This story starts 200 years ago. No, not when Slenderman first appeared, for that was many, many centuries before, but when he obtained his first proxy. Now, don't forget how many things can happen in 200 years. In 200 years, civilizations can crumble. In 200 years, pollution can take over the world, tainting it to the point of no return. In 200 years, new technology can boggle the minds of the simple minded.
Well, these 20 years focus on a girl. About 11 at the time, her family was poor. They lived in a house fortunately, but constantly struggled no to lose it. The girl had a sister and two brothers, all just as hungry as her. The parents had a choice to put the children up for adoption, but in a time where money was hard to come by, no one would adopt them. That, and the fact that the mother would be heartbroken if she had to give up her so called "babies". Instead, the whole family worked.
The father was a miner, while the mother was a seamstress. Her sister, only a few years older, was a waitress at a nearby pub, and her older brother, a year older than her sister, worked in the mines with her father. Her other brother, age 7, worked with her. They both sold newspapers, buying them with other kids, hoping to sell the stack they bought that day.
It wasn't as rigorous as other jobs, but it was still dangerous for the children. A careless driver could run over them with the wooden wheels on the carriages, or the horses that pulled them could stomp on an unfortunate soul underneath them. In the summer, the sun would beam down on them, easily dehydrating anyone standing under it for hours. The winter would bring relentless colds, making it harder to get out of bed, let alone work. And those strangers that stand on the road? You never know what they might do! Well, this story starts off in the streets while she was working...
~330 words~