No Place Like Home (standard:drama, 1309 words)
Author: makepeaceken	Added: Jun 14 2022	Views/Reads: 765/491	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Ellie is homeless and sleeping under some railway arches, then her luck changes after she spots something on the ground

Ellie was desperate. She had no money, no food and she was living on the
streets. Then she saw something lying on the ground - a wallet and it 
seemed to be bulging. It probably belonged to some rich person who had 
more money than sense. 

After picking it up, she made her way to the railway arches where she
had been sleeping for the last few nights. 

‘What you got there?' she heard someone say. 

‘Oh, Emma, it's you. I found this wallet.' 

‘How much is in it?' Emma asked curiously. 

‘That's my business.' 

‘Oh' come on, give us some. We are mates, remember? I've given you stuff
in the past.' 

She gave Emma fifty pounds. Emma was so amazed that she ran off without
a thank you. Ellie knew she'd spend it on drugs, but she still handed 
it over to her. 

Later Ellie made her way into town. She wasn't going to spend it on
drugs or booze. She had more sense. After buying a meal to take out and 
a hot drink, she went around the charity shops looking for cheap 
clothes. The ones she was wearing were turning into rags. 

After coming out of the charity shops she took the credit cards out of
the wallet. She knew someone who would give her money for those cards, 
so she went looking for him. 

‘Hey, Jack, over here,' she shouted when she saw him hanging around by
the bus station. 

‘What can I do for you?' he asked when he had crossed over to talk to
her. 

‘I've got these,' she said to him, holding the cards out in her hand so
he could see them. 

He had a good stare. He knew about credit cards and what he could get
for them. 

‘I'll give you thirty?' 

'Get lost, Jack. Do I look that stupid? Fifty quid or forget it.' 

‘Forty- five and that is my final offer.' 

‘Money first,' she said to him. Jack was one person she could not trust.
She wanted the money before she handed the cards over to him. 

‘Here you are, now give me the cards.' 

‘She handed them over, and as she did she noticed the grin on his face.
He had got a bargain and he knew it. She should have called his bluff 
and held out for more. She knew Jack well - ever since she had moved 
onto the streets about a year before after her stepfather had kicked 
her out; her mum hadn't even bothered to defend her. She was more 
scared of him than Ellie was. 

Ellie left Jack and made her way to the bus timetables. She was off to
the seaside for a few days. She had enough money for a couple of nights 
in a cheap bed and breakfast, and for the bus fare. Living on the 
streets was getting her down. She had tried to get a job before now, 
but she had turned up so scruffy for the interviews that nobody was 
willing to take her on. She resorted to begging in the streets. She had 
been propositioned before now, but selling her body wasn't part of the 
plan. It never had been. 

Ellie then returned to the place she had been staying - underneath the
arches, got her travel bag, went to the toilets and cleaned herself. 
When she thought she looked presentable, she started to make her way 
back to the bus station and waited for the bus that would take her 


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