Kind and Hurting Eyes

Not wanting to spend another minute with her family, Riya sat on the pavement, oblivious of her surroundings.

The moment her phone's battery died, she became aware of the life around her. The lonesome moon that hung in the sky, lamenting over her lover. The empty street with no living soul but a middle-aged man in dirty garbs sitting a few feet away from her on a battered blanket.

She quickly averted her eyes, nose scrunching up in disgust.

As time ticked by, she grew bored but she still didn't want to return to a house with a raging lunatic called mom and an absentee dad. She hadn't realized but the man had inched closer and was sitting next to her.

He offered her a chocolate bar, still unwrapped. 'Up close, he didn't smell. And, his eyes. . . So kind, so hurting.' Riya thought to herself.

Riya ignored him for a few minutes but when her stomach growled, she was forced to bow down to hunger and accepted the chocolate bar. "Thank you," she had muttered softly.

He nodded, with a small smile.

Next morning, Riya was found sleeping next to her new friend.