This is a short story that I wrote a few days before Christmas. It only took me a few hours and was just a off the cuff piece that i wrote on the spot. The spirit of the season had me excited that day and I was taking a little break from my work in progress, I hope you guys like it! it is very short, which is not always a bad thing, you can read it in ten minutes when you are not busy. Thanks guys! something new this time next week as well, let me know what you think!
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Mr. Nobody

Beth was looking on from across the street while the four school boys poured cola and spat on the man lying in the doorway. They were laughing and patting each other on the back at the handy work they were handing out. The man covered his face with his arms and curled up in to a ball as they mocked him and called him names. People walked past the scene without a care in the world, and did nothing to help the victim, some even smiled like they were watching there kids playing games.
Beth frowned, and could not understand how people could be so cruel. She had seen enough and crossed over the street to intervene.

“Hey!” She shouted angrily at the boys who could not have been more than fifteen or sixteen years old at the most. “Leave him alone! Go on! Get lost!” She continued.

“Whats it to you? Mind your business, this scab has been sleeping in front of my dads shop all week, leaving his foul stink” One boy said stepping forward to eye Beth up before turning away from here to approach the homeless man again.

“I understand you do not like him sleeping in your doorway, but why do you not try asking him to move instead of doing that? Leave him be, I will make sure he does not sleep here anymore” Beth tried to stop the boys going too far and help the poor man who was obviously just trying to shelter from the snow that had been falling none stop for at least a week.

“He does not speak, or he does not listen, either way he wont move, so if you think you can do better than us, go ahead” The boy argued. Beth let out a foggy cold breath and stepped towards the man lying in a ball as the the boys stepped back with amusement on there faces.

“Come on, lets get you up off the wet ground and get some hot cocoa” She said leaning down towards him and speaking in a soothing kind voice. She held out her hand and the man looked up at her with bright blue eyes and pail white skin with rosy red cheeks and nose. “Its alright, come on” Beth whispered and smiled. The man nodded slightly with a vacant expression and took her hand.

“Well what do you know! Its Doctor Doolittle for the homeless! Only person who can speak to them and get an answer!” The leader of the school boys said, making his friends laugh. “Love scabs don’t you? Who cares about him? Whats wrong with you?”
“Nothing! Whats wrong with you?! make you feel big picking on a defenseless person does it? Your scum” Beth replied to him before she hooked her arm around her new friends and trudged through the sludgy snow towards the cafe down the street.

“You will regret that! You hear me?! You will regret that!” The boy yelled after them making Beth shake her head but without replying. They entered the cafe and Beth sat her companion at a table and took off her coat, scarf and gloves. The cafe was one of her favourite places, it was always homely and warm, and the Christmas decorations were beautiful and bright and brought warm feelings to her heart. The owner was an old man who was a good friend and the closest thing she had to family.

“You like cocoa right? Course you do, everyone loves cocoa, especially in winter” She laughed and tried to make him feel comfortable with small talk like they were old friends, but he said nothing and just stared at her curiously. “Back in a sec” She smiled and turned towards the counter.

“Morning Beth, cold out ain’t it!” Marvin the owner of the cafe said to her.

“Yeah, its freezing, that is why I am here, two mugs of cocoa and plenty of marshmallows please” She answered.

“Two?” He said looking over her shoulder and seeing the homeless man who had not moved an inch. “Friend of yours?”

“He was sleeping in a doorway, bunch of school boys were spiting at him and stuff, felt sorry for him, I want to help him, it is Christmas after all” She explained, and then beamed as she said the word Christmas.

“Good will to all men eh? Well good for you Beth, you have a beautiful soul” Marvin smiled at her.

“And you are a smooth talker Marvin” She giggled as her friend began to pour the steamy hot drinks.

“Here we are then, on the house, I have to do my part in helping the less fortunate, and here are the marshmallows” He said placing down the huge sweet tub.

“Thank you, you are a true gentleman” Beth said nodding to him formally and laughing before pouring a dozen of them in to the mugs and carrying them to the table where her friend still sat.

“Here we go, best cocoa in town” She sat down across from the man and placed a steamy mug in front of him. He picked up the mug and took a sip, a look of pleasure came to his lips and eyes, it could have also looked like shock, as though he had never tasted it before. “That is good right?” Beth grinned at his reaction and received a nod of agreement.

