Excerpt: The Rats of Alamir

So where are us girls supposed to go? Those jobs are harder to find than the stupid boys seem to realize. So the first place girls often turn to after that is that orphanage.
As I said, I’m not sure what it’s like. But I’ve seen some of the faces of those who live there, and the desolation is awful to watch. And because of the boys’ idea that we don’t need to meddle with them, and therefore we shouldn’t, that place is left full of mostly girls.
That’s why it’s worst for us, you see. After losing our home or whatever it is we had before the streets, we get herded in to that place.
Luckily, we don’t all end up there. Otherwise there might be a lot of us finding ways to get to that next city over. There are some gangs that let us in. Not a lot, not in comparison, but enough to open their arms to anyone who finds ‘em.
That’s where I ended up, thank the gods. Our gang is mostly girls, since not many boys want to get mixed up with a gang with actual girls in it. They call those of us girls who made their way in the streets “rats,” like the little vermin who make it through cracks in the road and carry filth and disease everywhere they go.
It hurts a little, their motive behind the name, but just like with half of their ideas, they didn’t think it all through. Otherwise, they might have realized that they named us after one of the craftiest, most resourceful creatures out there, one that never goes away completely, just goes in to hiding until it’s smart to come out again.
They never do understand why we call ourselves Rat Gangs, but I suppose there are some things those close-minded dolts will never get.