The story begins in May 2630. Nine-year-old Ronnie and his fourteen-year-old sister Alice had spent half a year traveling north along the coast from Tecoman in southwestern Mexico to Shire Town. Ronnie was only 1.2 meters tall, dark-skinned, dressed in dirty rags, his small feet without socks, set in a pair of old sneakers, walking with his feet pointed out, posing like a penguin; his sister Alice was 1.7 meters tall, with a small round face, a pair of big blue eyes like jewels, and a head of long black hair, her body slender and taut, like a female warrior.
It had been half a month since they arrived in Shire Town, and the siblings' purpose was to join the City-state, but unfortunately, the City-state required that one be at least sixteen years old before one could apply, so they had to wait patiently for another two years. They had been living off the City-state relief station for half a month, but in the last two days the station had stopped delivering food. Ronnie's stomach rumbled with hunger, and he decided to go out in search of food to keep himself and his sister from starving. The duo usually stayed at the aid station. Taking advantage of his sister's absence, he made his way to the streets of Shire Town, taking a step along the busy streets, his eyes searching for something to eat. He walked into a restaurant and tried to find some scraps of food, but the owner kicked him out within a few steps of entering. He went to two more fruit stands, hoping to pick up some rotting fruit, but was equally disappointed. At that moment, a wave of sadness washed over his heart, and he felt like an abandoned puppy. But at that moment, an old man in tattered clothes walked up to him. "Child, are you hungry?"
Ronnie nodded, and the old man led him into an alley, opened a worn wooden box, and took out half a loaf of bread and a bitten apple. "Eat, son, you must have been hungry for days." Ronnie took it gratefully and took a bite of the bread, maybe he ate too fast, he felt like he was choking and tried to vomit but couldn't, so he coughed desperately.
"Son, are you all right?" the old man patted his back and said, "don't worry, you'll be fine, I'll get you a glass of water."After he finished speaking, he immediately turned and walked out of the alley.
"Cough cough cough!" Ronnie continued to cough, and it was hard for him to slow down. The old man had gotten a bowl of water from somewhere and was carrying it carefully for fear of spilling it.
"Son, drink it, slowly, don't choke," the old man said kindly and handed him the water.
"Thank you." Ronnie reached out and took it, tilting his head back and taking several gulps.
He finished his drink and wiped the corners of his mouth with his sleeve before handing the bowl back. The old man took it, looked at him with a smile and said, "My name is Glenn, son, and you?"
Ronnie hesitated before saying, "My name is Ronnie."
"How come you're alone? where are your parents?"
"My father died when I was very young, and my mother passed away a few years ago due to illness, leaving my sister and me alone," Ronnie answered, sounding a bit sad.
"Oh ..." Glenn nodded, "poor kid!"
"Mr. Glenn, I would like to ask why the aid station hasn't been restocked with food in the last two days?" Ronnie couldn't help but look up and ask.
"I heard there was a riot in the city-state recently, some city guards were killed and the city-state suspended supplies to the aid station to find the real culprits," Glenn said and sighed. "unfortunately, I don't know when the food supply will resume."
Ronnie said nothing and lowered his head to take a bite of the remaining bread in his hand. After saying goodbye to the kind Mr. Glenn, he walked on.
The streets of Shire Town were wide and clean, with shops lining both sides, a delicate and elegant building in between, and occasionally the melodious and pleasant sound of a piano could be heard. However, these sights had no attraction for him, as he walked aimlessly, stopping suddenly when he noticed a small shop selling bread not far ahead, with a simple wooden table set up in front of the shop, beside the table stood a woman with a thin figure, stirring the egg mixture in a large basin with an egg beater. Ronnie swallowed and walked over. The woman didn't seem to notice his proximity, still focused on the task at hand.
"Ma'am ....." Ronnie called out, but the woman did not answer.
He called again, and this time the woman finally raised her head and asked with a panicked look on her face, "You, who are you?"
"May I ask if your shop is looking for an apprentice? I want to learn how to make cakes!" Ronnie said eagerly, knowing that such a chance was very slim, but still holding out for a chance.
"I'm sorry, I don't take apprentices," the woman shook her head in panic and refused, "It's just a small shop here, I don't need two people."
"Oh ... well then," Ronnie said in a disappointed tone and turned to walk away. He walked back to the subsidized station. His sister Alice had long since returned and was sitting on a worn-out backpack, staring blankly with a hand on her cheek. When she saw him, she stood up sharply and shouted angrily, "Ronnie, where have you been? didn't I tell you not to run around?"
"Sorry!" Ronnie lowered his head in shame, admitted his mistake to his sister, and pulled an apple out of his chest and handed it to her, "This is what kind Mr. Glenn gave me, sister, eat it!"
Alice, however, did not reach out to take it, but pushed it back, "I'm not hungry, you eat!"
"You're all empty-handed, how can you not be hungry?" Ronnie said, forcing the apple into her arms, then asked, "Sister, have you found a job yet?"
"No, this town only has a population of over two thousand people, most of whom make their living from fishing, so it's hard to find other jobs."
Ronnie looked disappointed after hearing this.The two of them discussed their future plans.If they continued like this, there was a real possibility that they would starve to death.
"Sister,let's go to the beach and have a look, if we're lucky we can catch some fish to eat," Ronnie suggested.
"Okay!" Alice couldn't think of a better way, so she nodded her head in agreement. The duo grabbed their respective backpacks and headed for the beach. The beach was only about three hundred meters from the town, and the siblings reached it quickly. Looking at the azure sea and the empty beach, they couldn't really see any hope. Ronnie looked around and found a small fishing boat in the distance, turned his head to look at his sister and said, "Let's go over and take a look, maybe we can get something.”
"Okay!" Alice nodded and bent down to take off her shoes, revealing a pair of snow-white bare feet treading the sand. Ronnie followed her example, but as soon as he took off a shoe, he covered his nose and shouted sharply, "Sister, your feet stink!"
"My feet don't stink, Ronnie, how long has it been since you washed your feet?"
Ronnie scratched his head in embarrassment, "Two months ..."
"Giggle giggle ... you little guy, you're really getting sloppy!" Alice laughed at that.
The two of them walked towards the fishing boat one after the other. As they approached, judging by the water stains on the deck of the boat, it hadn't been docked for long.Alice called out twice and was slightly disappointed when she didn't hear a response. Possibly because of the low tide, the boat was anchored on a very shallow beach.The two of them walked along the side of the boat, their footprints on the soft sand making a "rustling" sound.As they walked and searched low, they suddenly saw a sea crab struggling to crawl not far away. It was quite big, and because it had broken its leg, it was crawling with particular difficulty.Alice rushed over, crouched down and grabbed it, then stood up and looked around again, trying to catch another one, but unfortunately found nothing. Ronnie also ran over excitedly and yelled happily, "Great, there's food for dinner."