Never Miss Lunch (Paige)

Maria was mystified at first at their nonchalance. Her idea of orphanages were inherently negative from the very idea that they lost their parents and sometimes by extension their family. Yet, these kids seemed happy enough. Truly, there were a lot of firsts for the girl today.

She finally broke out into a smile, "I see... That's a relief."

While not knowing what exactly what the Blue Brothers are, the reassurance that they were fine allowed her to start relaxing. But, Sarah's eagerness was starting to make her feel at unease again. She started to rub the back of her neck in thought. Then she patted Sarah's head.

"Mmn... Do they teach you cat's cradle?" she finally asked while nonchalantly pulling out a looped string.

It was a mundane past time that she did with her younger siblings. With the string looping around her fingers, she finally made a specific pattern of a diamond between her hands.

    Sarah seemed almost disappointed by Maria's response. That mood immediately flipped into curiosity the moment the older girl began stringing the yarn across her fingers. "Why's it called Cat's Cradle if there's no cats with it?"

    "That's like asking why Blue Bell is called Blue Bell when the ice cream isn't blue and it's a cow instead of a bell as the logo."

    "But cows wear bells, so it's okay!"

    "It's the same thing. Don't take it so literally."

    "But you're the one-!"

    "MARIA." Ms. Manry cut in sharply, her voice sugary sweet. "Why don't you teach Sarah how to play? I'm sure she'd love to learn."

    The two children grudgingly stopped, Derrick sipping at his drink and Sarah watching the string intently. Ms. Manry leaned back and sighed, pleased she'd been able to intervene before their lunch went too out of hand.



    Some time passed before Ms. Manry pulled out her phone and frowned at the screen. She tapped it a few times, typed in something, waited a moment, then sighed and began collecting the children's trash. "Come on, you two. Mr. Belicek wants you guys back."

    "Now?" Sarah whined, the string wrapped around her hands as she attempted to copy a design Maria showed her. After earning a nod, Sarah morosely handed the string back to Maria and hopped down from her seat, windmilling her arms slightly as if stretching. Derrick quietly piled his trash in his hot dog container and walked to the trash bin a few feet away, dumping it off before returning to the table. From his place he quickly picked up a few napkins he'd doodled on while the girls were busy, folding them carefully and placing them and his pen back in his pocket.

    "Thank you for being so nice and spending some time with them." Ms. Manry smiled, standing and ruffling Sarah's hair. "I'm sure they were glad to talk to someone closer to their age." After a moment she frowned, as if recalling something. "Will you be able to find your way home alright?"

The girl was about to answer Sarah, but she found herself at a rut and fell silent. Maria pouted her lips in thought when she was asked that question. All she knew that it was called by that, but she was never really the curious type then. Back then as a little brat, she was more wowed by new things that caught her eye while being amazed by the novelty than anything.

She blinked at how quickly the two children were in getting into another argument. Liz had been quick this time to act as the authoritative and constructive figure. Maria approvingly beamed a smile back at her.

"Sure! Now watch carefully. You could get confused here..." she started to hold the pattern towards Sarah and began giving her instructions how to enjoy this game.



All good times came to an end, the children had to go. Maria smiled back at her and let her keep the string, "Keep it. You'll practice won't you? I think you've got the hang of it."

Maria started to stand with the empty plastic plate with the remains of pizza grease stains and napkins. It was an alright lunch, it was enjoyable really.

"Don't worry about it. I had fun too," she chuckled back at Liz, "I'll be fine. I can manage. The rest of you should get going. It looks like they're waiting."

Judging by that phone call and Liz's announcement, it must've been the facility's patriarch. She walked over to Liz and handed her cellphone number on a napkin that was hastily etched on. "If it's okay, can I come by from time to time? I'd like to meet you guys again."

Maria wasn't quite sure if it would be possible for her to come out to the orphanage and skip work again. But she would make it work somehow. If there was a will, there was a way.

"I hope to see you two again," she ruffled both Sarah's and Derrick's heads while giving them a toothy smile, , "I'll see you later. See ya."

She waved to the three and left.

[Exit]

    Ms. Manry took the napkin from Maria's hand with a nod. "Oh, of course you can! I'm sure you'll be welcome. We can even sign it off as volunteer hours if you'd like." Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a small card with an address printed on it. "Here's the business card. The address is on there plus the phone number, so you'll be able to find it."

    "Bye!" Sarah grinned up at Maria, giggling as her pigtails were ruffled. Derrick, on the other hand, merely nodded and straightened his hair afterwards. The three waved goodbye as the girl left, and after a moment Ms. Manry ushered them towards the ferry boat, intent on getting them home.