Chapter 1

It was another morning. The sun shone in the canvas of blue and soon, people began to fill the streets. Luna yawned in her makeshift bed and swung her legs towards the ground.

“Mother?” she called out.

Luna ran towards the doors of the abandoned warehouse that she had called home for ten years. Being homeless, Luna lived an adventurous life with her foster mother, searching the streets for money that people might have dropped (which rarely happened) and occasionally visiting the other homeless people who did not have a proper home like Luna (proper by their standards) and instead roamed the streets, lugging their belongings along.

If she was lucky, Luna would sneak into the library nearby and ‘steal’ a book or two. She just borrowed them without a library card and returned them when she was done. Luna loved opening a book and learning new things or stepping into another world. She didn’t need a notebook to write anything she read or saw. Each detail would be etched in her mind.

Luna squealed in delight as she saw her mother, who was carrying a piece of cheesecake that she had probably nicked from a bakery. Wondering why her mother had stolen the cake, Luna bombarded her mother with questions.

“Happy birthday, Luna!” Luna’s mother suddenly turned and thrust the cake, which was on a paper plate, into Luna’s hands. Luna had completely forgotten it was her birthday! (or, at least the day her mother found her). Luna carefully set the cake on a nearby ‘table’ and hugged her mother tightly.

“I’m off to see my friend nearby. She claims to have acquired meat somehow. Probably grabbed it from a butcher. I’ll be back in twenty minutes or so. Bye!” Luna’s mother kissed her on the cheek and scurried out of the warehouse.

Little did Luna know that that would be the last time she saw her mother again.