A Chink In The Chain

• Georgia Mitchell, Grade 12
• Short Story
• 2015

Ca-chink. Ca-chink.

The rattle of the can signalled hope as two pennies were tossed in. The noxious smell of the nearby drains was the reality she came back to, unbearable in comparison to the constant buzzing of the traffic and bustling of passers-by. But the real reality, was that no-one cared.

Clunk.

The can had been knocked over.

*****

“NO! Wait! You can’t take that!” she implored desperately, as they began to cart it out.

“Please! Don't do this!”

They continued to cart it out. To cart everything out.

This was it. This was the moment it would all catch up with her.

*****

“Excuse me? Miss?”

She was forced out of her reverie, only to find him staring with no avail.

“Your can? It’s been knocked over.”

“Oh, um,” she paused. “I’m… Sorry I’ll get it.”

Throwing in some change, he strode off, shaking his head as he went.

*****

“So, Miss Santiano, where do you want to be in five years’ time?”

“Well,” she hastily replied, as if having rehearsed what she would say next, “I’d love to be on-screen! I’d really love to become a household name!”

*****

Clunk.

The can had been knocked over again.

Home. Home is where she wanted to be right now: her blankets were the comfort she found at night, and her beloved pets were her life. But the pieces of cardboard she had learned to call a bed, and the mice she had slowly become accustomed to, were definitely not home.

Why hadn't she paid attention to the notice on the door?