A GOOD PERSON (Sample)

Four.

          "Hi Jen we have a gig and since we like you we're going to let you come along."  Cole the oldest said. He was around fifteen and to a ten year old Jenna he was a grown up and letting her come along was an honor. Maybe she wouldn't sleep hungry today. Jenna had a bad feeling about it but if she refused she would have to wait a long time before any of them wanted to be friends again. That wasn't an option. She had been on the streets for months now and she would die before she went back.

The gig was pick pocketing. You find the old ladies or the ladies in heels that wouldn't be able to catch you if they saw you stealing. That was the beginners rules. And after her first snatch, she felt confident. It was always pick and run like hell then in the evening they would regroup and count their 'earnings' . She had food and friends and wasn't alone anymore. That's all that mattered to her. If she had to steal in order to keep them then so be it.

All of a sudden she was in an alley and running. Someone was chasing her yelling for her to stop. She couldn't stop. Why couldn't she stop? She tried but her legs just kept going and going. She heard a loud boom seconds before her body hit the ground. It took her a moment to register the searing pain and then she couldn't breathe. It hurt too much. Whoever chasing her was now standing beside her and looking down at her body. She tried to see who he was but it was too dark.

She was in a field of flowers now. Roses, sunflowers, and so many she couldn't even name. The field went on forever and she couldn't see where it began or where it stopped. The flowers made her feel at peace. She could stay there forever and not mind. But a certain figure caught her eyes on the far right. "Hello?" she called out but no one answered her. The figure just kept walking towards her. "Can you hear me? Hello"  still no answer. She turned around thinking if they didn't want to talk to her then she wouldn't force them.

"Jennifer" that voice.

"Mom?"

"Right here baby." she turned around and came face to face with her mother.

"Mom. I missed you so much. Did you come back for me? Drew was really mean and I had to leave"

"Oh poor baby."

"Can we go now?" Jenna asked in an excited voice.

"Go where? I'm not taking you with me." her mother said sneering.

"But mom you can't just leave me. Not again" she hadn't realized she was crying.

"I don't want you Jenna. I should have listened to your father when he said to just get rid of you."

"Mom you don't mean that. Please don't say that. I promise I won't trouble you. I'll do my homework and make my bed. I'll even do the dishes without complaining. Please mom. Please" she was full on sobbing now.

"I don't want you Jennifer. Your father didn't want you. No one is going to want you." and with that she disappeared.

"Mom! Mom!" she yelled but she was all alone again.

She was in a house now. It was pretty and the couple sitting in the living room were all smiles. They were looking at something on TV and the woman motioned for her to go over and sit next to them. "Do I know you" she whispered but the woman shushed her pointing to the TV. She just sat there looking around and at the back of her mind she couldn't figure out why the house looked so familiar. "Let's go honey"  the woman told her

"Where?"

"To your room of course. You'll be living with us from now on. So come on it's past your bedtime."