“So whats your name? I’m Beth” She said trying to draw him out a little. He looked at her as if thinking about what to say before he finally spoke.

“Gabe” He answered in a pleasant and quiet voice. He sounded almost British, wealthy British.

“That is a nice name, where are you from? Your accent sounds lovely” She continued to smile at him.

“A long way away” He replied uncertainly and without meeting her eyes before sipping his drink again.

“You in trouble? Why are you sleeping rough? You run away from home?” She asked him almost instantly thinking she had asked to much to quick, and he might shut down again.

“No, I am not in any trouble, I am just… curious” Gabe answered vaguely making Beth think hard about what he was saying and what he actually meant.

“Curious?” She said without understanding.

“I have never been here before” He answered her again this time with slight amusement, like everything he had said made perfect sense.

“So you are travelling?” Beth inquired.

“Yes, that is right” Gabe nodded over his now almost empty mug of cocoa.

“Oh well that explains it, but why are you sleeping in a doorway? Did you not book a room somewhere?”

“No, I do not know how to do that” Gabe said looking confused.

“Do you have money to pay for somewhere to stay?” She pushed.

“Money?” He looked at her like she was talking in a different language.

“No I did not think so, you want another mug of cocoa?” She asked him in a conspiring tone like they were doing something rather naughty.

“Yes, thank you” He leaned forward and whispered as if he knew they were doing something wrong.

Beth laughed at him “You are funny” She said as she took hold of the mugs and returned to the counter.

“Two more please Marvin” She placed down the mugs.

“Coming up, so, what did you learn about our friend over there?” He asked her as he placed two clean mugs down and poured the sweet drink.

“He is travelling and has no money or a place to stay” She answered looking worried.

“Hmm, well, I see that this is important to you, you really want to help him don’t you? And you do not believe his story” Marvin said knowing exactly what she was thinking.

“Yeah he seems like a really nice person, I just think he has run away from home or something, he is strange and child like, as if he is a fish out of water and has no idea what he is doing or where he is going” She scratched her head.

“How about I let him stay in the spare room here, and give him a part time job, It gets busy this time of year and I am not as young as I would like everyone to believe” Marvin whispered and smiled at her.

“You would do that? But you do not know him” Beth looked shocked but happy.

“You believe he is harmless, and just trying to find his way, and if it makes you happy then I am more than willing to help, but do not let him get too excited, the money is little and the room basic, and the work ain’t easy, if he is agreeable” Marvin placed the marshmallows back on the counter again and waved away her attempt to pay him for the drinks.

“Marvin, I love you, you are a wonderful human being” Beth leaned over the counter and kissed him on the cheek before returning to Gabe.

“Alright, one more hot drink” She said sitting back down and sliding the mug towards him.

“Thank you” He smiled slightly.

“So my friend Marvin, who owns this place, has a spare room and a job, they are yours if you want them Gabe” Beth leaned forward and smiled as he looked at her with another confused expression. “What do you think? It is a very generous offer, one you will not find anywhere else, and you get to sleep In a bed instead of a doorway” She said hoping Gabe would except the offer.

“That is really very kind, thank you” He replied with a look of awe, his thin lips curling to s slight smile and his eyes twinkling.

“So you are accepting the offer?” She said with controlled delight.

“Yes” He spoke over his mug between sips.

“Excellent” Her happiness at helping him obvious “Marvin!” She called over to the counter where he was wiping down the counter. He nodded to let her know he had heard her before coming over to the table.

“Gabe, this is Marvin, Marvin this is your new tenant and worker, gabe” Beth said with an ear to ear smile.

“Pleased to meet you Gabe, when your finished here with your drink Beth will show you to your room, you can get cleaned up and have a shower, and there are dry clothes for you” Marvin smiled at his new worker. He knew he did not need him, but Beth was determined to help the boy, and he did have something about him that was very different.

“Pleased to meet you, thank you for your kindness” Gabe answered looking almost amused by the situation. Marvin nodded and left them to finish there second drinks before Beth took Gabe through the back of the cafe and up the stairs to the two bedroom flat which was above.

