He didn't know what he was supposed to do. He kept looking at both sides, eyes open wide, trying to assimilate what was happening. Everything in that place made him confused and anxious. 

At his left, something that seemed like a big house, but way taller than any house that he ever saw. At his right, a river of people, walking way too fast, not paying enough attention to their surroundings. They looked too busy to take notice of the presence of the small boy.

He could feel his eyes tearing, but he would never cry. The memory of the face his mom makes every time that he feels the salty water dripping over his cheeks is engraved in his head, and he didn't want to see her that way again.

He grabbed the hem of his dirty t-shirt with trembling hands and stood there. The foreign smells and all the people racing into each other making his head spin, but he took short breaths, stood his ground and kept waiting.

He didn't know how many minutes passed since his mother looked into his eyes and waved with her hand for him to wait. She looked tired, but her eyes shined with a hint of relief while the corner of her mouth turned in a little smile.

And that was it. She walked in the direction of the sea of people and disappeared. He thought she would stop in the middle of the way to look at him and wave her hand in a 'come here' gesture, but she didn't. So he waited.

Lost in his thoughts, he kept at the bay of the street, looking in all directions, wishing for his mom to finish her business the fastest she could, so she would come back for him soon and they would go back home.

This thought relieved the boy, so he focused his attention on it. Being at an unknown place with so many people was exhausting, and his head started throbbing. Freeing the rem from his tight grip, he walked close to the side of the big house at his left, leaning his back into the wall.

Now his trembling legs and the growing hunger he felt made it seem like he was waiting for hours. The sun, before so high in the middle of the sky, now getting so close to the horizon made him be certain that he kept waiting for hours.

Maybe his mother ran into some problem and got a little late. But it was okay, he only needed to wait in the place she left him and she would find him again in no time. He was doing everything right, he didn't even cry, he just needed a little bit of patience and soon he would be reunited with his mom and things would be alright again.

The smell of food distracted him from his thoughts. Lifting his eyes, he discovered a pair of green eyes locked into his own. The man in front of him, crouching to keep in the same height as the boy, had a paper bag with something smelling delicious.

The boy observed as the man with a gentle smile, but eyes full of concern, looked at the packet in his hands. His mouth kept moving and the green eyes took turns between being fixed on the boy and the bag. 

Taking a full breath, the smell hit his nose one more time and he could feel his stomach rumbling. The man chuckled, his mouth moving some more while he got his hand closer to the boy and opened the paper bag. The boy identified the food as bread, but it was stuffed with things that he didn't recognize.

Feeling his stomach rumble one more time, he slowly moved his arm and grabbed the bread thing from the man's hand. He kept looking into the green eyes as the man smiled again and sighed in relief. While taking his bites, he saw the man's mouth moving again while he looked around, searching for something.

This made the boy realize that he was also looking for something - for someone, in reality. He looked around him, the sun was now long gone and the street was illuminated by a lamp. His breathing got short and he choked on the food he was eating. The realization that his mom didn't come back for him hit the boy like a punch in his gut. 

He looked back to the green-eyed man, who was now staring back at him with a face full of concern. The warmth in his eyes made the boy choke again, not used to receiving that type of attention. The man ran his hand over the boy's cheek, the gentle action taking the kid by surprise. His vision got blurry as the distress made his chest tremble.

Then the boy cried.