Freewrite Day 222: homeless

Photo by Tommy Lisbin on Unsplash

This piece is a continuation of previous freewrites. See bottom of post for links to previous entries.

Priya looked on in astonishment as her new companion bought “provisions.” He’d grabbed a basket and swept in a couple packages of biscuits, a big bag of chips, three packs of beef jerky, several sports drinks, a bag of dried fruit, and a box of protein bars. The man behind the counter—Jeffrey, he’d said shortly when David asked his name—rang everything up without comment, as David watched with a friendly grin. The younger man handed over cash without complaint, and brightly thanked Jeffrey, before bustling his bags and Priya both back outside to his car.

He dropped the bags into the backseat, and turned back to her. “There,” he said. “All ready!”

“Um, where are we going?” Priya asked him.

“Colorado. You need to get back, right?”

“I suppose I do. But don’t you have somewhere else to be?”

He shook his head. “I’m in between jobs. I’ve nowhere to be for the foreseeable future, and I’d like to help you out.”

“Well, thank you. I bet when you got up this morning you didn’t think you’d be driving some strange homeless woman across country…”

David shrugged. “No, I didn’t, but I find that G-d puts us where we are needed. It’s always good to help another.” He started the engine and backed the car out onto the highway.

“So, what do you do for work?”

“Freelance web design.”

“Really? Oh, sorry that was rude.”

“No, it’s fine, I know I don’t necessarily look like what you might think, but it’s good work, and I really like it. I’ve just been taking some time off to care for my mother.”

“Oh, is she alright?”

“Yes, baruch H-shem, she has recovered from being ill. I was just driving back home, now that she’s well.”

“That’s good.”

“I’m thankful. But how about you? What do you do for work?”

“I was a nursing student, until…”

David glanced over at her, frowning. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have…”

Priya shrugged uncomfortably, and they settled into an awkward silence.

This is my response to the daily freewrite hosted by @mariannewest. Today’s prompt is ‘homeless;’ check out the original post (and the responses) here.

Previous posts in this story: 1 - ash • 2 - fool • 3 - bird • 4 - atlas • 5 - Texas • 6 - coin

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