The cold air stirred alice from her slumber. a cars headlights passed over the park bench where she had been resting.She couldn't remember how she came to be in this dark park. She seemed to be intact so it was ok. alice stretches her limbs and takes in a
breath of the crisp air before lighting up a slightly crushed cigarette and drawing a gust of nicotine and tar into her aching lungs. after shaking off the sleepies she gets up and pulls her coat in closer to trap whatever warm air there might have been.
he thought about how suprising it was that an attractive young woman as herself managed to sleep on a park bench for nearly four hours, unviolated.so they say is a very miraculous event in a city as large as this. Alice had been in Portland for nearly two
weeks,and was just starting to get the hang of the city. having come from as small a place as red bluff.she was a little disoriented by the size of the city and her populace. still she managed to stay calm, even in the middle of the commuting hours. Alice
had been living on the streets for only a few hours now knowing she couldn't afford an apartment had she taken residence in a hotel. so she roamed the streets looking for any sign of her friends who had moved here months before. She thought it might have b
en easier.She hadn't thought however about the incredible size of the city now looming over her.on the street ahead of her was a man in his early thirties.bundled up in himself trying to stay warm. Alice couldn't help but feel badly for the homeless.but o
 course in her mentality anyone who didn't couldn't possibly be human. still she walked on. The city slept.which seemed unusually after the busy hustle and bustle of the day.alice stopped into a small shop to get some coffee hoping to warm her fingers and b
lly.It worked.As she sat staring out the window at all of the. The whatever it was that made this city feel so incredible she for the first time realized how small she really was. and she noticed how lonely she had been ever since she had left home. a tear
welled up in her eye but she fought it. The old life was done. she had escaped the trap that had her by the throat for seventeen long years. her family and childhood pains couldn't reach her here. Not for awhile anyhow. she smiles and as she finishes he
 coffee and looks out at the whatever. she smiles. and then weeps. So much to learn here.so much to see.A different kind of life.and it was her's.