Writing Resources from Fifteen Minutes of Fiction

The Beggar

Amadeo was twenty-four years old, and it had been ten years since he had seen his family, his home, his friends, and his neighbors.

His father had been merchant - at least, that was what he told his wife, his neighbors, and friends. But Amadeo knew better. Augusto would travel with his wares to many far cities, but he was never a good enough salesman to make a living. The real salesman in the family was Amadeo. Augusto would leave him by the side of the road, looking hungry and pathetic, and compassionate city folk would drop a coin or two in his hand as they passed by. At the end of the day, when Augusto picked up his son, the son would always have more money than the father.

This would lead to familial jealousy and rage, and soon, while Augusto felt the soothing heat of his liquor, Amadeo would feel the slap and sting of a rod across his back, his legs, and his arms. Augusto quickly discovered that a child with bruises on his person incited even more sympathy from the city folk, and the beatings became a nightly ritual.

Amadeo never told anyone what really happened during the trips to the cities, and no one, not even his mother, asked questions about the sickly blue-green bruises that had never fully healed by the time they returned home.

So, when he was fourteen years old, Amadeo ran away from home.

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