*Note: I did not write the original story, I only added the two middle paragraphs posted here. If you're interested in reading the whole story, it's called "Baker's Helper" by Cynthia Anderson and can be found in Flash Fiction Forward, edited by James Thomas & Robert Shapard.
Empty: Baker's Helper
The next afternoon, the girl does not appear, which doesn't surprise you. You hate yourself, waiting, but she never shows up.
You find yourself watching customers, examining them, weighing their smiles and frowns. You don't know what it is you are searching for, but one time you think you find it. You are crouched at the back of the display case, transferring éclairs from tray to shelf when you glance up. A pair of hungry eyes gaze at you from the other side of the glass. You stare at them, wide and unblinking. It is a minute before you realize the eyes are your own, separated from you by the bright glass barrier.
That night, you dream about the park steps again, empty of sparrows this time.
On the third night you're leaving Jimmy's after work when from the street you spot her inside Carducci's. The girl stands apart from the espresso drinkers, holding a basket of pizzelle. She brings the wafers to her nose, and you inhale anisette with her. You are dizzy, there on the dirty sidewalk, not knowing whose longing you are feeling, yours or hers.
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