"Out, out I say!"

The landlady's voice was sharp and strident as she pounded on the door of Jack's home. 

"Please! My mother is very sick right now but I'm sure she'll get better! We'll pay the rent soon, I promise!"

"No! You either pay on time or get out!"

His eyes burned with angry and frightened tears. Where would they live if not here? Would Mama's condition worsen?

"Jack..." he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Let's just go," his mother said softly.

"But—!" he began to protest, but Mama shook her head sadly. "There's nothing we can do about it. We need to leave before the situation gets worse. Your sister's already scared."

Jack looked at his 3-year-old sister Collette, huddled under a blanket and shivering with fright. He nodded silently and stared at the ground, frustrated.

Mama smiled weakly. "It will be okay, we'll just have to make the best of it."

***

"Get lost, little boy!"

"Please, let me work!" he cried. "I need to feed my family! Please, sir!"

"We have no need for children. Scram, brat!"

SLAM!

Jack stood outside the shop's shut door and begged until his voice ran hoarse, but it was useless. The door stayed stubbornly closed, just like the doors of every other place he had sought work at. Nobody wanted an inexperienced child to work for them. Tears pricked at his eyes and flowed down his cheeks.

It had only been two days since they were kicked out of their home, and already they were starving. What meager food they had brought with them ran out quickly, and they didn't have enough money to buy more. Collette had taken to crying out of hunger. She was too young to understand why they were suddenly living on the streets, or why there was nothing to eat. Mama grew weaker and weaker due to malnutrition and couldn't even get up anymore.

Angry, he punched a wall. The sharp stinging of pain on his knuckles brought him back to his senses and he sank to his knees, defeated. Wasn't there anything he could do?

He'd do anything.

***

Jack had resorted to searching through dumpsters to find something edible to eat. It was the third day since they left their home, and he was getting desperate. Without enough food or rest, Mama was getting even sicker. Now, she needed medicine badly, or she wouldn't ever recover. However, no matter how he pleaded for help, the responses were always the same:

"Filthy child!"

"Don't come near us!"

Most of the time, they just ignored his cries, but he could see it in their eyes. The disdain, the disgust.

He wasn't sick, but he was starting to find out that poverty was a whole other type of disease.

So he began searching in alleyways and behind stores. He learned that the baker always threw away the unsold bread at 7:00 pm every night. That restaurants would throw away the ugly vegetables and extra cut-off bits at 9:00. If he waited a few minutes after that, he could usually find something for them to eat. Behind the tailor's, he found some moth-eaten fabric. There was enough to use as a blanket and some extra to drape around his shoulders and make a cloak. 

They still needed money for Mama's medicine, but now, at least, they wouldn't go hungry.

***

It rained during the night on the fourth day. 

All three of them were soaked to the bone before Jack managed to flich a covering from atop a stack of wood at the carpenter's. He also took a couple of beams, and they huddled together under a makeshift shelter.

"Achoo!" Collette sniffled and shivered from the cold. Mama held her closer, looking sadly down at her small form. She reached out for Jack too, but he tucked them both in under their threadbare blanket and walked back out into the rain.

He needed to find a way to keep them warm. The cold would make Mama's sickness worse, and Collette might also get sick after this. He could make some sparks with his fire magic, but nothing that would last long enough to warm them up. He needed something to light.

Jack went back to the carpenter's hoping to find some more wood to burn, but it was all wet and wouldn't catch on fire. There was nothing he could use. Frustrated, he kicked a rock  and was shocked when it lit up. This was no ordinary rock! He scanned the area and found a broken lantern, its magic crystal missing. Was this that crystal? 

He picked it up and poured his magic into it, watching as it lit up and began to emanate heat. Jack sobbed with relief. This would keep them warm enough to pass the night.

***

On the fifth day, Jack began to steal.

He knew it wasn't right, but they needed the money. Mama could no longer keep her food down, and she had grown even weaker. She needed medicine for her illness, or she would die. However, he couldn't just look in the apothecary's dumpster for medicine. He needed money to buy it.

So he took purses and pocketbooks silently, without remorse. Why should he be sorry? People ignored their pleas and scoffed at their plight. Jack was afraid they were going to die, lost and forgotten.

It was a cold, cold world, and if he wanted to survive, he would have to be colder.

***

"Call a doctor!" Alexandra shouted at the nearest maid as their group burst into the Sinclair manor. Jack only had a second to marvel at the vastness of the estate before the red-haired lady at his side began barking orders.

"Jack, bring your sister and follow me and Mr. Knight here. We're going to get your mother situated."

"Okay!"

"Marie! Go to the kitchen and bring up several washcloths and a bucket of cool water to the guest room next to mine."

"Yes miss!"

"Sir Gladia, if you would, please continue to carry our patient and follow me to the room."

A nod.

"Great!" Alexandra clenched a fist. "Let's move out, everyone!"

As they rushed up the grand sweeping stairs of the manor, Jack gazed at the blazing red hair of his family's savior.

And he felt warm.