"Hey! Get back here!" yelled the grocer.
"Sorry!" Alice called back.
Alice was a thief. Not like Robin Hood or some hardened criminal, just a common thief that needed feeding and she was only a child.
She had been free for just two days and already wishing she wasn't. She had no food except the food she stole, no clothes except the rags she wore, no shelter except the trees but worst of all she was alone - and had been for some time. What was the use of being free if you still felt trapped, if you were alone?
Alice ran down cobbled roads, past bustling marketplaces and through crowds of gossiping villagers. She was scared and exhausted and didn't want to run. She wanted to curl up in a ball and cry but there was an angry grocer after her and she wasn't about to lose her dinner to this guy. So she ran and stumbled and fell and got up and ran. She went on and on. Never stopping. Never minding the world around her. It was her and wind that threatened to pluck her from the cobbles and away. Soon she would be safe. There was a wood up ahead where she could hide. Soon she could eat.
"Oi! Munchkin!" came the voice of an old woman to her right. A cane whipped out in front of Alice and sent her flying. Up, up, up and the down, down, down into a cart full of delicious green apples. Heaven. But not for long. The old dear had already grabbed her by the ankles and soon enough she was hanging from over her shoulders. Alice rolled her eyes. Caught again.
