Outside, the sky was heavy and gray with clouds, the April air still more winter than spring. This time I took the tram since I did not have an excuse to be out as long as I had the previous day when looking for cherries, and I did not want Ana Lucia to find me gone and start asking questions. As the tram clacked along the bridge over the Wisła, I looked at the unfamiliar, industrial neighborhood on the far bank. My doubts renewed: why go back and see the girl at all? I didn’t know her and to do it meant risking everything. I would be arrested or worse if I was caught. Yet for some reason, I could not turn away.

I arrived at the Dębniki market just before ten. The few locals who still dared were making their way to church. It was more than an hour earlier than I had come the previous day after my run-in with Krys. I should have waited a bit longer, I scolded myself. Going to the grate at the same time would surely offer the best chance of seeing the girl again. I walked the market square, browsing idly to buy some time. But it was Sunday and most of the stalls were closed. I couldn’t be gone from home too long, so fifteen minutes later, I started around the corner toward the sewer grate.

I peered down, seeing nothing but darkness. I waited uncertainly, hoping that the girl might appear soon. I saw a few churchgoers peer curiously into the alleyway as they passed, noticing me. My nervousness grew. I dared not stand over the grate looking down for too long in case someone witnessed my unusual behavior and asked questions or pointed me out to the police that seemed to linger on every corner.

Several minutes passed and the church bells pealed, signaling the start of Sunday mass. The space beneath the grate was still empty. Dejected, I prepared to leave. But a moment later, a bright circle appeared in the darkness behind the grate. The girl was here. Excitement rose in me. The vision in my mind, which I had imagined since the previous day, was suddenly real.

The girl stared up at me for several seconds, two dark eyes blinking like a scared animal trapped in lights. I could see her more closely now. She had a smattering of freckles on her nose and one of her front teeth was chipped at the bottom. Her skin was so pale it was almost translucent and her veins seemed to form a map beneath her skin. She looked like a china doll that might break at any second.

“What are you doing down there?” I asked. The girl opened her mouth, as if to answer. Then, seeming to think better of it, she looked away. I tried again. “Do you need help?”

I wasn’t sure what else to say. She didn’t seem to want to talk, but remained there, staring up at me. Give her the bread and go, I thought. I reached in my pocket and pulled it out, then kneeled close to the grate.