Stairs were meant for travel. People went up or down, pausing for a moment at the most, but never stayed.

Except me. I stay right here on the steps, with stale food someone threw away, much like society tossed me to the side.

It wasn't always this way, at least not for me. My mind held on to fading memories of a young boy's voice, though I have long forgotten if it was my childhood or my child.

And I remember these stairs. It was always there in the background, unnoticed under the feet of hurrying populace, right until one of us dropped down like a forgotten leaf of a shedding tree.

Most of us forget why we fell from the grace of the busy feet. It doesn't matter what brings us to the rim of the world, because once we fall, we stay.

Memories go away over time. Fine china, dated wine, silverware- they fade into a mush, locked away in the past. Memories are painful, and only makes nothingness bleaker. It leads to what ifs and if onlys, which the poor can't afford.

Thunk.

The noise startles me, and I jump, only to notice the coins gleaming in the empty paper box in front of me. I look up in search of the anonymous Good Samaritan, but all I see are bustling feet and muttered conversations.

" 'ey, what 'ave you got there?", comes another forgotten voice, a name lost in the world of suits and ties.

I smile.

"The first half of our warm meal." I tell him.

He smiles, and holds out a palm full of similar coins, before pouring them into my box.

"For later?" His weary eyes hold a hopeful promise, that somehow holds more meaning than all the charities in the world of the rich.

We make a deal in official nods that held a purpose no contract could bring, before returning our gazes to the muddy footprints in front of us.

The stairs are meant for travel, but for those who dwell there, it is a piece of equality. We live in different steps, but we are equally hungry, and equally homeless. Our minds ring the same chords and we look for the same things.

We are the staircase dwellers, and suddenly, it feels more luxurious than a warm bed.