Torrents of rain pelted down onto the colourfully lit city. The city lights were on and people walked hurriedly through the rain. Cars whizzed past to get home before rush hour. The lamps lit the streets strongly through the rain creating a nice warm atmosphere in the cold weather. Umbrellas bobbed over people's heads, trying to avoid hitting other people in the big crowds. The city buzzed with late night activity amidst the pouring rain. The whole place looked lively, even in the rain. But somewhere behind the wet houses and in the dirtiest part of the city, in a muddy, grimy alleyway, a little dog lay shivering on the cold wet floor. Soon, he was lying on a puddle of water, the open bins on each side of him were getting flooded and garbage started to fall out. An old lamp dimly lit the small garbage alley. It soon fizzled out and all went dark. Still, the dog lay there on the floor. Fire Stairs from the side of the house led down to the alley but no one used it unless they needed to throw things away. The garbage truck almost never came to this street and even less to the alley leaving it with a strong horrid smell and overflowing garbage bins. Suddenly, the small dirty window at the top of the fire stair lit up faintly. The door knob was turned and a grubby little boy was pushed out pouting. The door slammed shut behind him. The little boy crossed his arms and stood still under the strong rain.

A few minutes later, the boy got tired. He sighed and shuddered in the cold. He descended the stairs and into the alley, a banana peel floated in a puddle at his heels. He kicked it away and advanced down the dark passageway, garbage was scattered everywhere and a putrid soggy smell wafted to the boy's nose. He made his way past big bins. His feet sloshed in big puddles on the ground. The boy made his way carefully down the street until his foot hit something rather big. He thought of all the possible things it could be. A football, he could show it to his friends at school and make them jealous, or perhaps an old teddy bear, he could put it with his other one so it wouldn't be lonely in his room, or maybe even a small soft sofa. He never pondered about the consequences with picking this unknown thing up, he just reached down and scooped it up. With the object in his small grubby hands, he walked back towards the fire stairs and climbed up to see what he had gotten. His eyes adjusted and he tried to see what it was using the light that came out from the filthy window. He made out a brown fluffy shape and smiled at the thought of a new teddy. Then he felt it vibrate in his hands, as if it were living and shivering in the cold. He scrunched his eyes up and realised it was a bedraggled dog. He brought it out to his face in astonishment. Suddenly, he heard footsteps approaching and he quickly put the animal down and got up. The door flew open and light streamed in from an unkept hallway. A man grabbed the little boy's wrist and pulled him in.
"Get in! And get a bath, you foul little creature." snarled a voice before banging the door.

The air was cold and crisp as the sun rose up into the sky. But soon it was warm and the puddles disappeared from the streets and birds started to sing. The sun beat down directly on a little abandoned dog, warming it's small body and drying its soaking fur. The dog quivered a bit before laying still again. Then, the fire door slowly, unsurely opened and a little head peeked out. The small boy looked down and saw the dog more clearly, it was tiny and vulnerable. It's fur was dirty and foul smelling. It was brown and had a bit of white at some places. The boy knelt down beside the quivering body and gently touched it's fur. The dog didn't move. The little boy then picked the dog up and went back inside through the fire door with the dog tucked in his arms, the fire door closing behind him. The boy walked through a dingy corridor and turned right, to another corridor although this time, there were door on each side. The doors were white and the paint was peeling off. The walls had cracks through them and were dirty. On each door, a name was written on a little plaque. The dog was carried along halls and corridors until the little boy stopped at one of the white doors. The name taped on the door said Kennedy. The little boy pushed the door open and went into a medium sized room. The room had an old television, an uncomfortable sofa, a carpeted red floor, cupboards in the wall and some old lamps around. A single light bulb hung from the ceiling. The little boy walked in and put his jacket at the bottom of a jacket rack and went for the door at the side of the room. He shoved the door open into a little storage room. There was a small lamp at the side of the door and it wasn't very big at all. A small filthy mattress with no bed sheet filled most of the space. A small towel folded neatly served as a pillow and a bed sheet smaller than the mattress was used as a blanket. There was a little wooden plank next to the mattress with a cup of water, a few pencils, a ragged teddy bear and some recycled paper. At the end of the mattress there was a small black suitcase with all the boy's belongings. The boy put the dog down on the bed and wrapped it up in the bed sheet. He then walked out of the small storage room and closed the door noiselessly behind him.

The door creaked open slowly as the little boy came back in the room. He carried in his little hands a small biscuit and a little piece of bread. The dog now warmed up, looked up at the boy for the first time. The boy sat down beside the dog and offered the bread and biscuit. The dog sniffed it with curiosity before nibbling a little bit. Soon, the dog had eaten the food and nuzzled the boy's pockets for more. The boy giggle and raised his arms to show he had no more food. The boy then took the cup and let the dog lap at it.

"Haha, I'm gonna call you Teddy." cried the little boy before hugging the small dog. The dog struggled to get out of his arms and went over to his open suitcase and explored it. The boy smiled at his good work. Suddenly the boy heard footsteps and the front door unlocking. The boy quickly swept the crumbs onto the floor and placed his cup carefully on the tray. He picked the dog up and put him in the suitcase and closed it. Suddenly, the storage door opened roughly and a scowling face appeared, it was the same man that had brought the boy outside the last night.
"Did you eat the cookies I told you not to eat!?" shouted the man not really waiting for an answer.
"I told you not to eat them! I told you!" He barked fiercely, "Did you eat them? Did you?"
The little boy shook his head. The man's face grew red and he picked the boy up by the arm and brought him outside to the living room. He brought his face close to the boy's.

