Alis looked across the road at a bakery, and he gravitated toward the window where pastries were on display.

“What are those?”

Alis sniffed, and despite the fact that they looked appetizing, they smelled wonderful. Alis walked in and stepped toward the display window and grabbed a small cake. He then walked out the door, and the owner grabbed him and pulled him back inside by the collar of his shirt.

“If you’re going to steal, do it less obviously.”

Alis said, “But I wasn’t stealing. I’m hungry.”

The owner grabbed the cake from him and said with a face full of disgust, “Get out.”

Alis grumbled and left with an air of great rage. He stomped through the streets and looked at food through the windows, and he knew that the second he’d try to eat them, he’d get in trouble. Alis crossed his arms and then saw, on his left, a street vendor selling a bunch of food. The smell wafted toward Alis with the wind, and he hurriedly walked toward it. It wasn’t a building that housed the food, so surely it was free to grab. Alis walked up, but he couldn’t see any food, only a man wearing an apron and a bandana staring down at him. 

“Um, sir, can I have some food?”

The man asked, “What would you like?”

Alis smiled joyfully and then halted. What did he want? He knew that he definitely didn’t want salad, soup, or chicken, as Mr. Keller had always fed him. The man saw Alis’ confusion quite clearly, and he pointed at his menu by Alis’ feet.

“Oh!”
Alis studied the menu and didn’t understand what half the names entailed, so he said one randomly, “Could I get the skewer?”

The man asked, “Beef or chicken?”

Alis blurted immediately, “Beef!”
The man chuckled a little and then said, “That will be five Roi.”

Alis paused and asked, “Is Roi money?”

The man quirked his brow and then noticed Alis’ dirty shirt and shorts. He wasn’t even wearing any shoes. The man sighed and said, “This is the only time I’ll give you anything, you got it? Beggar?”

Alis’ smile disappeared, and he softly said, “Alright.”

After a while the man handed Alis a wooden stick that was sanded smooth with chunks of meat poked through it. Alis struggled to figure out how to eat it and tried to shove it in his mouth, but it stabbed his throat, and he choked. The man said with annoyed amusement, “Eat it from the side or take the meat off the stick, idiot.”

Alis did as the man explained by eating it from the side, and then he felt the juices of the meat explode in his mouth, and he exclaimed with joy.

“It’s so good!”

Alis’ mouth was full of food, so it was nearly impossible to comprehend what he said, but the man understood. This wasn’t the first time someone reacted this way to his cooking.

“Thank you,” he said with a smile.