"Thank you" the man mumbled quietly as he heard the clinking of coins landing into his cup.

He didn't look up,he was too busy rubbing his hands together in a futile attempt to keep them warm.

Autumn was turning into winter and the days were becoming shorter,the nights colder.

It was Dec's first winter sleeping on the streets and he was terrified.

He still couldn't believe it had come to this,how he had ended up here and his eyes started to fill with tears as he attempted to push the painful memories to the back of his mind once again.

By now,he'd got used to the constant rumbling in his stomach from lack of food,but watching people go past with burgers or chips in their hands or coming out of restaurants with full bellies and take home boxes was hard to take.

Now and again a kind person would buy him a sandwich or a coffee,but it was rare and barely enough to keep a grown man going.

He glanced around at the busy London street in a well known tourist hot spot.

He had deliberately chosen this area because of the tourists,he didn't know for sure,but thought maybe they would be more generous than people who were just going about their every day lives,not even noticing or giving a second thought to anyone who was down on their luck.

Covent Garden.

How he had loved the cobbled pavements when he first arrived down south from Newcastle.

The hustle and bustle,the nightlife,the street entertainment...all of it.

But now it took on a whole new meaning.

With touristy areas also came drunken revellers..the bane of Dec's life.

These people on lovely nights out with their friends,often thought it was hilarious to taunt Dec...insult him,belittle him and sometimes even assault him.

He'd lost count of the number of times he'd been kicked,often under the pretence of someone accidentally tripping over or been spat on and once almost urinated on.

Thankfully the culprits equally drunk mates dragged him away before he could go ahead with the offensive action.

But it reminded Dec yet again that he was nothing...invisible...and no one gave a damn.

He tried to sleep,but never managed more than an hour or two at a time,it was too scary and obviously uncomfortable,he missed his warm,cosy bed as he laid down on the hard pavement,pulling his coat tighter around his frail body.

He tried to put all thoughts of his previous life out of his mind...his wife,his daughter,his family up north who he was now estranged from.

He managed to sleep that particular night for around an hour and knew once he was awake,he would probably be awake for the rest of the night.

He peered into his cup and started counting out his coins into the palm of his hand.

£1.46.

Not even enough for a sandwich he thought to himself,so decided to wait a while longer and hopefully raise a bit more caah before trudging off to the nearby supermarket.

Instead,he decided to get up and go for a wander,stretch his legs,get some exercise,so tucked what little bit of belongings he had under the railings of a fence and made his way into the late night revellers.

He'd got used to the looks of disgust on people's faces by now,how they looked down their noses at him and screwed their faces up in disapproval,parents not particularly tactfully dragging their kids out of his path.

He couldn't say he blamed them.

He wasn't a particularly appealing sight,still in the same clothes he was wearing months ago when his wife had chucked him out onto the streets,he tried his best to freshen himself up in the public toilets every day,but he had no doubt that he still stunk.

He decided to sit on a bench for a while,watching everyone as they went about their business,this was his only form of entertainment now,he'd soon got bored with all the street entertainers,there was only a certain amount of times a person could watch the same singer,juggler or comedian before they became totally bored with their routines.

But he liked people watching.

He liked to imagine what these strangers lives were like,creating his own little scenarios in his head.

After a couple of hours of doing this,he decided to return to his patch,maybe he'd even be able to get a little bit more sleep,but he knew that was unlikely.

As he approached the area,he spotted something that wasn't there before,something purple that definitely wasn't his.

As he pulled his very few belongings out from under the fence,screwed up tightly amongst them was a large blanket.

Dec unfolded it and glanced around,wondering who had left it there?

Was it meant for him or had some other homeless person moved in on his patch?

He hoped it wasn't the latter as being as small and frail as he was from lack of nourishment,he knew he would always lose in a fist fight,which was how these disputes were usually settled.

He kept a watch out in case someone came and reclaimed it,but no one did,so eventually he unfolded the blanket and pulled it around his shoulders and up to his chin.

He took a deep breath in,burying his face into the soft fabric,it smelt clean.

That was a smell he hadn't enjoyed for a long time,the smell of freshly washed laundry and it was a little piece of heaven.

An unexpected tear suddenly rolled down his cheek,such a small act of kindness from a stranger meant so much to him and he wished he could thank whoever it was who had left it.

The night was long as they always were,Dec had always been afraid of the dark so they were particularly terrifying for him being out on the streets,he longed for summer when the days would be longer and this whole situation might be a little easier,although he hoped to God that he wouldn't still be homeless by then.

He looked around him with a heavy heart.

There was Bob.

Dec didn't know how old he was or his backstory,but didn't doubt he looked a lot older than his actual years.

Bob had apparently been on the streets for years and it had obviously taken it's toll on his mental health,but no one cared.

You could barely get a conversation out of Bob now,he talked a lot,but only to himself and nobody could make head nor tail of his mutterings,but he was harmless.

Then there was Betty,who had been evicted by her landlord after her husband died as she couldn't keep up with the rent,having no family or friends to turn to,she had also ended up on the streets.

She was a kind lady though,she was older than Dec and she had taken him under her wing,bringing leftover food over to share with Dec that she'd fished out of bins.

Dec couldn't believe he'd been reduced to eating other people's rubbish and he refused to do it to start with,until Betty pointed out it was either that or starve to death.

By now he had very little pride left anyway,so didn't really care anymore.

"Morning Betty" Dec smiled,as the kindly lady came and sat next to him once day started to break "what delicious delicacies do you have for me today?"

"Look at this" Betty grinned as she opened a dirty paper bag "got some bagel with salmon and cream cheese"

"How posh are we?" Dec laughed.

"Definitely going up in the world" Betty nodded as she took out the half eaten bagel and tore what was left in half and offered one piece to Dec.

"Thanks" Dec smiled,sniffing it cautiously before wolfing it down gratefully.

"What's this?" Betty asked as she took the corner of the blanket into her bony fingers.

"Someone left it here last night" Dec shrugged "it's so nice and warm"

"Wow,you're lucky" Betty smiled "who?"

"No idea" Dec frowned "just a passer by I guess,probably had no use for it anymore and I saved them a trip to the charity shop"

"Wish someone would leave me a blanket" Betty said sadly.

"Oh,I'm sorry" Dec quickly replied,while lifting the blanket up "come on,get in"

"That's ok sweetheart" Betty smiled "better be on my way anyway"

"Well,you're welcome under my blanket anytime you like Betty" Dec said kindly.

"Thanks" Betty smiled as she stood up "same time tomorrow then?"

She liked to spend her days wondering around hunting for food rather than sitting begging for money as Dec and many others chose to do,she thought it was a much more productive use of her time.

"Yep" Dec grinned "steak and chips tomorrow please"

Dec could only dream,most days Betty didn't come back with anything at all,but he often fantasised about his favourite meal,closing his eyes and feeling his mouth water as he imagined the perfectly cooked steak with chips,peas and a good dollop of ketchup on the side.

"Hmmmm" he hummed to himself and licked his lips as Betty wandered away.

That night,he went through his usual routine and after returning to his makeshift bed from sitting on a bench to watch people,he prepared to settle down under his new blanket.

As he did so,something fell out.

"What the...?" He mumbled to himself.

He picked up the two objects that had been wrapped inside the blanket.

Gloves!

Dec looked around for a clue as to who might have left them,but in such a busy area,there was no way he could know,they were probably long gone anyway.

He wondered if some lovely person was going around and leaving gifts to all homeless people,but judging by Betty's reaction to his blanket that morning,he knew that was unlikely.

It seemed like someone was leaving him very much needed presents.

But who and why?