School bells rang.
Edna looked up from the wares arranged nearly in front of her. She didn't need to look twice to know that these boys, this specific group jauntily strolling out of the school gates, would be trouble.
They were the upper-years, a gang of boys who had long ago discovered an almost refined palate for cruelty to those too weak to fight back. It seemed as if no school anywhere, nay, no society anywhere was complete without them.
"Hey guys, look! Edna's back! Let's see what she has for sale today!" Hoots of laughter rose from the group as they rushed over to the humble two-by-four groundsheet on the sidewalk that comprised the entirety of Edna's enterprise.
Edna positively looked like an oasis of calm next to the jackals that had descended upon her store. The boys scrambled over each other as they rushed to manhandle the little toys that lay on the groundsheet, competing to see whose wit was sharpest in ridiculing the toys.
"Guys, look at this one! Is it just me or is this doll a leftover from Halloween?"
"That's nothing next to this set of tin soldiers! Any kids who suffers this would be better off under Welfare!"
Soon, when even their diseased little minds ran out of insults for the toys, the boys moved on to their next target.
"You're old and ghastly! Why don't you get someone younger and prettier to sell your toys!"
"No one wants your toys! Who wants useless broken junk? Go home Edna!"
"Oh, sorry I forgot! You have no home to go back to, right? Who would want you!"
But not one word left Edna's lips. She simply kept her eyes downcast and waited for their store of delinquent energy to wear itself out, as it always did. Mercifully, they soon tired of Edna the way they tired of the toys that wouldn't fight back, and they cackled as they left the battlefield triumphant.
Once they turned their backs, however, Edna sprang to life. As quickly as she could, she rearranged the toys neatly, and straightened out the groundsheet. Moments after she was done...
... school bells rang again, and this time it was the lower-years who were released from school.
As they spilled out from the school gates, they made a bee-line for Edna and her wares. They crowded around her store, transfixed as they always have been at the worlds Edna brought to them.
One little girl, drawn to a petite pinwheel, cautiously picked it up and admired it. As the colourful silver-foil wheels turned in the afternoon breeze, the little girl couldn't help but smile.
And it was then that Edna received her first payment of the day.
Edna looked up from the wares arranged nearly in front of her. She didn't need to look twice to know that these boys, this specific group jauntily strolling out of the school gates, would be trouble.
They were the upper-years, a gang of boys who had long ago discovered an almost refined palate for cruelty to those too weak to fight back. It seemed as if no school anywhere, nay, no society anywhere was complete without them.
"Hey guys, look! Edna's back! Let's see what she has for sale today!" Hoots of laughter rose from the group as they rushed over to the humble two-by-four groundsheet on the sidewalk that comprised the entirety of Edna's enterprise.
Edna positively looked like an oasis of calm next to the jackals that had descended upon her store. The boys scrambled over each other as they rushed to manhandle the little toys that lay on the groundsheet, competing to see whose wit was sharpest in ridiculing the toys.
"Guys, look at this one! Is it just me or is this doll a leftover from Halloween?"
"That's nothing next to this set of tin soldiers! Any kids who suffers this would be better off under Welfare!"
Soon, when even their diseased little minds ran out of insults for the toys, the boys moved on to their next target.
"You're old and ghastly! Why don't you get someone younger and prettier to sell your toys!"
"No one wants your toys! Who wants useless broken junk? Go home Edna!"
"Oh, sorry I forgot! You have no home to go back to, right? Who would want you!"
But not one word left Edna's lips. She simply kept her eyes downcast and waited for their store of delinquent energy to wear itself out, as it always did. Mercifully, they soon tired of Edna the way they tired of the toys that wouldn't fight back, and they cackled as they left the battlefield triumphant.
Once they turned their backs, however, Edna sprang to life. As quickly as she could, she rearranged the toys neatly, and straightened out the groundsheet. Moments after she was done...
... school bells rang again, and this time it was the lower-years who were released from school.
As they spilled out from the school gates, they made a bee-line for Edna and her wares. They crowded around her store, transfixed as they always have been at the worlds Edna brought to them.
One little girl, drawn to a petite pinwheel, cautiously picked it up and admired it. As the colourful silver-foil wheels turned in the afternoon breeze, the little girl couldn't help but smile.
And it was then that Edna received her first payment of the day.
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