Urban Plunge - Part 2

I had just fallen asleep and I woke up to him yelling at us.  Scratch that.  Screaming at us. 

"On your feet- NOW!  Single file line on the sidewalk."

So Danny and I and two other leaders and 20 high school students shimmied sleepily out of our box homes and did as he asked.  

Meanwhile, he went storming through our little box town.  He tore some apart, stepped on others, and threw the rest across the courtyard.   I bit my tongue as I saw him trying to rip my home apart.  Then he came back and stood across from us.

"Someone down the street just got jumped and he said he saw the person run this way.  Let me see your knuckles."

We turned our hands over and showed him that we were clean and bloodless, innocent sleepers just trying to stay warm.

"What the hell are you even doing here?"

"Well, we're doing something called Urban Plunge to open these students' eyes to the injustices and reality of homelessness."

"Why in the world would you do that?  Are you high? Drunk? Strung out?"

"No."

"Who gives you the right to sleep on this city's grass?"

At this one of the high school girls said, "This is God's grass!"

At that he started to grin, but turned around before I was able to see it form into a full smile.  That's when I knew he wasn't legit.  I breathed out a breath of relief- air I wasn't even aware I had been holding in.  He told us that we had better be out of there before sunrise or we would be kicked out of the city.  Without a word, we all had to get back in our homes.  My heart was still beating fast with adrenaline, but I fell asleep within minutes.  I'd say it was the best two hours of  curled up in a box, stomach growling, freezing cold wind howling, wet feet, and nose running sleep I've ever had.

They woke us up again 3 hours later.  5 am, to be exact.  We had 10 minutes to fold up and throw away our homes, wash our hands, go to the bathroom, and look somewhat presentable.  We had to hustle, considering we had a 3 mile walk to make in the dark to a place none of us had ever been.  I made the best of it, smiling and saying good morning to the sleepy and grumpy students around me, but let's face it.  I was pretty miserable.

We started the walk across town- a long line of us.  2 leaders in the front, Danny and I in the back.  My stomach growled as we passed by a donut/pastry shop baking goods to sell for the day.  My mind started running.  Mmm...donuts...sprinkles...birthday cake...Danny's birthday is coming up...I love Danny...I love donuts...mmm...rainbow sprinkles...rainbows...rain storms...lightning....electricity...I can't believe it's still dark outside...what time is it?  Then I got distracted.  

A car with sirens blaring pulled up behind us, and this time the cop was real.