Running

     The street was wide and sloped gently upward ahead of me. The Cobb

estones crisscrossed in patterns as my bare and blistered feet slammed against them. I tucked my brown package deep into the curve of my arm. The threadbare scarf flapped at my face. My lungs screamed for air, but I couldn't stop. The path in front of me swerved to the left as I rushed through network of buildings. A red door accosted me, the paint cracked and peeling. My scrawny body had just enough time to fall into the shadows and press into the wall before I could hear running feet pounding against the stone. 

     "I saw him go in here!" A voice thundered.

     "No. He turned right!" 

     "Then get moving!" A third snarled.

     I waited until I heard the men galumph away and then crawled out of the shadow to a stream of sunlight the hit the dust-covered floor. Spider webs wavered with my shallow breath as I pulled my gain from underneath my green tattered coat. Gingerly, I began to peel away the layers of brown paper and uncover my prize.