Reblogged from But I Smile Anyway:

It was on nights like tonight that Percy regretted his day job.

You see, his day job meant that he was out on the streets every night too.

He sat there looking out at the snow covered ground, ice forming on the river surface, feeling the chill seep through his skin and deep into his bones.

It wasn’t like he could even buy clothes or a blanket even, to keep warm. The shopkeepers, the customers, children, well, everyone actually, would look at him and scream in terror, closing doors, windows, curtains…

Lights twinkled from the windows of houses. Percy could make out the silhouettes of people, families getting together during this festive time, all merriment and cheer. They were eating and drinking, singing and dancing, and all he could hear was the crack of ice, the howl of the winds picking up.

He settled down to eat his festive meal, well actually it was his usual meal, breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Fish.

Sometimes, if he was lucky he managed to catch a duck, but those occasions were few and far between.

If only he had a roof over his head, and a kitchen where he could actually cook a meal. Instead he was forced to eat the food raw. It was so damp, he couldn’t even get a small fire going.

But who would house him?

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