"Don't you dare lie to me." He growled menacingly, he growled, very slowly, "Did. You. Eat. The. Biscuit?" The little boy tremored in the man's grip.

"I..., I didn't eat the cookies... Teddy did." He whispered softly.
"What!?" the man yelled, standing up and wrenching the boy's arm up with him, "Speak up!"

"I didn't do it! Teddy did!" cried the boy bursting into tears.
"Teddy did, did he?" snarled the man. He pushed past the boy and swung open the storage room door, he bent down and picked up the small soft toy from the boy's wooden plank and said, "Well then, I guess Teddy will be punished for eating the biscuits, am I right? Or are you still going to blame him for something you did?" The boy shook his head and wiped his tears from his eyes.
"So? I'm asking for the last time or I'm taking Teddy away. For a month." The man took a deep breath, "Did, you, eat the biscuit?" The boy, once again shook his head and said in a small voice, "No, Teddy did." The man withdrew to his full height angrily and stormed into another room with the teddy bear clenched in his fists. Before shutting the door closed, he snapped at the boy, "Ok then, Teddy will be punished because of you. You won't be seeing him for a long time." The boy went back in the storage room and cried. He didn't understand why his teddy was getting punished, after all, the man didn't know that the teddy bear was called Timothy.

The boy woke up and felt a soft warm body in his hands. He looked down expecting Timothy to be there but he saw the small dog, Teddy, there instead. He pat the dog on the head and yawned. He slowly got out of his bed(Mattress) and opened the door, closing it quietly behind him. The living room was lit dimly by a lamp and a someone was cooking in the kitchen. The boy knew it was his foster mother. He didn't know what foster meant but he only knew he had to stay with these 2 couples because he lost his parents. He shyly made his way past the sofa and into a well lit room, bigger than his own where his "mother" was cooking. The kitchen had white tiles on the walls which were oily and a stove and cupboards. There was a portable old fridge and a microwave which only worked sometimes.
"Oh it's you again. You're punished. No food tonight for you." grumbled the woman stirring soup in a pot. A sweet smell wafted around to the boy's nose and he shrugged away the tears.
"Go will you? I can't support the sight of little dirty things. No dinner for you and that's final, now go back to your room." she ordered.

"Yes, mum." the boy said glumly.
"And don't call me MUM! I've told you this already! I am not your mother! Your mother died and so did your father. You won't be seeing them again so stop calling me that. You wouldn't even be here if I didn't need the money the government sent to us for taking care of you. We need that money! Understand?" scolded the lady angrily, "Well, I know you don't. 7 year olds don't have much of a brain do they? And I'm Miss Kennedy to you. Now go! Get out of my sight!"
"Yes Miss Kennedy." The boy said, his head down. He walked back to the storage room and sat on his bed. Teddy came up to him and nuzzled him.

The little boy woke up in the morning to someone yelling his name. "Ben! Ben!" shouted Miss Kennedy. Ben quickly sat up and carried the sleeping dog into his suitcase. He then opened the door rubbing his tired eyes. "Urgh. There you are. We're leaving. We're coming back tonight. There is rice on the table over there. Eat it in your room. It's all you're having till we come home so don't complain if you eat it up all now and then get hungry in the afternoon. Ok, bye." Ms Kennedy said quickly before taking the jacket from her husband hands and shutting the door. Ben saw the scornful face of Ms Kennedy's husband before she shut the door. Ben returned to his room and took Teddy out of the suitcase and led him into the living room. Ben then went to the wall where there were 2 doors, his and his foster parent's. He smiled cheekily and walked over to the big white door. He pushed it and it swung open slowly. He went in with Teddy at his heels. Inside, the floor was carpeted, it was a creamy white colour. There was a big doubée bed with a big fluffy white blanket. The walls were blank and white. The room was a bit bigger than the kitchen and on the left side of the door there was a big white build in cupboard. Ben climbed onto the bed then picked Teddy up and placed him beside him. He looked around. Hanging from the ceiling was a beautiful small plastic chandelier. There were 2 big pillows on the bed, both of them grey. There was a small window near the bed and on either side, there was a bedside table with a small compartment. On each table, there was a lamp with beautiful shapes drawn on. On one of the bedside tables, there was a framed picture. Ben peered at it. There was a small child, a girl and 2 younger people, perhaps the parents in the picture. Ben cocked his head and wondered who it was. He then spotted something poking out from the cupboard, it was Timothy. He pouted sadly on the bed. Then suddenly needed to go to the toilet so he jumped off the bed and delicately picked Teddy from the bed and placed him on the ground. Teddy wandered about and poked his head out of the door and made his way to the bathroom, on the opposite wall. Ben followed him giggling. He opened the bathroom door and turned on the light. The bathroom floor was tiled and white. The sink was old and there was a mirror hung at the sink. There was a small toilet with toilet paper rolls piled on the floor next to it. After using the toilet, Ben thought Teddy would surely want to go too. He made his way to the front door and tried unlocking it. He had to take a stool to reach it but soon made it. He pushed the door open and led Teddy along the corridors till they reached a familiar hallway and a familiar fire door. Ben opened the door and let Teddy run around the bins. The rice stuck to his fingers as there were no forks or spoons. Ben ate half of the rice in the small bowl in his room and gave a quarter to Teddy. He then placed the bowl of rice on his wooden plank. Ben played with Teddy the whole day, running around the small apartment and squealing with laughter. At sometimes, when Ben needed to go to the toilet, he would go then bring Teddy outside. Every Time Ben drank, Teddy got to drink too, and every-time Ben ate some rice, Teddy got some too.