Chapter 41: Do You Bee-lieve in Magic?
“Get out of here, and don’t let me catch you around again!”
The young boy fell back as the baker swung his fist towards his face, falling back into the dirt. He didn’t know why the baker was so protective of his trash, but he wasn’t going to stay around and ask. He scrambled to his feet and ran as the baker kicked at his bottom.
He limped down the road, his stomach growling. His eyes stared blankly forward as he considered where else he could search for food. The other villagers scowled at him as he walked down the street, but he hardly noticed.
He had come to the outskirts of town before realizing that his mind had gone blank, failing to come up with even a single idea. He tripped on a rock and fell into the dirt. He lay there, not bothering to get up. It wouldn’t matter. If he couldn’t come up with an idea to find food, walking around was just a waste of energy...
And then he felt something poke his back.
“Boy, what’re you doing there, blocking my road?”
He barely turned his head to glance back. Some older woman was poking him with a stick, holding a sack over her hunched shoulder. He didn’t respond, but his stomach rumbled. The woman’s face scrunched up. She heaved a sigh.
The boy heard a thud as a sack fell to the ground right in front of his face.
“Come on, get up, will you? Help me carry that home, and I’ll give you something to eat.”