The Ballad of Fritz

By Antony Shaw

Fritz was homeless. He would do anything for a cigarette - even a dare on Halloween. But he didn't like Halloween.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Sep 29, 2018
• ISBN: 9780244120634

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The Ballad of Fritz

The Ballad of Fritz

Back in the 1970’s I was a young boy and Fritz was an old, homeless person. He wore a large overcoat that looked like it was expensive when new. The belt was missing and Fritz would fasten it closed with a length of old rope. His shoes were badly worn and toe-less. His dirty toes would wriggle when it rained, like grubs taking a drink.

I think he was a foreigner because he had a funny accent and someone told me that ‘Fritz’ is not an English name. He spent his days searching the pavements for fag ends. He was permanently bent over: a result, I thought, of searching the pavements for so long. The only time that I saw him look up was when he was spoken to. Others said he looked down because that was the direction he was going.

I had one sibling, Elvira, my sister. Born in ‘59, dad wanted to call her