Quitetly, Quiggly stepped into the darkness as he stealthily approached and steeled his nerves. He took his opportunity to attack. The two scoundrels were standing around in the darkness, not even bothering to keep an eye on the ground, as though they had not a care in the world. Quiggly lunged from behind, his dagger cutting into the back of one of them. Flying back into the darkness, he had quickly scurried back to where he belonged, having gotten what he had been looking for. It would be some time before either of the men regained consciousness. "Where did that slimy little sneak come from!" "You don't reckon he was a burglar like us do you?" "That was no burglar. No doubt about it." "I say he's one of them thieves you talked about." "Aye, well it would be one thing if he stole something from us. But I never even heard about any of those little creatures stealing from humans." "Aye! You and your stupid ideas. I'm going back to bed. I was only half asleep. Now you go ahead and stay here if you want, 'cause I'm gonna sleep some more. I don't have a headache anymore. Yer head must have been hurt worse than me if that little bugger can sneak up on both of us and slit our backs up just like that. That'll teach me to sleep when I oughta be workin'." "Why don't you walk it off first." "Nay. I'm goin' back to bed. I still need my rest 'cause I might get hit by the truck that just came out of nowhere on the next big rain storm. Sleep! If'n I have to jump everytime a little insect buzzes around, it's better for me to stay in bed. Can't afford to have my head messed up." He never left the little fellow with his back covered in open sores for another night. As the first few drops of a warm rain began to fall that evening, they were finally able to get back up. ## ## Sneaking out the Window After the long rains ended, the first of the snows arrived with the full moon, the sky being covered with clouds. Not quite ready for the warmest months of the year, yet the temperatures plummeted to levels normal for the harsh winter months. As the snow flurries continued to fall, three days after the previous night's storm, the old man lay dozing in his old rocking chair. There was no one around at home to tend his needs, so he was on his own. In those days, if someone didn't receive a meal from the neighborhood's church, there were very few churches that were left to give charity to. As an old man in the world, it was necessary for him to walk the streets every day in order to get enough money to buy some of the food that his wife no longer was able to cook for them. Since this old man needed every penny that he could muster, he was forced to go out and beg. There were never any churches in that town. When they walked anywhere, especially in the early morning hours, they passed an old abandoned cemetery. It was there that he would go in hopes of finding a leftover donation from the previous nights' meal at church. He would usually come home with only a few dimes or a whole dollar, a large enough sum of money to purchase a loaf of bread, or sometimes a hot dog with ketchup. Usually, when the old man walked from his house to the abandoned church, it was early in the morning. During the night, the temperature was quite chilly, but it warmed up gradually until about sunrise when it was fairly warm. Even so, the old man could still walk through the streets and ask for some help. He would sit near the road, as close to his house as possible so that he could eat his breakfast before walking to the church. Each morning, the old man would start out in his rocking chair with the last of his kerosene. As the sun rose in the morning, it was at that time that they would start off for the church. The church was usually within a two or three block radius of their home. As he walked out the front door, he would notice the puddles of dirty water that were formed in the street. He would have to watch his step as he walked to the church because sometimes the water was so deep that it looked like a small swamp. It wasn't exactly a swamp because it wasn't a large body of water, but only several inches in depth at most. As he walked to the church and turned the corner, he would look around. The area was somewhat vacant with some junk mail here and there, as well as some discarded cardboard boxes, but not too many of those. The grass grew long and tall, and looked like a patch of green that grew with no end. Some of the larger plants had grown up to three feet tall. The branches looked like an old man's beard. Along the street were some weeds and bushes, but they were not as thick and tall as the other plants. When the sun had risen to its full peak, the old man would start back home, but after walking a few steps, he would discover a lot of water. Sometimes it was only a few inches deep, but other times it was so deep that it covered the area for more than a foot. One day, as he approached the church, the street was very wet. He noticed a puddle of water that was much deeper than usual, reaching to his waist. He would have to watch his step, of course, and make sure that the water didn't get into his shoes. As he walked to the church and approached the front door, he found that he had to be very careful. Even the sidewalk was wet. It was like walking in a river and had reached the mid-thigh point by the time he got to the church door. As he stepped up onto the small stoop, he looked behind him, and it was almost like seeing his shadow in a mirror, being surrounded by a large reflection. He could see the reflection of the street that was covered with water as well. He had been walking through a puddle. All of his clothes were soaked wet. One thing that would always be a great hardship for the old man was that he had no money for dry clothes or even a towel to dry off with. Usually his clothes were so wet that he would have to hold a dirty towel in front of him as he headed home to dry out the mud, and then he could take a bath at home. After climbing over the front stoop, he walked into the church. Although he had not gone to the same church for many years, the old man remembered the address of the church, which was written in the back of the Bible along with the name of the church and where it was located. The church was not quite a hundred yards from the house. The church was one of those old, unheated churches that were closed and abandoned. Many of them were in this condition because of their location, most of the churches being in the rural area, where there were not too many people. In the rural areas, it is very difficult to get many people to visit churches because there is no one to walk with them. After he entered the church, he had to stand by the door while he watched his hands to make sure that he did not step on any bones. He would wait by the door until all the people had come in and left the church. Sometimes after he came out of the church, he would walk around the block again for another chance at collecting a few dollars for a meal. He would take his cane with him to hide the fact that he was in such bad health. That day, he would not even take the cane out of the bag. After his heartbeats slowed down to their normal pace, he walked up to the elderly woman who had been there for the past seven months. "I see you've been here longer than usual." "Yes." "Where you been?" "Just around the block trying to find some help. A lot of people seem to have forgotten about me." "I see that you're ready to leave." "No. I'll be coming around here for a little while yet. At this rate, you'll be coming around here to me, won't ya?" "Well, yes. I'll stay here the rest of the day. If any donations come in from the churches I will go get it and leave the money here on this table." "Thank you." "No problem. You may need it bad, since I don't expect any more donations to be made here any time soon. Most of them will have forgotten about me by tonight or tomorrow. Oh! I'll have the door locked when I leave for good." "I understand." "When you go, tell them to call me." "All right. I will. Have a nice day." "You too." "Oh. By the way, how many members do you have?" "I've got just a few, but they are getting younger and younger." "