vocab

The bus stop was empty except for some 1) dogs that lay curled up under the seats. Dao 1)abandoned
watched them in 2) fear. She had not had anything to eat since morning and her tummy 2)anxiety
was starting to make loud, funny noises. She 3)tucked her cloth bag containing some old
3)
clothes, marbles she had won the day before, and books under her arm and tiptoed to the
tea stall that had already closed for the day. Bending down, she found an opening in the
tin door the owner had used as a shutter.

The tiny shop smelt of stale bread and milk. In the dim lighting, she could barely make out
the stove from the tables. She knocked into a number of things before getting used to the
interior. Dao placed her bag on a flipped-over bench that rested atop a long table and then
started to rummage the shelves. She found packets of spices and containers of sugar and
salt but could not find what she needed. She climbed on the metal stove and leant against
the shelf, stretching her slender arm to reach behind the rows and rows of tea leaf tins.

Dao swallowed back tears as she searched frantically. She could not believe the stall
seemed to hold no leftovers. She jumped down and sat cross-legged on the floor, defeated.
From the soft light that filtered through the tin opening, Dao could see clear plastic bags
containing some brown things tucked underneath the stove. She crawled under and smelt
heaven. Tearing through the plastic, she wolfed down the soft brown buns without
thought. Tears of joy streamed down her tiny face as she happily stuffed one bun after
another into her mouth.

Dao sat up straight. Her heart began to palpitate as the chatting and laughing of men grew
louder. She stopped munching and covered her mouth. Her mind raced to look for an
escape route. Maybe they were going to open the shutters. What if they interrogated her?
If they knew the truth, she was sure they would drag her back to her village. Dao sat still,
not knowing what to do.

A soft whining sound followed their chatter that seemed far away. A puppy put its face
through the opening and sniffed the bun. Although afraid, she broke the bread into tinier
pieces. The puppy sniffed the pieces before wiping the floor clean. The shadows outside the
shop soon disappeared and silence returned.

The darkness that surrounded her became a part of her. She no longer felt afraid or
hungry. Clutching her cloth bag, she curled to her side and dozed off.