Fanny hated the early morning shift at the Moonbase. Every week someone had to guard the Moonbase from midnight to five in the morning—and it was the turn of a certain Head of Decommissioning.
Fanny sat alone in the Moonbase cafeteria. No one stayed so late, not even Chad, the Supreme Leader at the time.
Fanny sighed. "Okay, first day. Just another…" She did the math in her head. "Six days to go." She laid her head on the table, frustrated and bored.
"Numbuh 86?" A male voice said from above her.
"Whaddya want, boy?" Fanny asked, sitting up. As she noticed who she was talking to, she quickly corrected herself. "I mean, Numbuh 274, sir?"
"Just wanted to keep you company," Chad said, sitting down across from her.
Fanny said nothing, just laid her head back down on the table.
"I'll take that as acceptance," Chad said. He wrapped his fingers around his mug of hot cocoa.
There was a silence as Chad sipped at his chocolate.
Chad quietly put his mug down and reached for a brown paper bag sitting next to it. "Cookie?" he asked.
Fanny looked up, raised her eyebrows, and said, "Not from a boy."
"Whatever." Chad reached into the bag, pulled out a cookie and broke it in half anyway, offering it to Fanny. "Here, 86. You deserve it."
Fanny sighed, accepting the cookie. "All right."
They sat together in silence again.
After a while, Chad stood up and said, "Um, I have to go. See you later, 86."
Fanny said nothing, just watched him go. She bit on her cookie and sat there in thought.
x-x-x-x-x-x
The next day was the same. Fanny would sit in the cafeteria alone, and Chad would come with his hot chocolate and a bag of cookies, always offering one to her.
And every morning, she would accept.
They would sit in silence, and after about an hour, Chad would leave.
x-x-x-x-x-x
Every day for the week Fanny had to do the early shift, Chad would come along. The routine would be the same, and both kids had become accustomed to it.
And when it was Chad's turn to do the early shift, Fanny would always come along with a mug of hot chocolate and a brown paper bag full of cookies.
