Previous Challenge Entry (EDITOR'S CHOICE)
Topic: Cup - 10-25-12 Deadline( 10/18/12)
TITLE:
Homeless. No job. Three kids. Please Help. | Writing Challenge By Allison Egley 10/25/12 |
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1st Place
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<b>I thought this might be easier. I hate this. I wish I had any other way. I hold my cup and sign. <i>Homeless. No job. Three kids. Please help.</i> You'd think that would get people to give, but I guess not.</b>
<i>People assume because I'm a white female, I'm telling the truth. And I am.... mostly. So I only have one kid. And I'm not <i>exactly</i> homeless. My mom will let me stay with her as long as I'd like. But it's not my own home, so... </i>
<b>I think people assume that since I'm a black male, I'm lying. But I'm not. I promise.</b>
<i>They think I'd never buy drugs. I have three kids, after all. People can be so naive. Ha!</i>
<b>People probably think I'll buy drugs. I've always been clean and sober. I wish I could prove it.</b>
<i>Sometimes I take my daughter out of school so she can come. When she's with me I get double or even triple what I'd get on my own. She's like a special charm. She needs this education.</i>
<b>Sometimes I take my kids with me, but only if they are off school. They need an education. When I have them with me, it gets a few people, but more often then not, I just get dirty looks. They look at my kids with pity, then look at me with scorn. I can almost hear their thoughts. <i>How could you do this to these kids?</i></b>
<i>I used to have a part-time job as a waitress, but I needed extra money. So I begged. I took my cup and sign. </i>One kid. Minimum wage job. Please help!<i> I got more in one hour of begging than I did in two with my waitress job. I thought it was a fluke, so I tried again a few days later. And again.</i>
<b>I used to have a great full-time job, but the executives were corrupt and the whole company shut down. Next, my son got ill. Soon I couldn't pay rent.</b>
<i>So I decided to quit my job as a waitress to be a "full-time beggar." Oh man. I just have to laugh every time I think of it.</i>
<b> I've applied for other jobs, but I only have one year experience in my field, and they all require three years experience. So I don't have enough experience. Then I tried to find other jobs. But they took one look at my old job and wages and said I was overqualified. So now I'm a part-time beggar. What a joke.</b>
<i>Soon, I'll go to my mom's house, kiss my daughter, and go out with my friends. We'll drink, smoke, shoot up, snort... whatever. Don't worry. My daughter is safe with my mom. And it's my life. I can do what I want. My mom will probably raise her better than I can anyway.</i>
<b>Soon, I'll go back to the shelter, and wait for my kids to get off the bus. We'll have dinner at the shelter and then go to bed. I worry about them so much there. I'm always with them, but I still worry. Anyone can walk into the shelter and you have no idea who he is or what his intentions are. Gunshots fill the air at night, and I cringe. A shelter is no place to raise kids, that's for sure.</b>
<i>Here comes a car. I stand up, holding up my sign and cup with a frown. The window rolls down, and I look at the woman.
She looks at me with sympathy and says "God bless you." She drops a dollar into my cup.
"Thanks," I mumble back. What? Only a dollar? Some people are such cheapskates. It makes me sick</i>
<b>Here comes a car. I stand up, holding my sign and cup with a sad smile. The window rolls down, and I look at the man.
He looks at me suspiciously and says, "Don't spend this on drugs," as he drops a quarter into my cup.
"God bless you," I say, as I bow my head and tip my cap to him. Wow. Some people are so generous. It makes my heart sing.</b>
<i>Homeless. No job. Three kids. Please help.</i>
<b>Homeless. No job. Three kids. Please help.</b>
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