Lucy had been up all night, sleep riddled by nightmares of her brother's dead body being sent home in a small box, half of him missing in a field. She had gotten sick and then couldn't fall back asleep, to afraid of what she might see behind her closed eyelids. Funny though, when she ran on little or no sleep she had a ridiculous reserve of energy to get her through the day. She had managed to choke down some tea at a shop on the corner before heading out to get the groceries she needed for the week. Rations were small now, barely enough for her to survive on and she was only one person. She couldn't imagine how larger families were getting by.
She had been looking down at the papers in her hands, making sure they were in order. The brim of her signature fedora seriously hindered her peripheral vision and it was only time before she ran into someone. "Oof," she grunted as she collided with another body. A woman's voice spoke, apologizing in French.
"Oh!" Lucy said. "It's my fault, really, not paying attention.." Her response was half in English and half in badly accented French. She hoped the woman would have some mercy on her.