Free Sketches by Eric Walters

painting.”
    â€œI know what acrylics are,” Ashley said. “It’s just that while we were working, you were playing.”
    â€œCut her some slack,” Brent said. “She was just having some fun.”
    â€œWe all have to work if we all want to eat,” Ashley pointed out.
    â€œEating is important,” Brent agreed. “But just because this isn’t something that interests you or me doesn’t mean it isn’t important to her.” He turned to me. “And painting makes you happy, right?”
    I nodded. And I realized then that he was right—that an hour or so at the drop-in had made me happier than I’d felt in a very long time.
    â€œThen you should go there sometimes,” Brent said firmly, as though this were his official decision. “We all know that finding a little happiness out here isn’t the easiest thing in the world.”
    MY EYES POPPED OPEN and for a split second I didn’t know where I was and I was scared. Then it came back. I was in the abandoned building, sleeping on top of two desks pushed together against the wall. Ashley was beside me, and Brent was beside her on the outside. He was always on the outside. He made sure he was alwaysbetween us and whatever could hurt us . . . and there were so many things.
    My ears perked up. I heard something moving around in the darkness. I slowly sat up and peered over Ashley and Brent into the darkness. I couldn’t see anything, but I could still hear it. There was somebody moving around in the room. I felt a rush of panic. I heard more rustling . . . not loud. Carefully, slowly, I reached to the place where I remembered that Brent had left the flashlight. I fumbled around until I found it. I turned it on and shone the light around the room and—a big brown rat sat up, its red eyes gleaming back at me! A shudder shot up my spine. The rat raced away from the light. I could hear it even after it had disappeared from sight.
    I wanted to wake up Brent and Ashley and tell them about the rat . . . but what was the point? It wasn’t like they didn’t know there were rats in the world. It wasn’t like we hadn’t seen rats before. It seemed as though there were rats everywhere in this city, but that still didn’t make me feel any less spooked by the appearance of this one.
    I lay back down. I didn’t know if I’d be able to get back to sleep but I had to try. I clutched the flashlight tightly against my chest, holding it like a shield or a sword. I focused the beam of light up onto the ceiling above my head and moved it around. That was what Iused to do in my bedroom when I was little—shine a flashlight up onto the ceiling and make it dance all around. The beam would reflect off the little stars and moons that my mother had stuck onto the ceiling, shining green in the darkness. Here there were no stars or moons. There was just peeling paint and water stains.
    I turned off the flashlight and the room became thick with darkness again. Maybe it was better not to look. Seeing bad things coming didn’t stop them from coming, and there were lots of things in the world that were worse than rats. Lots of things. At least I was safe from some of those other things here.

CHAPTER SEVEN
    I PEELED BACK the little opening on the plastic coffee lid and took a sip. It was hot and it tasted really good. I took another sip, a bigger one this time.
    I was never allowed coffee at home. My mother thought I was too young to drink it. Funny how you can be too young for something but old enough for something else altogether.
    â€œGood coffee, huh?” Brent said.
    â€œThe first cup in the morning is always the best,” I told him.
    Ashley nodded her head.
    â€œDoughnut?” Brent asked, offering me the bag. “Thanks.”
    â€œDefinitely,” Ashley agreed.
    I reached into the bag and picked out a double chocolate. Doughnuts and coffee—our version of theelegant