who walked or ran it every day. People who came on their way to work or going home from the late night shift. She happened to notice on man in particular.

He was good looking, nice hair, one of the suits that spent every morning readying the newspaper and drinking his coffee in the same bench seat. She couldn’t remember if he had come on the weekend as last weekend was a complete blur with the fight and being driven out by her now ex asshole boyfriend. But the man that came each day, had one evening also came and sat, just relaxing she assumed. She guessed he wasn’t too happy with his job as usually his smile left whenever he had to go their in the morning.

Today, after most people left passing thru from work or going home from their outing to eat dinner, she decided to stroll the park for newspapers, magazines, anything she could find. She had found a variety of things on her outings, and even had found a crossword puzzle book someone had forgot. It was at least something to do to pass time.

But today, she hadn’t found much and she was extremely depressed about her situation. She sat down on the bench, not worrying whose it was since actually it was a public park bench, and curled up her knees, placing her feet on the bench and wrapping her arms around them. She was wearing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt that fit snug across her breasts; she had on Nikki running shoes. She bent her head down, leaning it on her arms, and sighed deeply. Tears streamed down her face for the first time since the first night she cried. She wanted to pull her hair out, never feeling so alone, confused, and very misplaced, but she only let the tears stream down her cheeks.

 

[MagicalFingers]

Tobias had just finished another drawn out, understimulating day at the office. Answering hundreds of mind numbing calls from people who couldn't work out how to reset their router, or some other simple thing that could easily be fixed. It had been a long week with much the same thing happening day in and day out, but it was Friday and he loosened his tie while he strolled away from his workplace with a small backpack slung over his shoulder. He let a small grin spread over his face, with a sping in his step he walked towards the park so that he could sit on his usual bench and unwind before the weekend started.

As he approached his favourite spot in the park, the sun was just starting to dip behind the trees and hills off in the distance casting long shadows along the ground. Immediately he saw a girl who he had seen once or twice recently around the park, he thought she was might have just been stretching on the bench while she was going for a walk and feeling game approached her with the hopes of striking up a friendly conversation. Thought as he got closer he could tell the girl was very upset, she had her head down and tears streaked her cheeks. He was in two minds of if he should approach her or just let her have time alone as that was what he usually came to this exact spot for.

Swallowing he stepped towards her slowly and sat on the ench beside her, he hoped he had not frightened her. She seemed to register that he was there but her mind seemed a million miles away. Dropping his backpack off his shoulder and to the ground he stretched his legs out and folded his arms, looking our at the setting sun in silence. A few moments later he looked over at the girl, "Beautiful, isn't it" then nodded his head towards the sunset, hoping to at least distract her from whatever had the attractive, young girl in such a funk.

"I didn't mean to invade your space or anything.." He continued slowly, when she only looked up at him with tear filled eyes. "..I just like to come down here and sit and think sometimes." He said casually, putting out his hand in a friendly gesture. "I'm Tobias, but most people just call me Toby and you are much to stunning to be letting all those tears run all over your face."

 

[DangerousDarkEyes]

“I’m Anna, nice to meet you Toby. I’m sorry I took your spot here, I didn’t expect you to be returning today. I see you here every morning though.” she said, wiping her eyes and getting a closer look at the man she kept seeing every morning in the park. He was almost like an alarm clock for her to get up and stash her stuff until it got dark.

“Sorry about the tears, it’s just been a really rotten week, maybe longer, feels longer anyway.” she said, wondering if she should tell him about her secret place.

She looked him up and down, as she did everyday, and decided if she was going to reach out to someone, maybe he could help her.

“I had a fight with my boyfriend last week, I’d been living with him for two years, since my parents died. Anyway, a little over a week ago he gave me 200.00 and dropped me off at this park. I’ve been living in a tent in those trees there ever since. No one will hire me, I have no references for a job. I’m 21 and have a scholarship for my last year at college, but that doesn’t start until fall. I just got to feeling sorry for myself, which I shouldn’t. I guess living in a tent is better than under a bridge, except my money is just about out and I have no idea what to do.”

Then the tears started again, but she stopped them fairly quick.

“I’m sorry, you’ve probably had a rough day to and didn’t need to hear all that. You don’t happen to know anyone that is looking for an employee, I’ll do just about anything.”