Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of the characters therein

~I based this story on a book a read a while ago called Mara, Daughter of the Nile. Don't worry, there will be Yu-Gi-Oh characters, starting in the next chapter. The story is not all about Lani~

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     19-year-old Lani, a dark-haired, blue-eyed girl, laughed out loud as she watched the baker chase a little boy through the streets of Menfe. She had dared the little boy to steal cakes from the baker. She was always amused when people fell for this joke of hers. Since the baker was off and chasing the little boy, that only left the baker's apprentice for Lani to deal with.
     Lani sauntered over to the stall where the baker's apprentice was putting cakes into the oven. "So, you must be the baker's new apprentice, am I right?" Lani asked slyly.
     The apprentice turned around. "Why yes, in fact I am. Why do you ask?"
     Lani shrugged and said, "You're like all the others, I bet. You'll be gone in a week."
     The apprentice looked confused. "What others?" he asked.
     "The other apprentices, I mean," Lani said. "No apprentice has lasted a full two weeks working with this baker because his cakes keep disappearing. He fires the apprentice for not watching the cakes closer."
     The apprentice puffed out his chest and proudly said, "It'll be different with me. I am very careful about watching."
     "Sure you are," Lani mumbled under her breath. "Oh no, look! The cakes are starting to burn!" Lani pointed to the oven and as the apprentice turned to look at the cakes in the oven, she took four little cakes for herself from the tray on the stall.
     "The cakes didn't burn," the apprentice said. He laid the cakes on the tray and placed a few more dough cakes in the oven.
     "Well, it was nice talking to you," Lani said sweetly. "I've gotta go now. Good luck in keeping your job!"
     "Thanks. Have a nice day!" the apprentice called out to Lani as she started leaving the stall.
     "I will," Lani called back. "Bye!"
     Lani walked away laughing and nibbling on her cakes. It was always so funny how she could fool the baker's apprentices. Lani had been stealing ever since she was a girl. Her family was very poor and her father had been fired from his job recently because he had gotten a bad case of pneumonia and couldn't work. Lani was the youngest in her family of all girls. She had four older sisters, only one of which was already married. It was hard enough for them to get food for their whole family when their father was healthy but without their father, it was near impossible. Girls in Egypt were not allowed to have jobs.
Lani stepped into her family's hut and presented the cakes to them.
     "Lani, did you steal again?" Lani's mother, Nami, asked with a tone of strictness in her voice. She had never liked it when Lani stole food although she knew it was the only way that her family could survive.
     "Yes, mother," Lani answered honestly. "We haven't eaten in over a day and I think we deserve to eat. Besides, it's only four little cakes."
     Lani's oldest sister, 27-year-old Hana, spoke up then. "Mother, we really do need food though. How else are we supposed to get food if we don't steal?"
     "Yeah," 20-year-old Akiko, the youngest sister besides Lani, chimed in. "It's not like we can beg around here because almost everyone around here is poor and those who aren't poor wouldn't help a single soul if they could help it."
     "I wish I could be married like Machiko," 24-year-old Shika said, talking about their sister who was married. Shika was the third girl and Machiko, who was 25, was the second oldest of the family. "Machiko got really lucky in marrying that merchant three years ago. She now has a son and they're living a great life now. Why doesn't she help us more?"
     "Honey," Nami said, "Machiko is still not very rich and she does send us a bit of money every month."
     "Can we just eat now?" Akiko asked, impatiently. Her mouth was watering as she looked at the yummy cakes.
     Lani set the cakes on the little table in their hut and everyone started eating quietly. Lani's mother brought up a little piece of cake to Hiroshi, Lani's father as well as a glass of water and the family went to bed early that night, feeling a little better having something in their stomach.

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~I hope you all like the story so far. I would like a review before I continue to know that someone likes my story~