A Whole New World

I sat on the cold ground in front of the coffee shop, with my head stuffed between my knees. I feel somebody's presence sitting next to me. I slowly raise my head up to see a little kid about nine years old staring at me. "Are you okay?" Very confused I answered, "Uh... Yes," The little kid chuckles. "It doesn't look like it...By the way, I'm Zach." I noticed Zach sounded very intelligent for his age. "Where are your parents? It's almost nighttime?" I said confused. Zach smiles happily and says, "I don't have any, I'm an orphan." My eyes widened, I could tell he was in good shape, and healthy. "Do you live in a shelter?" Zach thinks about it for a second. "If you want to call it that... Enough about me, What are you doing out here?"

"I...I ran away from home" I look down in shame and deep-down embarrassment. Zach touches my shoulder with calming energy. "I have somewhere you could stay... it's not much but it keeps all of us alive." I quickly looked up with a curious look. "So... you don't live in a shelter? Zach smiles and jumps up from the ground cheerfully. "Nope!" I slowly stood up and looked around. "Where do you live then?"

"I can't tell you, but I can show you." Zach pulls an old dirty rag from his pocket. "You got to put this on." I pick up my backpack and put it on. "Why?" Zach ignores my question and pulls out a walkie-talkie. "I have another one." I start to panic. "Are you trying to kidnap me?!" Zach starts to laugh, "No, silly we got to take precautions when we have new people. So... Do you trust me?" I shakily say "Yes" and he puts the rag tightly over my eyes. In the distance, I heard a car getting closer and closer till it was right in front of us. Zach grabs my hand and leads me to the car and I slowly get in the car feeling around the car with my hands. 

Zach walks to the other side of the car and sits beside me. "What's your name?" Someone says with a deep voice. "Um... I'm David." I can tell the dude was driving. "I know you can't see me but I'm Joey." I nod my head. Deep down inside I felt like I was getting kidnapped. 

I feel the car come to a complete stop and then hear them getting out of the car. They take me out of the car and hear Zach say, "We got to walk now." They pull me through a grassy field. "Is this even necessary," I said. "Yes, everything must be kept a secret." I trip over a rock and they both help me up. We walked for a few more minutes then we stopped. "Okay we're here," Zach took my blindfold off and I looked around. I see a long sheet metal fence, with three teenagers watching over the gate.

"Oh! We got a new person, you'll be the third one today." One of the boys yells down at us. The giant gates slowly open up and we walk inside. My eyes widened in surprise when I saw kids running around and a garden full of fruits and vegetables. I saw small houses and a building that looked like a school. "What is this place?" Zach and Joey look at each other, and Joey answers, "This is The Town of Kids." I turn around to look at them. "You're telling me that this whole town is just kids." They both nod their heads. "Come on, we got a place for you to sleep tonight." 

We walked through the town and down some stairs, the place had jail cells with one bed and a toilet. "Are y'all serious right now? I'm sleeping here!" I walk into one of the cells and Zach hands me a blanket and pillows. "Just for tonight, you get to meet our president tomorrow morning, so rest up. And we need your phone and your backpack." I stare at them, "Will I get it back?" Joey shrugs as I cautiously hand them my backpack." Joey pulls the keys from his pocket, locks the cell, and leaves. I sigh as I sit down on the hard bed. "What have I gotten myself into?" I think to myself.

"Hey! Are you new?" I quickly turn my head to see a girl from a cell across from me. "Yeah... I'm new," I walk up to the bars. "Are you new too?" She smirks. "Nope, just in trouble once again. I punched this guy in the balls, he'll be fine I think." My face cringed up and I could see that she had multiple tattoos on her right arm and wearing ripped jeans and a tank top. "Is it true, this place is run by kids?" She licks her lips, "Duh! We have our own rules, jobs, and money. It's like living in heaven." I stood there silent. 

She stares at me smirking, "You don't talk much, do you? Well, I'm Jade but everybody calls me Juju." I wrapped my hands around the bars and said, "I'm David..." I guess she saw that I was nervous because her demeanor softened. "Don't worry you'll like it here, I promise. And by the way, you kind of look like our president." She does a peace sign and then lays on the metal bed. I didn't know what she meant by that but I laid on the hard metal bed and pulled the blanket over me. I lay there thinking about the possible events that might happen tomorrow. I closed my eyes and drifted and peacefully drifted asleep.