Mail Order Bride

It was another cold foggy night filled with intense hunger and filth. Molly tried the best she could to stay clean.  Everyday, as the sun filtered through the dense fog she would take a quick wash up.  Her hands and face were about all she could bear in the chilling waters at the wharf.  The night fog often dampened her dress of wool as she slept.  It would take all day to dry and then the dampness would approach and it would get wet again.  Between the fog and the spray from the salt water it was a hopeless venture.

Now hunger, that was an entirely different matter all together.  She would linger about the docks in hope of finding a discarded fish or some other morsel thrown out by one of the many fishermen as “too small.”  It was enough to barely keep her alive.  Sometimes, she would be lucky enough to find a rotted lime and if she were really lucky, a discarded piece of clothing, boots, or blanket.  Little by little, she was making a collection of discarded goods and she would store them at her hidden spot, a lean-to that never felt water in the corner of an abandoned building.  Actually, it was a hut that a fisherman had once used to store his fishing supplies.  That hut was now empty and Molly claimed her corner.  The corner farthest away from the ocean roar and farthest away from the entrance.  That way she could see who entered.  Rats and other critters often frightened her, and, one time an old drunken sailor came in and tried to accost her.  She managed to fight him off and left him there in a drunken stupor.  The next morning he was gone and she has continued to live in this place for about a year now.  She and her friend, Angela.

Molly had met Angela by chance.  Angela was wondering the streets at night; a frightened young maiden a few years younger than Molly.

 Molly had lived this life for about three years now, but for Angela, it was new and frightening.  Angela was 17 years old and her parents had died from a disease they had gotten from rats.  She was homeless and had no other family, whereas, Molly was 19 and wiser, and she had been alone since she was 16.  She took Angela in.  That is, to her shelter of a hut.  Angela was very grateful to say the least.  She now had a companion and so did Molly, and they quickly bonded and became the best of friends to the point of considering each the others sister.  They shared the same corner, cuddling against each other for warmth.  Sharing what food they found or anything else.  Angela actually had several woolen dresses and she gave one to Molly.  They both ended up with two woolen dresses, therefore, having a change of clothes when they were wet.  Everyday they would change from their dampened dress into a dry one, then hang the wet one to dry inside the hut, and hoped they would have something dry for the next day.  Life for the two of them was routine and unfortunate, but they had each other for companionship and would cheer each other up with amusing anecdotes of life in better times.  Well, Angela remembered better times.  Molly couldn’t really remember a time without hunger.  Her family had lived in a grass thatched roof sod house on a sheep farm.  Her father had been an indentured laborer.  They were poor and hunger was always a nagging reminder.  Angela, on the other hand, had a little rougher time adjusting to the life of a homeless person, she had come from a middle class family who lived in town, her father had been an accountant for the local bank, and she had never been hungry like Molly had.