Class was over.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR8dmgOkb1U
The teacher turned and left right away, as if she couldn’t stand being in the classroom for even one more second.
Jason—well, to be exact, little nine-year-old Jason Todd—watched the noisy classroom with a cool, steady gaze.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXsB6HOlHNi
It was a public school deep in the slums.
Most of the furniture was chipped or broken.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFL7AKHAxx2
The chair Jason sat on had one leg propped up with a wooden block.
The classroom was loud, Jason thought.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdO0uax9yZZ
The skinny boy stood up and slowly walked out.
He was worrying about dinner.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu93eEYrVaL
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a girl still sitting at her desk.
That girl… what was her name again?25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCIcEUUzNBa
Nana, maybe.
She was looking at… a book.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPEtqwW1rxX
Well, calling it a “book” was generous—25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxoggNZrYkd
it was more like a stack of torn-up pages.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwP8x7GZobv
Someone probably ripped it on purpose.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7TKddEPJHq
Bullying happened all the time around here.
The girl picked up the torn sheets, put them back together, and kept on reading.
Jason thought, It’s not a puzzle.
But then again, that kind of bullying was normal.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbihzbXNNik
Especially for her.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7EOdPghcdI
She came from Gotham’s poorest orphanage.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt6HppmwNKF
On top of that, she was mute.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtl1EKc3w9v
That was pretty much rock bottom.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLJu6YSZcXy
Made having a drunk for a father seem… not so bad, Jason thought, a little bitterly.
He leaned against the doorway and glanced at her again.
She turned the patched-up pages so gently, like she was afraid of hurting something.
He didn’t say anything.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhPDNaGJFyQ
Didn’t plan to help either.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr4hL9indvW
He just paused there for a moment.
It was Sunday.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVs6Y3cV3Cw
Todd ran to the church to get the little bread they gave out after morning service.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu4fILdkLIC
The line was long.
While waiting, he was thinking about the bread—how he’d eat it first,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaIrvKU96MS
then go dig through trash bins for old newspapers,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy8eaLIjISU
see if there was any news about Robin or Batman.
Jason was lost in thought when he saw the girl in front of him.
Nana was standing there quietly.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuEmInV9odd
No one could tell what she was thinking.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHT4JxcUJwj
In her hands was a book.
Jason squinted.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyVFAO4maer
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
He’d already read that one.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwdNgtV9hOy
Actually, Jason liked reading.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ30gEQf0BGR
He went to the slum library pretty often.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKJQPsq9lJU
Even though there weren’t many books,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIU1AQUFLiA
quiet things like reading made it easier to ignore how hungry you were.
Jason got his bread.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUI3vhK6cT6
As soon as he turned, he stuffed it into his mouth.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ19MlcROtp6
He was starving.
He turned to the right and started walking—25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeNKSlPNBo8
then saw the girl again.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUDlK9qMT0E
She was spacing out.
Why is she always spacing out? Looks kind of dumb, he thought.
He walked past her and kept going toward his next stop.
The farther he got from her,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡToKLbQlUEm
the slower his steps became.
Robin came to mind.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoFsk1s9SUE
That teen hero who always fought crime beside Batman.
Jason turned around.
He walked back toward the girl,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpo3MbLYakl
who was still staring off into nothing.
He stopped in front of her.
“Hey,” he said.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtRDN1tc20c
“Who’s your favorite character in that book?”
The girl looked up, a little startled.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkt0jOPKKko
Then she looked down at the book in her hands—25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoBdyIj4KfT
patched up with layers of tape.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBgH1mJtZVs
She didn’t answer.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYA0tnNUPhY
Just blinked, like she was thinking.
Jason waited for a bit, then clicked his tongue and took another bite of bread.
“I like Huckleberry Finn the most,” he mumbled through his chewing.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKjfM0MiSU3
“But honestly, they’re all kinda dumb.”
The corners of her lips moved slightly.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZHR4o4wLQs
It was hard to tell if it was a smile or just a breath.
The wind was a little cold.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ2paEZdrFc
Sunlight slanted across the torn corner of her page.
Jason kept chewing his bread,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtEDGjyNDF6
pretending he wasn’t waiting for her to say anything.
The girl watched the boy finish his bread.
Jason rolled his eyes inside.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡII3rQs4FPh
What am I even doing, he thought. It’s not like a mute girl can reply.
He looked down and licked the bread crumbs off his fingers.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Pg0kKS09g
That was his first meal of the day—25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc21ICa728d
and probably the last.
The calories burned off fast.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF91JAYSAXo
Even the brief feeling of fullness wasn’t planning to stay.
He was going to leave.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrYjTmtsTd1
Turn around.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCzbxPGsCxe
Go back to his world—25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW6YpL0lg7h
trash piles, torn newspapers,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsqoqtdqeFs
and that faraway, unreachable Bat-Signal.
But just as Jason was wondering what to do about dinner,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKfvGuPdo4y
the girl took a piece of bread from her pocket and held it out to him.
Jason froze.
It was untouched.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsu6LvbEApU
A whole piece of bread, wrapped in a napkin,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6gRkUtC9jJ
carefully hidden in her pocket—25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUps7H43sET
now being offered to him without hesitation.
Her fingers were a little red and swollen,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEpaNn53oRI
maybe from the cold,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4wqo7QpXaU
maybe just from standing too long.
“…You’re not hungry?” Jason asked,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFHf9W6bbot
his tone suspicious,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq6Olzep3sc
instinctively guarded.
The girl shook her head and kept offering the bread.
Her movements weren’t fast,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEMNOqDpj1B
but they weren’t hesitant either.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ02wGlsQfVW
It felt like she’d decided this from the start—25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgXCHPPwS2l
just waiting for the right moment.
Jason’s blue eyes looked at her face,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2pP7IeflUX
his mind calculating.
Alright, he thought. If she’s giving me food,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡayKoE3KdyF
I’ll show her around as a thank-you.
Maybe she didn’t even know where that was.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡylowZtdc01
Maybe she’d never been down the road to the right side of the junkyard—25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtpenT5yfp2
where there were mountains of scrap metal,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVkkEP9V4HP
piles of old newspapers,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyxlLOCyzt4
expired magazines,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz8wpDraL7S
and sometimes even a radio that still worked.
Jason reached out his hand,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1KKeCJPZzO
his palm pale from the cold wind.
“My name’s Jason. Jason Todd.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFMID365hh9
Wanna come with me to the right-side junkyard?”
The girl hesitated too, just for a second.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv8B0MUSIqV
Her eyes widened slightly.
And in that moment,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU0RZ81mwHu
Jason saw her eyes clearly for the first time.
Amber.
Clear and quiet.
He stared.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvrlxenMEic
And then—just for a second—25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmtqoFoqfgs
it felt like something lit up inside them.
Not obvious.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjsyRJAnl0S
Not bright.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6MbNTDAwKA
But like something had… woken up.
He saw his own reflection in them,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0PaFNfLZGg
carried by the warmth within.
Like in Pinocchio,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWdrfJUfUjN
when the puppet turned into a boy.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeDQqiSp9Co
When a lifeless stone began to shine,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxPY9vYTjaV
sparkling with color,25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5IfN6XA9Bu
marveling at the arrival of life.
25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKDkSUSDX1B
and then Add to home screen.