It was a few months later, August, and an especially hot one at that. The heat had annoyed baby Dot so much, that she scooted into a puddle in the shade and was laying herself into the filthy water to cool off.

She felt horrible. She, of course, didn't know that what she was feeling was malnutrition, but she did know that she was very hungry. She and her brothers weren't getting the right amount of food each day, if they got food at all.

Even though she was a baby, Dot knew that she was missing something. There is something in a baby that makes it look for a mother, and Dot didn't have a mother or a father. And she knew that neither Yakko nor Wakko was her father. Babies know who their siblings are, too. They know that siblings are for playing with, and it is the parents who must take care of them.

Dot gave a small muffled cry. She was so confused. Where was her mother? Why did her brother have to take care of her? Shouldn't her mother be doing that?

Wakko heard Dot's cry, and scooted over towards his sister. ~Shh,~ he thought to her. Could she hear his thoughts the way Yakko could? Who knew? He looked down at her, with her skin seemingly stretched too much over her bones, making her look emaciated, not plump, like most babies are.

Yakko was a few feet away, taking deep breaths and shaking uncontrollably. That's it! He just couldn't live like this. He looked like an extremely short and emaciated twelve-year-old. (This might not seem very old, but that was three times Yakko's real age.) ~I can't take this anymore,~ he thought to himself. ~I'm going to run away!~

He stood up with such determination, and was about to head off when he saw his brother and sister sitting in the filthy puddle. Wakko, a skinny, dirty, troubled-looking mess, was holding Dot against his chest, trying to comfort her. Dot, who was so tiny and thin it was definitely unhealthy, was crying uncontrollably. Wakko looked up at Yakko silently.

Yakko's shoulders slumped in defeat, and he wept. "I can't do it."

~Do what?~ asked Wakko.

"I was about to run away."

Wakko looked horrified. ~You can't do that! We need you!~ He then smiled weakly. ~You need some cheering up. You're welcome to share our puddle.~

Yakko laughed softly. "Thanks, bro," he said, sitting down next to his sibs and hugging them reassuringly.

"C'mon kids, keep up!"

Yakko got up and looked outside the alley that they were in. He saw a lady walking by. She was dragging along two kids, a boy and a girl, and all three of them had big brown paper sacks.

"Aw, Mom, why do we hafta do this?" complained the boy.

"Because," said the mother, "there are people who need this extra food more than we do. You don't even like tomato soup!"

"Will the people who go to the food pantry like it?" asked the girl.

"If they're hungry enough, they'll like anything," said the mother. Yakko poked his head around the corner and watched them walk into a nearby building.

~Hungry people? Well, that's us, isn't it?~ Yakko looked back at Wakko, who apparently heard what they had said. ~That sounds like a plan, unless you're allergic to that kind of hospitality.~

"No," said Yakko slowly. "Right now, I'd do anything to get us some food. But what if we have to pay?"

~We won't know unless we follow them,~ reasoned Wakko. ~Which is better than sitting in this alley and starving.~

Yakko looked out of the alley and watched the mother and her children leave the building without the sacks and leave in the opposite direction. "Alright, let's go." He picked up Dot, held Wakko's hand, and walked straight up to the door.

Yakko looked at Wakko. "Should we knock?"

Wakko shrugged. ~I dunno. Try it.~

Uncertainly, Yakko knocked on the door. A few moments later, a woman answered it.

"Hello?" she asked, looking at her eye level. "The door's always open… anyone there?"

"Down here," said Yakko. The woman looked down at the direction of the voice and gasped.

"Oh my gosh! You poor kids! Come inside!"

"We don't have to pay, right?" asked Yakko.

"Of course not!" said the woman, brushing some of her shoulder length blonde hair out of her brown eyes and ushering the siblings in. "This is the food pantry, and its purpose is to help people in need."

"Thank you very much," said Yakko. The woman ran off to one of the shelves.

There were a fair number of shelves. Yakko spent a few moments just taking it all in. The woman came back with a baby bottle filled with formula.

"Your sister needs some nourishment, I'd say. Do you know what kind of formula she drinks?"

~What?~ thought Yakko. "Uhh… I don't know."

"Well, this formula is pretty general. May I have her?"

Yakko hesitated, but gave the woman his baby sister. She held Dot professionally and started feeding her with the bottle. Dot began to suck it in gulps.

~Is this my mother?~ wondered Dot. But no, she wasn't… she would know if she was. But then, who was?

"As for you and your brother, I'll fix you some macaroni and cheese. Do you kids like that?"

"As long as it's food, we'll eat it," said Yakko gratefully.

The woman, who was still feeding Dot, went to the stove to heat some water. "You poor kids. I've never seen anyone-kid or adult-as skinny as you. Do your parents have trouble making ends meet?"

"We don't have parents," said Yakko bluntly.

"Oh! You poor kids!" said the woman.

"Look, don't feel pity for us," said Yakko. "I feel enough pity for myself."

"It's hard not to feel pity for you. What's your name?"

"I'm Yakko. My brother is Wakko-he can't talk-and my sister is Dot. She can't talk either, but she's still a baby."

The woman looked at Wakko. "My name's Julia. You can't talk, Wakko? That's rather odd. How old are you?"

Wakko held up two fingers. "Hmm, two?" said Julia. "Usually kids start talking before that."

"Actually, Wakko, you're two and a half, remember?" said Yakko.

~Yeah, same thing!~ thought Wakko.


After the boys had had their mac and cheese, and Dot had had quite a bit of formula, plus a little Gerber's baby food, Julia got a big bag out of a closet and started putting things in it.

"Umm… what are you doing?" asked Yakko.

"I'm getting you guys a diaper bag," explained Julia. "I'll put in some diapers for Dot, along with powder and lotion, and I'll also throw in some Gerber baby food for her. And I'll put some food in here for you and Wakko, too. And some toys. You could use some toys, especially if all you own is the clothes on your backs. Speaking of clothes, I'll get you guys some new clothes, too."

"You have all that here?" asked Yakko.

"Of course," she said. "Food pantries don't just provide food, you know. Of course, that's most of what we have, hence the name Food Pantry. But we have other things too, for families in need, like yours."

Yakko knew that he could never repay that kindness, but he was too desperate to argue. "That's very kind of you. Thank you very much."

"And I'll give you kids baths, too," said Julia. "Then you can spend a few nights here."

"Oh, no, we'll just stay the night," said Yakko.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Well, okay," she said hesitantly. "I just hate to leave you kids alone, that's all."