literature

Newsboy

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openmeadow's avatar
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Literature Text

Newsboy

The air on the wharf smelled of pungent salt, dead fish, and fresh baked bread.  For the majority of the year, the sky was overcast, hanging with the heavy weight of the oppressive grey clouds. The waves pounded against shore, against the docks with an irrepressible vengeance. Oblivious to it all, the merchants cried their wares day after day, the fishers fought the currents for the fish that would put food on the tables back at home, and the children ran screaming and fighting through the streets, dodging the streetcars as they went. The endless routines continued; nothing new, nothing old ever causing a stir within the small wharf. With the passing of time, the colors had all leeched from the buildings, casting all in a hue of grey that was only slightly lighter then the crashing waves and darker then the bleeding sky.

In all of the grey, one thing and one thing alone stood out. The grown newsboy that cried his father's wares to the market place saw things differently. Thought a worthless son because of deafness, he spent hours each day watching the people, remembering the days when the city had been full of color, when the ladies had ventured from their homes with brightly colored flowers on their hats, and the children's toys vibrant with life, a time when the fish's scales glittered rainbows.  He saw these things, remembering what once had been, and wondering where life would lead this wharf town, his home. When the day was done, and the wares sold, he spent hours alone on a small, rickety dock and painted the world as he saw it: bright with vivid splashes of color where life abounded.
Another prompt from :iconlookin4therightart: by the same name as the title.
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mippins's avatar
Very vivid. :) I'd be interested in reading more.

Is this from any particular story of yours, or was it just for the prompt?