808
When Benson heard the knock, he thought the neighbor's child had come asking him for sweets again.
As a government employee and a deputy minister who had only recently been promoted because of personnel changes and the war, Benson had indeed suffered a slight reduction in salary, but life had not become straitened as a result. Melissa's school had not suspended classes either. According to her, the portions in the school cafeteria had indeed shrunk, and the food tasted somewhat worse than before, but it was still edible-after all, the Moretti family had never been wealthy.
They still lived the same peaceful lives as before, eating lunch at school and work respectively, then bringing some food home to share for dinner and putting away any leftover bread and sliced meat for breakfast the next morning.
The Moretti family's neighbor was also a government employee, but differences in salary and position, along with his larger household, meant they had been affected more severely. Occasionally, when Benson and Melissa went out, they would see the wife or an elderly member of that household returning with bread, wearing a veil and hat.
More often, however, they came back empty-handed.
Thus, Benson and Melissa had also reached an understanding. Out of mutual respect, they chose to occasionally invite the neighbor's child, who was not yet ten, to eat dinner with them, or give him some sweets, biscuits, and small rolls Melissa brought back from school.
A child could not eat much, and Benson and Melissa were trustworthy, good neighbors. The neighboring family therefore expressed their gratitude. Although they could not do so with money, they often had the child bring over small gifts, such as simple origami or handkerchiefs sewn by the lady of the house.
"Isn't it a little late today? What