Plum Blossom | Completed

Bonus Chapter Three

"Mellisa Leaves Her Family And Friends"

When Mellisa left the hospital, she wandered around aimlessly. She had no plan; nothing to do and nowhere to be. She was tired and hungry, but most of all, she was mentally exhausted from the events of the day.

As she walked around, she eventually found herself in front of a soup kitchen. Hesitantly, she walked in. No matter what her circumstances in life had been, this was a place she had never ended up in. So, she didn't know what to expect.

Walking through the doors, she stood aside in a corner, observing everyone and everything without getting in anyone's way.

"Are you lost?" came a voice from across the room, startling her. She looked up to see a middle-aged man behind a counter. She walked towards him.

"Not really. Do you mind if I just hung out here for a little while? I'll keep out of everyone's way," she said.

"Sure. Sit anywhere you'd like. Do you want to grab a plate? You look like you haven't eaten in days," the man offered. After a minute, Mellisa quietly nodded.

"I'm Sam," the man said as he filled her plate. "I run this soup kitchen."

"Mellisa," she quietly introduced herself as she took the plate from Sam before heading over to a corner table and quietly eat her food. It was nothing great; quite tasteless, in fact. But she couldn't complain. It still counted as sustenance, and she was hungry.

Once she was done, she returned her tray and thanked Sam for the meal. She no longer had a reason to stick around.

"Come back any time you'd like," he'd told her as she walked towards the door. So, she did – the next day and then the one after that. It gave her something to do each day, somewhere to be. Other than that, she only had the musty walls of the crappy motels to keep her company. It was all she could afford with her quickly diminishing bank balance.

Within a week, she had made friends with Sam, talking with him a little each day, never really divulging anything about herself.

"Hey Sam?" she called out as she arrived one day when the place seemed more crowded than usual, "What's happening? Why the rush today?"

"It's known to happen every now and then, usually towards the end of the month when people aren't feeling as generous with their donations," he shrugged.

"And you manage all this on your own?" Mellisa asked incredulously.

"I get help sometimes, but everything is on a voluntary basis, including the rations we get," Sam commented.

"Mind if I jump in?"

"I'm not going to say no to an extra pair of hands, especially when we're running low on food."

"I can make more. What do we have?"

"I'm not sure. Check the pantry."

"Will do. Do you have a set menu?"

"No. Go crazy."

Forty minutes later, the patrons witnessed a menu change with a random mix of dishes Mellisa made from whatever was available – lentil curry and rice, spam quiche, pita bread with a yogurt dip and mashed potatoes.

"What the hell, Mellisa? When I told you to go crazy, I wasn't expecting this. How much is this going to cost?" Sam bellowed as he watched her dish out generous portions of the dishes to her patrons.