It was getting late, and Dexter knew he needed to find somewhere to sleep for the night. With no money a motel or anything with a bed was out of the question. He walked a little further from the bridge and found a small shack nestled amongst the bushes. It looked abandoned, but Dexter couldn't be to sure, he also didn't want to be arrested for trespassing on his first night in town.
He watched for what seemed like hours, but no one came home. He decided not to break into the house, but instead no far from it, he found an empty lot that he could hide in the bushes and sleep. He found a heavy brushed area, and settled himself in. It wasn't very comfortable, and because of the nearby swamp the ground was damp, but to Dexter it was heaven. It was summer time so he wouldn't have to worry about the cold or rain as of yet, but he knew he needed to figure out something for money and soon. He couldn't last a winter with nothing but bushes to protect him.
Dexter woke to the sound of a car passing by. He sunk into his bushes a little more as to not be seen until the car was well out of site. His stomach growled then, and he realized he hadn't ate since the little bit of fruit from the day before. Getting up from his bush, Dexter again looked at the small shack, he still didn't see anything change from the day before. Curious, he cautiously snuck over to the shack and peeked into the windows, empty. There was no furniture, no stove and no refrigerator. The wallpaper was torn and stained in places, and the cupboard doors were coming off their hinges. It looked to be abandoned and for sometime. Walking around again he noticed an old fishing poll, it was beat to crap, but it looked like it could still work. Examining it, he saw that everything was still attached the line and the reel were also in working order. Fish for breakfast sounded good to him, he'd figure out how to cook them after he caught them.
Dexter knew the basics of fishing, as his grandpa had taken him a couple times as a kid. He knew how to ask, though not very good, and knew how to reel the fish in. What he didn't know, was what to use for bait. He dug around in the swampy dirt till he found a small little worm he could attach to the hook. With that, he threw his line into the water and waited. Not too long after he had cast in his line, he felt a bite. Slowly and mechanically like his grandpa had showed him, he reeled the fish in. It wasn't much, in fact, it wasn't even enough to curb the small amount of food he needed to get his stomach to quit screaming.
He looked for another worm, and cast out again. He again caught a small little anchovy not big enough to do anything. This wasn't working, and his stomach was starting to get louder and louder, along with the pains of hunger. Deciding he needed to figure something else out, Dexter took his poll back to his little piece of land and headed off into town.
Before long he came across a junk yard, the old railroad tracks looked like they hadn't been used in years, and the junk yard looked almost as bad. Was the whole town this run down? No wonder they were advertising for people to come live here, it was a swamp that looked like it was abandoned. He decided to see if anyone was at the junk yard and if so hopefully he could at least use their bathroom, he really needed to go!
Walking into the small building, Dexter noticed beat up furniture and the smell of mildew, another place that seemed totally abandoned. He walked back outside and found another door, which led to a small bathroom. He didn't see anyone on the lot, so he didn't think anyone would mind if he used the toilet just this once. Afterwards he walked around the lot a little more, nothing, not one person was anywhere to be seen. He'd seen an old refrigerator in the corner of the makeshift office and decided to see if there was anything at all to eat. The fridge was empty and so he checked the cupboards, he found some perishables like cans of soup and some bread and jam. He decided on soup, he was so hungry he could eat all the cans up there, but he knew that would be stingy and so he just grabbed out one. He then realized his delima, nothing to open it with.
Heading back outside, he rummaged through the scraps of metal till he found something he could use as a makeshift knife. It worked for the most part, the edges were very jaggidy, but he was able to get it open enough to get the soup out. With no microwave or stove in site, Dexter decided cold soup was better than nothing.
Sitting there after his meal, Dexter started thinking about what he could do with his life. He had no skills nor did he have a home so he could get a job. He didn't want a job anyways, he was in the system, he knew how things worked. You work hard and then you have to pay the government half your money, that wasn't what he wanted in life. He wanted to make his own money and keep everything he worked for. He wanted to be able to show his family, if he ever got one, what it meant to be proud of what you worked for. He has never had anything, and so money wasn't that important to him, he only knew he needed it if he was going to survive.
After his breakfast, Dexter decided he needed to look around this town he was now calling home. Was it really abandoned, or did he just end up on the wrong side of the tracks? He cleaned up his mess, leaving no trace that he was ever there and headed back out into the bright day.
He walked for a bit, seeing other abandoned buildings and then to his delight he saw a person. It was only one, but it was someone, and they were alive! The town wasn't abandoned! He could now think of his future and what he needed to survive. He came across another junk yard, this one not being as empty as the last. There were two people there who seemed to be involved in a deep conversation. Well there is no time like the present to start meeting the locals, Dexter though, so he headed over to the small group and introduced himself. The man, which Dexter immediately forgot his name seemed nice enough and even shook Dexter's hand. The woman however was disgusted with Dexter and how bad he smelled, she had no problem showing him just how disgusting she thought he was.
When she had left, Dexter sniffed his armpits and realized it had been many days since his last shower. He'd never had to worry about remembering when to take a shower because he always had someone that reminded him. Looking around Dexter found the bathroom, if anything he could at least wash himself a little bit so he didn't stink as bad, maybe then someone would talk to him.
It was a futile attempt and he made a mental note that he needed to find a shower before the day was done. Heading back outside he noticed his new acquaintances had left. Seeing this as a good opportunity, Dexter headed over to the garbage can to see if there was anything salvageable. He was hoping to find some clothing or at least a candle or two, so the swamp wasn't so dark at night.
He found an old dingy rug and a scratched up old end table. It wasn't much, but at least it was something of his own. He'd never owned a single item of his own, these were now his precious treasures.
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