“So, you get settled in and I will be back soon” Beth said leaving Gabe alone in his room. She went back down to the cafe and waved goodbye to Marvin as she left. Beth was only twenty years old, and had decided she wanted to work with people from poor backgrounds who needed support and help getting there life on track. Currently she was helping out at the hospital, visiting the children and older people, bringing them soup and sometimes a present. People needed to help each other more, and she felt that it was her responsibility to help the less fortunate. She walked down the street past the shop doorway where Gabe had been mistreated by the school boys, and spotted the teenager who had acted as the ring leader staring out of the window. His face turned to a scowl and she hurried past. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the boy come out of the shop and follow her down the street. He had told her she would regret her words to him, and that made her panic. Walking faster, she came to a traffic light and pressed the button furiously, willing the green man to appear and assist in her haste away from the apparent anger of her follower. She continued to look over her shoulder as the boy neared her, and she noticed he held something in his hand, something dark. Gun and knife flashed in her mind, and her panic took hold of her She could not wait for the lights to change, and ran out in to the road to escape, only to be met by a car. The last thing she saw was two huge headlights and the sound of a horn blaring, before complete silence. She lay motionless in the middle of the road as a puddle of blood began to pool around her still body, turning the surrounding snow a pale pink. The woman who was driving the car that hit her, ran to her and checked her pulse as tears streamed down her face. She started chest pumps, but the woman knew it was hopeless. She was a nurse and could see that to much blood was pouring from her body, although she could not see where from, without stopping the bleeding and starting her heart quickly she would die. She was already dead.

Marvin came out of the cafe with Gabe who had heard the cries and screams of the people who crowded around the road down the street. They ran to see what had happened and noticed Beth lying in the road once they had pushed through the group of people.

“Beth! no! Beth!”Marvin cried as he ran to her “Do something! Somebody please!” He cried.

Gabe looked on confused and stepped forward “Marvin, may I?” He said to the old man who was lost in his pain. He stood up and looked at Gabe who suddenly looked very different, and he blinked at him in shock before Gabe put a hand on hid shoulder and said “It is alright, I will help her, nobody deserves it more, she has shown so much kindness, the world deserves to have her kindness and love” He smiled. He went down on his knees and took hold of Beth’s hand and began to pray.

“She is gone” The woman who had hit her said through glassed over eyes.

“No, she is not, she is at the gates but has not yet entered” Gabe said before continuing his cryptic words of pray.

“What are you talking about?” Marvin said through his cries.

Beth suddenly opened her eyes as if waking from a deep sleep and saw a figure of white, with a blinding light shining all around her. The figure was Gabe, but he was different, dressed all in white with wings like an eagle. He whispered to her, the words made no sense, but somehow she understood the meaning. Her heart filled with joy and she smiled. Just like the warm cocoa, it filled her up. The only power that could do that was divinity. Gabe smiled and placed something in her hand before standing up and soaring into the air of light, where a ray of sunshine devoured him and he vanished from her sight.

“Beth! Beth! Your alive!” Marvin shouted in disbelief and shock as he dived to the ground and took hold of her.

“Where is Gabe” She said looking and feeling half asleep.

“He left, he prayed over you then said he would go and find help, he has not come back, I think he may be a little crazy” Marvin laughed as he hugged her.

“You did not see him? He is an angel, he flew into the sky” She mumbled.

“What? No, he walked down the street, I saw him, you were unconscious, but do not worry an ambulance is on the way, you will be fine” He laughed and cried at the same time.

“How is she alive? She was gone” The woman said confused. The boy who was following her stepped forward and leaned over.

“I am sorry, I did not mean to scare you, I am so sorry” He said with tears in his eyes. Beth looked at him and then at his hand where she thought his weapon was, but all he held was a mobile phone. There was never a gun or knife, and she felt foolish for thinking such a thing.

“I am sorry too” She answered him, making him look confused.

“Alright coming through, out of the way please!” A man said pushing his way through with a stretcher. “Lets get you to the hospital” He said to Beth once he had checked her over and found no wounds. He supposed all of the blood was from her head and simply could not find the cut under all of her hair. She lay on a stretcher in the ambulance waiting to be taken to hospital and the image of Gabe was in her mind. The white light, the words which she could not remember but could still feel. She opened her hand to look at what he had given her. It was a gold coin with a picture of an angel on it, and on the other side it said Gabriel.

“It is a Christmas miracle” She whispered to herself as the sirens began to sound and the ambulance moved off down the road.