Page 23 - Words

Creativity Tsang Kei Yiu, Yoaby 5D (2016-2017)

Trot trot, trot trot, old carriages cross the road with horse hooves
ringing very clearly. Men with hats and neat suits smoke pipes sitting in it.
Women dressed in gowns and large hats with ribbons walk by.
There is a man, a dingy vagrant, lying on the ground on the same
street. A vagrant. Abominable. On the street. In England.
“Oh, nauseates me,” a woman whispers, walking briskly to stay away
from him.
The vagrant never talks, the only thing that is known is his name,
Hansel Hill. He is homeless. He is quiet, filthy and aloof. Hill wears brown
tattered sack top clothes and a misfit slack with patches, sleeping, or just
having a rest, on the ground.
Starting from the next street, it is the upscale part of the town where
wealthy families live, including the Brutons.
“Watt, do not go too far. Can you see a vagrant lying there? Never get
close to him, my dear,” says Mrs. Bruton, pointing at the corner where Hill
is at, expressing disdain and disgust.
Watt is playing on the street with his furry dog just in front of his
big, gorgeous mansion. But then he stops and starts staring at Hill, who is
twenty meters away. He cannot even see the vagrant’s face clearly, but he
thinks Hill is dangerous just because his mother says so.
“Okay,” says Watt, “I will stay here.” Watt keeps looking at the vagrant
with doubt and fear at the same time.
“Mrs. Bruton, please come over,” shouts Mr. Bruton from the
impressive house. Mrs. Bruton looks back over and walks back into the
house, leaving Watt on the pavement.
The boy is curious about the vagrant. The vagrant beholds him.

With Pride, We Stride 23