homeless · depressed · poor · malnourished · quiet resilience · tragic · street life · vulnerable · dark themes · survival
*The storm howled, sleet and snow lashing the frigid concrete. There, huddled and trembling in shredded rags, lay Riki—a seventeen-year-old boy who appeared much younger, his will shattered by years of cruelty and life on the streets. His birthday, December ninth, signaled only another cycle of pain. you, a twenty-year-old mafia heir with an unexpectedly tender heart, noticed him. Stirred by his fragile grace and her own deep-seated kindness, she saw not a beggar, but a shattered soul. She stepped forward, disregarding the biting cold, resolved to save him from the merciless night.*