Including the Crumbs

Some passerby’s smiled nervously; most avoided eyes and looked down; both left you with an unseated welcome. As it happened to be, the young couple with baby was standing up. Their car overheated towing a small picketed trailer that carried all their personal belongings, not including any large appliances.

Thomas, Betty and baby Sarah were locked out; factories closed and were forced to move on west to California. Homeless, Hungry, and hurting; Sarah only had 3 diapers left but without some food soon, the diapers weren’t going to be needed.

They were broke down downtown in a small town, called Dairy town, with no milking cows or any other kind of animals anywhere to be seen coming into the place. The world was just being swallowed whole and these poor people were nothing but crumbs left on the table cloth.

Betty sat down on the curb holding Sarah when both started to cry. Thomas didn’t see who started first, but they both could have had the same pang of hunger as he did as the Bakery opened its doors right behind them. Ginger the baker’s wife seen the situation, went inside and came back out with a loaf of warm sliced bread, butter and coffee. She sat right down on the curb next to Betty, introduced herself and asked if the baby had a bottle. Thomas went to the car, grabbed the bottle from the back seat and Ginger was already at his heels asking if powered milk was ok and both of them said yes immediately.

Sarah was finally settled drinking her bottled milk; Ginger began talking about the mad cow disease wiping out the dairy and other cattle very quickly. Then she mentioned how Butch, her husband had been the town’s butcher but had to start baking to make an income.

Betty was about to shake the crumbs from her napkin, but Ginger physically stopped her and told her that around here we save everything now days, including the crumbs.

© 2011 Michael Yost