Sharp-tongued Sam

Sensing the somber atmosphere that pervaded them, the man with his passable wits surmised the answer himself. "She's gone, huh.." he coldly said as he lit a crude cig, stuffing its butt between his lips.

His matted brown hair was without any groom suggesting that was among the file of paupers in the area.

"Things never change here. Mary's oldest son kicked the bucket not long ago, ya' know. They gathered some firewoods but as luck would have it, Matt was chilled to death. Fortunately, Dan survived by wearing what was left of his brother's person and came back alive."

The man grumpily retold the series of events although his eyes displayed a hue of regret, and added, "Heh, the pair's a dolt, who do they think they are? Some hardened bricks that are immune from winter's wrath? Tsk"

Pen and Paper could only listen to the middle-aged man's ramblings as good children do.

"You're dressed quite nicely today, I wonder which unlucky home got ransacked by your thieving hands?" The man then offhandedly threw a slanderous remark at the twins, evoking slight discontent from the pair.

The man's accusation was warranted, though. Given their status as destitute, it would be more of a surprise if no one noticed the incongruity.

Out of Juanito's goodwill, disguised as a necessary business expense, he tossed some pocket change to the twins. In exchange, Pen and Paper they bought some coarse winter garb for themselves, sufficient to draw their neighbor's attention.

"Ha ha! Did you check your closet, Sam? Some rats might have unfortunately lost their way into your home and robbed some goodies.." Paper grinned at the man named Sam, her firm gaze showed no sign of backing out.

"I don't have a closet, girl. With only two pairs of garments, there isn't a need for one," Sam puffed out a haze of smoke at the siblings then smirked, "You actually thought my place's a trove that's worth anything, huh?"

Seeing Sam impervious to her provocation, Paper ended their little bout by changing the subject, "How's Julia doing?" she queried with a tone laced with concern.

"Not something you twerps should worry about. Thank you for asking, though.."

Sam's poignant rebuttal inspired pity from the siblings as evidently from their conversation, Pen and Paper were not wholly ignorant of Sam's circumstances. The crude man, contrary to his uncultured tongue that grated on someone's ears, was genuinely a good man at heart.

"By the way, Sam, take these," Pen shoved a tiny gunny sack to Sam's belly and in return, caused Sam to be somewhat disgruntled by the boy's aggressive approach.

"What devious prank are you pulling now?" Sam questioned as his powerful gaze urged the twins to furnish a considerably vague answer.

"About one mile south of Bleakstone, follow the gravel path, and just before you take the curve, turn west!" Pen who had already spun on his heels and strode off, shouted while waving his hand vigorously from a distance.

"You'll know when you get there, old man! Also, that ain't free, okay?"

Sam raised his eyebrows at the twin's disappearing figures, and muttered to himself while caressing his cheek with his calloused palm, "Am I really that old?"

Then, his sharp eyes darted at the sack held tightly by his hand, a single thought in mind. "What the hell is this?"

As Sam opened the parcel like a vigilant prey against some sort of prepared trap, a tempting aroma that was equally appetizing invaded his olfactory senses.

"I-it smells good..!" He exclaimed in a muffled voice.

He could only muster a curt praise as every inspiring article requires no lengthy verbal acrobatics, at least that's what he firmly believed.

Succumbing to the temptation that prodded his heart, and nostrils, he plunged his hand inside drowning his skepticism with it.

Lifting a slab from the pile, his mouth involuntarily drew closer as he sunk his teeth onto the crust, and then deeper towards the core.

*chomp!*

"Hmm..hmmm.."

"Haa-!"

In a typical dusky alley of Bleakstone where rodents populate the gutters, a suppressed moan of delight continued to echo.

***

Juanito was busily arranging his merchandise on some organizers, ensuring a streamlined layout so patrons could comfortably peruse his wares.

Although his store was not massive enough to provide a spacious avenue to host a huge number of customers at once, it was not that tiny, either. At the very least, half a dozen of people could easily fit in with spare space to move freely, albeit requiring a bit of maneuverability.

There were display racks at both sides of the room, and at the heart of the interior was a rotating rack, odd yet equally eye catching. It had a polished metal trunk as steel branches extend outwards, lifting some kind of baskets with intricate floral pattern.

It was a symmetrical beauty made of exquisite components.

The entrance has a single glass door and an enormous glass window that stretched to the corners of the store's front. To think that the simplest booth the system has to offer was this superb.

Most awe-inspiring though was the regulated ventilation and air conditioning inside the store with the absence of physical HVAC devices.

To Juanito, it was a subtle reminder that the System was a product of divine phenomenon where logic was twisted into forms that cannot be explained by science.

'I wonder how are the twins doing..' Juanito subconsciously whispered to himself as he wiped the nonexistent dust on the cash register.

Speaking of, the store's cashier machine was nothing fancy. It was a digital electronic device with the sole purpose of regulating the outflow and inflow of money and logs every transaction that occur.

Juanito was unsure if it had some sort of hidden features, if there were, it would certainly prove beneficial. After all, despite the machine's simplistic design, he had spotted some peculiarities like a compartment on its sides that he was unable to pry open.

And most of all, it was the touch screen, the undisputed king of convenience. In his books, such magnificent gadgetry not only offered flexibility but also intuitive functionality that empowers even the most illiterate user. A full star rating.

He then stroked the surface of a square-sized, flatbed glass that was entrenched into the counter. 'This one, too..'

"Luckily, I don't have to use one of those crude handheld scanners," remarked Juanito and added, "I went off tangent there. In any case, those twins seemed to have a good head on their shoulders, I'm sure they'll do just fine."

Psyching himself up by flexing his shoulders, he embarked on another session of intense janitorial labor to alleviate his boredom, eagerly awaiting his first customer.