Focal Enemy | ✔

Deception (the action of deceiving someone)

A girlish laugh was echoing around the house, bouncing off of the walls and windows and hitting Theodore suddenly as he trailed down the stairs. It pounded on him and grew louder until he reached the source of where it was coming from.

"No, I'd look like a goose," cried Josephine.

The laughter became louder as another two people joined in, but Theodore was not one of them. He could see Josephine and her sisters through the gap in the dining room door, and to his unfortunate misery, he found that they were flicking through wedding magazines, admiring cakes and shoes and dresses as though it would be their first and last time to feel and act like princesses. And whilst they felt like that, Theodore would become a prisoner to a woman whose demands were bound to get him killed.

"Oooh!" cried Erin. "How about a winter wonderland theme?"

Josephine scrunched up her nose.

"Doesn't suit me, and it definitely wouldn't suit Theo either. I was thinking more of a secret garden theme with loads of flowers and fairy lights. We could have a chocolate wedding cake and I -"

Theodore stepped away from the door. It seemed like Josephine was taking the planning seriously, and he had no intention to get roped in with it all.

Another shrill giggle came from the crack, causing Theodore to jump and wince. He was sure that the girlish, annoying laughter would carry on for many months to come, until they were wed, and then everyone would naturally move on to asking when they planned to start a family.

Never, would be Theodore's answer.

#

Cardboard and plastic rustled as Theodore's hands clawed through the bakery bin.

"Hurry!" hissed Charlie. "I can't stand here forever! We'll get caught!"

"I'm trying!"

Theodore pushed himself onto the bin, balancing only on his growling stomach as he continued to hunt for anything edible. He would settle for even half a Danish. Even something with raisins would do.

Luck came upon him.

"Got something!" he cried, pulling out half a loaf of tough bread and a cherry muffin out of the rubbish. "And, there's some rolls here, too." Quickly, he pocketed them. "We can have them tomorrow!"

"Finally," breathed Charlie. "Come on. We better head for shelter. Rain is coming."

Charlie, it seemed was quite right. There was thick mist of navy colliding with the atmosphere, blending with the lighter shade of blue that had arrived with Spring.

Theodore fumbled down from the crate he'd used as a step ladder and crammed the food into his old backpack. It was grey and one of he zips were broke, but he would not let his food fall out. He would cradle it to his chest like his most precious possession.

"Where to?" asked Theodore. "I saw a load of large dumpsters around the back of the park. We could make some shelter, find some board or wood and sleep there tonight."

"It'll have to do," said Charlie, scrunching up his nose. "Come on. We need to hurry."

Running, as Theodore had learnt, only drew attention to them. If they wanted to blend in, they'd be caught and sent back to care in an instant. And, anywhere where a policeman was spotted was definitely out of bounds. So, the pair of them pulled up their hoods, zipped up their jackets and walked marched in the direction of the park.

The London streets, as ever, were full of bodies, moving uselessly as people ran from the oncoming showers as though it would kill them. All of them had unmarked shoes, flawless hair and bags of shopping, but Theodore felt no envy. So long as he knew he wasn't betraying his parents, he was fine living on the streets. It wasn't that bad.