The Grey Building - Part I

Part I

We were called to the Scratchers. We were called that because it was said that we would try to scratch out a little money from anything. Everybody had their group, their gang, their family. Tim and June mainly just had each other because they Tim was better at scratching and less good at sharing although he needed June for comfort and storytelling. And June was great at storytelling so that we would all crowd around her late at nights and she would weave her tails. Even Tim was not immune to a good storyteller. We all lived in the same abandoned building but for the most part electricity and plumbing were fine. It was food and clothing, and getting money to do things that was an issue. There was no money for the most part in their area and no jobs unless you knew the right people. But they were the Scratchers and mostly only knew each other and mostly only helped each other.

The grey building consisted of groups of 6 or 7 and they would protect each other, and share information, and money and food. But as I said Tim was fussy and only got along with June. June had this way about her that everyone liked and as i said before she was an awfully fine storyteller. Sometimes if she had a real good one, she would dress in the park and recite for people on a small hill and people would throw money at her.

Anyway June decided one day that she was going to tell our story in Grey building but we all warmed her no one was going to pay for our tale. No one wanted to hear tales of Scratchers, and being hungry, and running around to make some money. We told her to stick to her own stories that she was so good at. But she refused to listen and for 4 weeks she told no stories but would walk about the building in deep concentration. Finally one day she told us all she was going to the hill and we watched her and Tim walk off as we alerted everyone they were going.

She made our grey building into a tower, she poked into our little lives and shed lights here and there so we could see ourselves for the first time. The time little Hat's brother got so hungry and bored he shoved little Hat out of the window and his fall was broken by Linder and how that section was indebted to the other section. Which lead to Linder's trying to use the dept to merge the groups to the biggest group. But that the other groups wouldn't hear of it so that they tried kidnapping members and then and on and on....and we all sat their looking into our lives as if it were in some strange tale. We barely noticed that there was not the usually crowd of well off Katers around our hill but a much larger number then usual. Nobody noticed that Tim was not to be seen, but he was there never the less, we know because of what happened. Well, apparently one of the Katers said this is good enough to sell and so Tim started writing everything down. He was the few amongst us that could write. And later he came around for collection as he usually did to collect money. After that we just didn't see Tim again. But some of us were like that we would drift some and come back.

It was only when it go cold in the winter and we all went back on the hill because June said she was going to re-tell our story and she was hungry that we saw Tim in a fur cape with a young woman with luxurious fire red hair down to her back. We didn't go up to him right away because we thought we were mistaken as he seemed so changed and fancy. It couldn't be Tim because it had to be some Kater that looked like Tim but then it was Tim. And as she sat on her hill with her best dark dress and no coat even though it was cold because she did not own a nice coat, the Katers all came around and said but she is telling the story of that book. The grey building and instead of listening they all talked amongst themselves and paid her no attention so that she lost her place until after much struggling she stopped talking as now one was listening and we were all watching the Katers exclaim they knew the book.

When we finally looked back at June she had turned to stone and was just sitting their as if her soul had left her. And if anyone was close enough at the right moment they would of hear her say very quietly to herself, "so this is what it is to have your very thoughts ripped away from you". And with this after several hours of sitting in the dark some of us took pity on her and forced her back to our building. She moved like a sheep, not following us but allowing herself to be lead.