Hannah and the starling..

 The last drip of water from the awning
above, met with Hannah's jacket.  Her legs aching from the cold
cement reminded her of her age, and announced that it was time to move
on.  People had begun to spit where she sat. Shelter from the
storm was difficult for her to find.  She was not nearly as quick
as she used to be. 
     Her fingers
were numb, mostly from the rubber bands that held her gloves to a tight
fit.  Her hair, rain-soaked, was twisted into a gray, brittle
braid.  She reached to squeeze out the rain.

     Five men stepped around her as she
stumbled to her feet.  The store window ledge her leverage. 
Hands like swollen sponges made her getting up a task, and fingers
slipped, sending her plummeting onto the sidewalk. A harsh impact, as
dry lips met brick.  The warm, salty taste of blood seeped. 
She wiped her mouth with her sleeve.  Her attempt to rise, once
again ,successful, she shuffled to the corner.  The length of the
walk sent signals of chafing, dampness within her fatigues, where she
had relieved herself. Her possessions within a dirty backpack that she
hoisted upon her shoulder
     The alley,
her home and diner, was empty except for the riverlets running down
black asphalt.  An alley delivery door steamed from the door jam,
sending grease-laden smells out into the air.  She paused for a
moment to compose herself, feeling herself beginning to shake. 
Leaning up against the dumpster, she took in a deep breath of the
restaurant's odor du jour, and heard her chest rattle.  She
touched her throbbing lips and met with pain. 

     A starling waddled along with her,
anticipating that she would open the garbage for a feast.  Finding
only coffee grounds, and egg shells, she closed the lid, smiled at the
starling, and mumbled of better days.
    
Hunger was all she knew now, and hope for anything better to come never
crossed her mind.  Every day was the same, except for her
memories.  Those memories of small finger sandwiches, on thin
white bread, with every so thin cucumbers sliced with a marriage of
cream cheese. 
     The starling
pulled from under the dumpster, a half eaten roll. 
They
shared.