Serina wonderland's Arc

Chapter 2 of 9

The girl kept eating. Serina watched crumbs fall to the counter and did not brush them away. The loaf for the boy sat two feet from the girl's elbow, wrapped in brown paper, tied with kitchen string. Serina had baked it for him. She had pictured his face when he opened it. Now a barefoot child stood chewing beside it, and Serina could not lift the wrapped loaf without lifting it past those eyes. She tore off another piece of the unwrapped loaf and set it on the counter. The girl took it. Serina waited for the guilt to lift. It did not. The wrapped loaf still pulled at her hand. She thought about carrying it out the door with the girl watching, and her stomach turned. "What's your name?" Serina asked. "Cheshire." "Are you hungry still?" "My stomach is quiet here," Cheshire said. She looked at the wrapped loaf. "That one is for someone." "Yes." "Then take it to him." Serina put her hands flat on the counter. She thought of the boy at the coffee shop months ago. Tall, freckled, a soft smile. She had rehearsed a line and paid for her drink and walked out without saying it. She had baked this loaf to try again. If she left now, she could put it in his hands by afternoon. But she could not walk past a hungry child holding a wrapped gift full of feeling. The gift would sour on the way. She knew it the way she knew when dough had turned. She untied the string. She cut the loaf in half on the board. She wrapped one half again in fresh paper. "This is yours," she said, and pushed the other half toward Cheshire. "For later. For tonight." Cheshire touched the paper. "You're giving him half." "I'm giving him enough." Cheshire nodded once. She tucked the half loaf under her arm like it belonged there. Then she pointed out the window, across the lane, at a shuttered storefront with a faded sign. Queen of Hearts. The awning still held its stripes. "I sleep there sometimes," Cheshire said. "If you want to know where the bread goes." Serina looked at the shop. She had passed it a hundred times and never looked twice. She saw it now. "I'll come by," Serina said. Cheshire slipped out the door. Serina stood alone with half a loaf wrapped in fresh paper and her apron dusted with flour. The gift was smaller now. It was also honest. She picked it up. Her hand did not shake. She stepped out from behind the counter and stopped. She did not know where the boy lived. She had never asked. She had baked the loaf as if the walk would invent itself. She set the half loaf back on the counter. She untied her apron. She would have to find him first.