Jamie rolled the rickety wheelbarrow with two cases of beer down the cobblestone streets around to the cellar entrance. There he lifted up the metal doors and rolled the wheelbarrow down the ramp into the cellar. It reeked of spilled, rancid beer and there were only a few lights that weren’t broken. Jamie always caught himself staring into the shadows, thinking he saw crouching figures or dogs but there was never anything down there with him. He’d unload the beer into the freezer room and load up whatever they were short on, sometimes throwing in a few bottles of wine from the wine room.

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The snow was grey and hard, riddled with pebbles from the road. Little black squirrels ran to and fro, too fast to seem natural. Chennauk waited for the school bus, the winter sunlight too bright and her backpack too heavy with books. The bus was late and all that passed were rusty pickups spraying muddy water and gravel. The birds chirped and it should have been a happy morning but she had lost the drawing and nothing could make up for that.

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They enjoyed a candle-lit dinner on a large oak table loaded with exquisite delicacies- glazed ducks on huge silver trays, salmon, mountains of beautifully carved vegetables, salads, a castle shaped out of mashed potatoes dripping with gravy. At least fifty candles flickered on the table, all in polished silver candle-holders, and the yellow candle-light glinted off all the gleaming silver and illuminated the sumptuous entrees. A pig head blindly held an apple in its glistening mouth, cubes of tofu dripped with an exotic sesame wine sauce. One platter contained four types of octopus, each a different color. Trent raised his glass to toast his new bride, Marbie. She grinned and raised her glass, her delicate hand trembling slightly. “Here’s to a life of feasting together!” Trent pronounced.

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