The Bag Lady

* * * * * *

A tear trickled down Abby's rosy cheek.  It stung her chapped
face.

"I don't understand, Mommy. Look at those people.
Look at that old lady. She's so dirty.
Why do they live in such a horrible place?"

"Well, they don't live there because they want to dear. They live
there because they don't have anywhere else to go. 
They're homeless people. Sometimes they can find 
warmth and food in a special place called a shelter,
but they can't stay there forever. They eventually have to leave again."

"But, they don't even have a bathroom or anything."

"Yes, I know.  Now, aren't you thankful that you have a
warm place to sleep and even a bathroom?"

"Yes, Mommy, I am." Abby's vision was still blurred by her tears
as she and her mother walked on toward church."