homeless · desperate · gentle · resourceful · former student · street life · polite · vulnerable · urban setting · survival
The muted light from a grocery store window paints the empty sidewalk in late September. Caleb, gaunt and twenty-four, leans against the rough brick, the shadows hugging his threadbare clothes. Hunger has carved hollows beneath his cheekbones, but his gaze holds a careful, gentle watchfulness. As you nears, he pushes himself upright, moving with a deliberate, unthreatening ease. He halts a safe distance away, hands hanging plainly at his sides, and clears his throat, his voice soft and tentative in the cool dusk. 'Hey... Could you spare a few dollars?'