Expiration Date, J. Del Vecchio [reading books for 6 year olds .txt] 📗

continued to walk, and we had made extremely good progress in the previous hour. We had only stopped three times to catch our breath and take a little rest. Every time a twig snapped or a car passed us I got that same sick feeling in my stomach as I had before. Every time, I thought it was him. I guess I was just being a little paranoid. Ash stayed quiet practically the whole way except for the occasional worrying question that I tried my best to answer. But it’s hard to answer questions of which you yourself don’t yet know the answers of. In fact, the only thing I did seem to know was that in a few more hours we would be entering the city as well as a new life

By time we finally entered the section of the city I had set out for; the sun was already high in the sky. The streets were clogged with all different sorts of people. You could distinguish the ‘higher society’ type people not only from their dress alone, but from the stands they were buying from. There were so many stands packed with foods I had never seen before. Fruits, vegetables, cakes, fish, and just about anything else you could think of! It all smelled so appetizing once you got past the dirt covered people who were selling, and the flies that apparently came free with your purchase.

Everyone was trying to get as much food stocked up as they could for the storm that was apparently approaching. At least that’s what the newspaper I found lying on the ground of one of the streets had said. When I first read through it, it amazed me how they knew days before hand that a huge storm was coming. The paper dated back to one day ago, and it had said in bold letters a storm was at hand. In our town, we took the storm on as it came. The dark clouds were our warning of a storm, and if you weren’t prepared for it, it was your loss. Nobody ever warned us what type of storm was at hand as they did here. I scanned over the details about the storm. It was going to be a thunderstorm. One that would be so powerful it had the potential to knock out the power for a few days and would be accompanied by winds that had the power to strike down trees. Or so it said. I was worried about what was going to happen to me and Ash. How were we going to survive a storm that was supposed to be just plain awful without shelter, or even a rain jacket for that matter? It hadn’t occurred to me the night before as I scurried around in panic that I would need a coat or anything like that. And Ash already had on most of her warmest clothes on—I made sure she was in day attire before we got into the city. I was used to just going inside when it rained. Except on the occasions where Dad made us stay outside despite how hard the rains fell. Rain only made him think of more chores, such as the time he made us stay out and scrub the driveway, which was completely pointless. But that’s what made it better to him, watching me struggle to keep the rain out of my eyes as I kneeled on hands and knees fiercely scrubbing back and forth on a substance that was composed of dirt itself. The only good thing about the rain was that it hid so well the tears that helped wash the dirt away.


“Jane, I’m hungry.” Ash whined.

“Me too, and as soon as the surprise gets here we can feast like kings!” I lied through grinning teeth. Why was it so hard for me to tell her the truth? Why couldn’t I just simply tell her we were lost, and that I had absolutely no clue what was going to happen to us! So far my plan was to get to the city, and I accomplished that, but unfortunately I hadn’t thought past what we would do in the meantime once we got here. I wished more then anything a surprise would indeed show up, because now despite my dislike for them, I could use a surprise right now. No, what I needed was a miracle.

“Ash, I want you to listen to me closely. I’m going to go take a look around and see if anyone has any maps or anything. I want you to stay here. Don’t move from this spot, okay?” I had battled with my conscience for several minutes, debating over whether I should take her along or have her wait here while I looked. But I knew she would only slow me down. One person would be able to move through the dense crowds more quickly then two would.


“But I want to go with you!” Her pouted lips added to the guilt I was already feeling.


“No.” I started walking away before she could protest again, but before I turned the bend of the brick wall I stole one glance back to make sure she was still put.

“Popcorn! Cakes! Cookies! Come get yer’ sweets!” A man behind one of the stands called.

“Excuse me, sir; you don’t happen to have a map handy, do you?” He looked friendly enough that I almost started to believe that my luck was about to change.

“I’m sorry, miss, but how ‘bout a little popcorn?” I knew he was really only interested in making money, so I turned to leave.

“Sorry. I don’t have any money.” I turned the pockets of my dress inside out just in case he didn’t believe me.

“Well, it’s your lucky day then, ‘cus I’m gonna give ya a some little sweets anyway!” He said this with so much enthusiasm that I couldn’t help but smile.

“Thank you!” I said taking the bag he handed over to me. I knew a little too well that he had given me more then just a free sample. Inside the bag were three cookies stacked on top of a pile of popcorn. It smelled so delicious, but I would wait until I got back to Ash to try it.

Sadly, the next few salesmen didn’t act so kindly. They pushed me aside with their words, and didn’t even bother to look at me; their hungry eyes too busy scanning the people for buyers. I was learning something fast about this city. Money was everything, and they would do just about anything to get it.

On my way headed back to Ash, I spotted a man that looked different from the rest. He had on that same jolly look the candy man had. Only this man looked richer. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask one more time for a map. Maybe the whole time instead of asking the busy stands, I should have been asking the city’s people. They had just a good a chance of owning a map as the others did.

“Sorry to bother you, sir’ I said tapping him lightly on his shoulder, ‘but I was wondering if you had a map I could borrow?” The man closed the book he had been writing in and smiled up at me.

“I’m afraid I don’t. Are you lost?” He didn’t speak in the same slanginess the others did. He was educated.

“My little sister and I are new to this city, and we really don’t know where anything is. . .” I started to stutter not knowing what to say next.

“Well if you go get your parents I’d be happy to give them some directions.” He gave me again that same smile.


“That’s just the thing’ I felt another lie coming on, ‘my parents were killed in an accident a while back and me and my sis are on our own.” He stared at me, and I couldn’t tell whether he believed me or not.

“I’m very sorry for your loss.” He said.

“Yes, thank you.” That sounded just as stupid as I felt. I don’t know why I said they were killed, but I had a friend whose parents died and her and her older brother did just fine on their own without any questioning from others.

“Well, I own a wax shop a few blocks down, and if you and your sister are willing to work for me, I’d be more then happy to provide food and housing for the two of you.” I didn’t even stop to think about it before telling him we would be more then thrilled to.

Now I didn’t feel quite so bad for lying to earlier about the surprise, because now I really had one. My miracle had come.

Count Your Blessings

"Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength."
-Author Unknown

“What is it?” I asked.
“It doesn’t matter right now. Just meet me at the usual place, and bring some paper…I’ll bring the rest.”
“Okay.” I said as he started to walk away, but then he hesitated.
“Jane?”
“What?”
“I love you.” And then he was gone

”You can set your things down over there.” His finger pointed to a small space between a fireplace and a leather couch. “You’ he said pointing to me, ‘will be staying in the purple room upstairs, I’ll have Ray show it to you after dinner. And the other one will be staying down this hall in the blue room.” I didn’t like the idea of me and Ash being so far apart in a strangers home, but I figured it was really no different from the setup of our rooms back home.

“Thank you very much, sir.” I said filling in the silence.

“Call me James. Now what can I call the two of you by?” I had forgotten to mention our names to him. How stupid of me.


“My name is Jane, and my sister’s name is Ashley.” I said.

“Very well then, Jane, I’ll send Ray over soon to help the two of you get settled in. In the meantime you can either help Anne in the kitchen, or you can just sit over there on the couch.” He left the room after we nodded.

Ash and I took a seat on the couch. The leather felt cold against my skin; it felt good. I looked over at Ash who was just sitting there staring straight ahead. Not saying a word.

I gave her a quick little nudge, “So, what do you think?” I asked.

“I think that I liked home better.” Tears started trickling down her face.


“Awe, don’t cry. This is only temporary. We won’t be here forever. I promise. I just need some time to figure out some things, but until then