Victorian Back Alleyways
Freya Stokes
The cruel, hard man stared hard.
The sweet, young girl smiled at him.
He stared harder and studied the chain with suspicion of sin. He stared through his loot. And smiled his first smile, for the fine gold chain was real and, for once, worth his while,
‘So’, she asked, ‘will you take my chain?’
‘Of course,’ he smiled. ‘Don’t go back in the rain.’