That late night, Kevin Moore crossed a clear street to the other side to enter the alleyway which was in between two skyscrapers in the wealthy Capricon city. At a slow pace on which his legs were moving, his toe collided with a pavement.
"Ouch!"
On a wounded foot he walked, slowly leaving the brightly lit sides of the street. He needed a safer place where he could lay his weak body and tired muscles for a night to pass. However, as soon as he entered the alleyway, he was startled by seeing a human whose back was bent, head nearly lost inside the garbage can, a few metres distant alone in a dim light.
Kevin stopped walking instantly.
Slowly, kevin killed two steps backwards with a thought to take another direction to avoid human trouble.
Matter of fact, in the past three days he had spent in the human world, he had already seen more trouble than he had ever faced in the twenty-five years of his life time. Without a single idea about human behaviors and manners, Kevin Moore wasn't to be blamed for the fear of humans he started developing.
Come to think clearly in vivid images of what he had been through for the past three days, he can't forget how heartless humans in this city have treated his smiling face.
A heavy smack on his jaw like a punching bag he received, from a young man of his age that he bumped into on the street and asked him about his father's whereabouts. And not to blame the bouncer who lifted him in the air like a doll and threw him down on the ground. Kevin's haggard appearance didn't leave the huge tall gentleman an option when Kevin jumped over and sat right at the passenger sit of the open roof comfortable posh car, right after the rich man had sat to drive away.
And when Kevin abruptly confronts a random woman, nearly her mother's age who is having an evening walk together with her husband on the street, the man had no better punishment than to punch Kevin in the face. With an innocent smile, Kevin only felt an urge to ask the grown-up lady of his father's way abouts. Little was he aware of how humans perceive a man who touches a woman's hand without permission: a foolish mistake that turned the page.
Matters worse, Kevin's cheap appearance got him in more trouble than his actions.
All the time, rich people of Capricon city were walking on the clean streets of the city staring at him with strange expressions. Even their dogs were a million times healthier than him; a shabby hobo holding a scrap computer with a disgusting beard surrounding his face like a male lion. Looking haggard, lacking shoes on his feet _ wearing a very cheap long-sleeved shirt and a pair of shorts _ unhealthily thin and pale, Kevin Moore was indeed out of his place.
Not forgetting Pinky's family that was going to have a tilapia for their dinner.
Remembering all this while standing, looking at the human in the alleyway who was busy in the garbage can, Kevin's interest in humans was out of the window.
*****
However, in the midst of taking small steps backwards, with instincts, Kevin Moore held a keen gaze to the human he was trying to avoid, observing curiously what the human was doing. Kevin wondered what was making the human so busy all alone in such a dimly lit place.
He then applied his well developed olfactory nerves which were as sensitive as those of a dog. And as soon as he perceived the aroma from a distance, his stomach growled loudly from excessive hunger.
At the back of his mind:
"Um, smells nice!"
At this point, he got to notice that the human was busy eating. However, Kevin had no idea what this human was eating that smelt so nice. Desparate for food, a sudden thought crushed his mind:
"I'm join him."
As he took two steps forward, on the other hand his thoughts held him with a hesitant force that spoke inside of him:
"I don't belong to humans. How foolish am I to even think this human can share food with me? Besides, I am a fish, I don't feed on what humans feed on. With my health depreciating to this level, I have to nourish my body on my favorite diet packed with sea snails and algae."
Kevin's face smeared a simple smile. But then, thinking further to himself, he added:
"Not until I find my father and take him home with me to meet mom, I must stay strong."
After all, his experience with humans so far was nothing to be proud of.
As he took small steps slowly backwards to take a different direction, accidentally his foot collided with an empty soda can. The sound alerted the absent minded busy human who startledly turning wary eyes immediately from the garbage can, to the direction where the threat was suspected, to clearly observe. The grown-up fourty year old man saw a stranger standing in short a distance.
Looking keenly at kevin whose presence was covered in the shadow of a skyscraper _ not clearly visible, the grown-up man felt unsafe and decided to stand up straight, away from the garbage can, to get answers to the two questions which were running in his head at the moment.
"Who's that person? And why is he standing in the shadows?"
He stopped chewing the whatever that was packed up in his mouth and nervously asked out loud:
"It's high time you introduced yourself!"
Kevin Moore stayed quiet and stopped to move. All senses put at high performance, at a distance where he was standing, he could clearly hear the man's heart beating. The ability to put all sense at a high performance was another talent that Kevin Moore had to be proud of.
Kevin pulled backwards again, exposing himself to a light. Looking at him clearly, the grown-up came to realise that this was just a fellow man who was possibly experiencing tough life tides _ hardships, according to how haggard he was dressed, without shoes on his feet.
Looking at the old version computer monitor from a distance, that Kevin carried in hand, the grown-up wondered at the back of his mind:
"And what's that?"
He then spoke out loud:
"Would you need to joining me for a bite?"
In kind once again, the grown-up said to Kevin Moore.
"Don't delay your steps brother, my friend at the restaurant dumped quite a lot to eat today! Its enough for both of us!"
Kevin was confused whether to continue with avoiding this human, or trust him with his hunger problem, perhaps he could solve it.
Standing in one position, Kevin moves his eyes from the human to the garbage can where the human was getting his food from, and then back at the human again. Suddenly and abruptly, Kevin Moore's stomach loudly growled, announcing his hunger case to the stranger.
In such a silent late night, the loud hunger cry from his stomach filled the air like it was calling for immediate help. Turning back into the garbage can, the grown-up fished out a triangular piece of pizza and raised it up for Kevin to see as he spoke on top of his voice:
"Trust me, your stomach won't even notice it is from a garbage can!"
Seeing a hungry person in this city was very difficult because everyone living in it was rich enough to even have enough food to waste.
The grown-up thought:
"Maybe his pet ran away from home and he is sadly trying to find it! But there are pet finders everywhere in Capricon to take care of that _ it is a common issue here!"
Even though the grown-up was eating from garbage, it seemed strange beneath his eyes to see a person in this young man's condition. He needed to engage with Kevin and know about him. And so, he made it a big deal to bring him close.
Out loud, he said once again:
"My name is Suxes, and you...?"
At the back of Kevin's mind:
"Suxes? Why would he give me his name? Is it because he might be different from the mean and selfish humans I've met sofar?"
Kevin chose to convince himself to have a little trust for only this human and walk close to him. And since the human had eats, Kevin couldn't wait for hunger to sweep him off his feet completely. Bearfooted, slowly by slowly he started taking foward movements towards the grown-up man, now known by his name Suxes, who stood waiting in the dim light.
After all, Kevin's feet were hurting and tired.
As soon as Kevin got close, Suxes stretched the arm that was holding a pizza piece for him to grab. Hesitantly, Kevin grabbed it, carefully took it to his nose and sniffed it distrustingly. It was the same pleasant aroma he perceived a while ago from a distance. Seeming to like it, he then brought the pizza to the mouth and took a small bit for tasting.
Immediately after the taste bite, in only three bites, the piece was all in Kevin's mouth. Suxes took it for granted. In the garbage can were more heavy pizza slices held inside a big paper bag. He decided to delve a hand and fished the whole paper bag out. Before his hand stretched enough to forward the paper bag for Kevin to recieve, in a blink of an eye, Kevin had already grabbed it. Since the aroma was the same, he straight away began biting the paper bag.
This was complicated in Suxes' presence. He frowned and called him to order:
"Hey hey hey! Easy dude! I don't know how long you've starved but at least eat the substance inside first and eat the paper later if hunger persists!"