From: bobandcarole@aol.com   
      
   Story: Alice   
      
       The cool gentle breeze of this October evening made the waves bounce.   
   It was a beautiful evening here on the coast and I was enjoying the picture   
   perfect scene before me.  "Got a cigarette mister?" I heard a soft little   
   voice ask.  I looked behind me and there stood a very beautiful young   
   blonde girl!   
      
       "You're kind of young to be smoking aren't you kid?" I asked her as I   
   slipped a smoke from my pack.   
      
       "I ain't too young for anything mister!" she said, giving me a hard   
   glare.  I looked at the little girl.  She was a lovely little thing, about   
   4 ½ feet tall and I would guess her weight to be about 90 pounds.  Her long   
   blonde hair bounced in the breeze and glistened in the evening sun.  I   
   immediately looked at this young girl and decided that there were indeed   
   some things that she was too young for.   
      
       "Thanks mister," she said as I took my lighter and lit it for her.  She   
   held the cigarette up between her slender little fingers, took a deep drag   
   then exhaled a large puff of blue-gray smoke.  "Mmmmmmm.  Nice," she said   
   smiling up at me.   
      
       "Do your parents know you smoke little one?" I asked her as she sat down   
   on the bench next to me.   
      
       "Ain't got no parents mister," she replied.   
      
       "Everybody's got parents kid," I told her.   
      
       "Well I don't," she said.  "Anyway, I haven't seen them for a couple of   
   years so as far as I'm concerned I don't have any!"   
      
       "A couple of years?  That's kind of hard to believe girl." The youngster   
   looked at me with suspicious eyes.  "You ain't a cop or anything are you   
   mister?" she asked.  I laughed at the thought of me being a cop.  "Hell no   
   I ain't no cop." I told her, grinning a big grin.   
      
       "Let me see your wallet then mister," she said, eyeing me like I was   
   from another planet.   
      
       I reached into my shorts and pulled my wallet out and handed it to her.   
   She opened it and looked through it and when she was satisfied that I was   
   indeed not a cop, she handed it back to me.  "Nice to meet you Ronnie," she   
   said smiling at me, obviously a little more comfortable with me.   
      
       "Nice to meet you kid.  It would be nice to know your name now that you   
   know mine little one."   
      
       "My name's Alice," she said extending her precious little hand to me.   
      
       "Well then, nice to meet you Alice," I said as I touched her hand and   
   pulled it to my face, planting a gentle kiss on her soft skin.   
      
       Alice giggled and pulled her hand away, blushing like most girls her age   
   would.  "So what are you doing sitting here at the beach by yourself?" she   
   asked.   
      
       "Nothing really.  Not much to do at home so I come down here and watch   
   the waves."   
      
       "Yeah, I like to do that too Ronnie," she said.   
      
       "So what's the deal with your parents Alice," I asked her.   
      
       "Well, it's a long story, but the main point is that the man my mother   
   is shacking up with just didn't want me around," she told me with a sad   
   little girl look on her face.   
      
       "Well, what about your daddy?" I asked her, looking to that face to see   
   if the truth would come out.   
      
       "Hell, the old man don't want nothing to do with me.  He'd rather have   
   his bottle than a family.  In fact, he told my mother that he didn't want   
   to have anything to do with any little bitch that came from her womb."   
      
       "I find it hard to believe that a man wouldn't want a pretty girl like   
   you around Alice," I told her in a disbelieving voice.   
      
       "It's too fucking true mister.  I was 10 years old when my mom and the   
   asshole she lives with got together and as far as he was concerned, if a   
   woman isn't there for fucking, sucking or making him a living then she's   
   just in the way." Now it was my turn to blush as the girl cursed like a   
   sailor.  I was more than just a little shocked at the girl's choice of   
   words.  She had a demeanor about her of a girl much past her actual years.   
   "How old are you Alice?"   
      
       "I'm 16 mister," she said.  I could tell by the girl's physical build   
   that she was not anywhere close to 16.  "How old Alice?" I asked her once   
   again.  "Ok Ron, I'm 14," she lied to me once again.  I gave her that "I'm   
   not buying that shit" look and she started to giggle and finally admitted   
   to being only 12.   
      
       "I thought so," I told her laughing with her.  "So if you don't live   
   with your parents, where do you live?"   
      
       She got a serious look on her face and glanced over her shoulder to make   
   sure there was nobody else around.  "Just kind of here and there.  I guess   
   I really don't live anywhere Ronnie," she said.  Turning her head toward   
   the water she got a serious look on her face.  "I was staying at an   
   orphanage but I'll tell you, life is better on the street than living in   
   that hell hole!" I handed the girl another cigarette and she nodded her   
   appreciation.   
      
       "The orphanage couldn't be that bad could it Alice?"   
      
       "It's the fucking pits mister!" she said.  "I'd rather live under the   
   bridge over there than to go back to that fucking place!  So I decided to   
   get the hell out of Dodge!" I was amazed at this little 12-year-old girl   
   that seemed to be so mature.  "But......" she trailed off, her voice   
   becoming softer.   
      
       "But what?" I asked her.   
      
       "But, at least I had 3 meals a day and god I miss eating regular."   
      
       "Are you hungry now Alice?" I asked her and watched her face for her   
   reaction.  She sat there stone-faced and didn't answer my question, so I   
   asked her another one.  "How long has it been since you had a meal Alice?"   
      
       "You mean something to eat or a meal Ronnie?"   
      
       "I mean a meal Alice.  How long has it been?"   
      
       "It's been about a week or so," she told me.  I tried not to let my   
   surprise show but I was shocked to think of it being that long.  I thought   
   about how hungry I got from meal to meal and tried to imagine how I would   
   feel if it had been a week!   
      
       "Well then, do you want to go get something to eat Alice?"   
      
       She shook her head no.  "I ain't got no money mister," she said looking   
   down at the ground.  I could feel my heart break for this little girl.   
      
       "Look here Alice, I didn't ask you if you had any money, I asked if you   
   wanted something to eat?"   
      
       Alice's eyes lost their sad look.  "I sure am fucking hungry Ronnie!"   
      
       "Well follow me then," I said standing to my feet.  "I'll get you   
   something."   
      
       Alice gave me that glare again.  "What's the catch mister?" she asked,   
   eyeing me suspiciously.   
      
       "There is no catch Alice.  I just want to make sure you have a hot meal   
   tonight.  So what'll it be, Chinese, a burger, what?  You name the game."   
   Alice got a gleam in here eyes.  "You know what I would love right now   
   Ronnie?"   
      
       "No Alice, what would you like?"   
      
       "I'd like.....no, I'd love a Big Mac right now!"   
      
       "A Big Mac it is then Alice!" I said as I turned toward her and took her   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)