Anya crouched behind a dumpster as she felt a person coming down the dark alley. Her destination was just at the end of the cul-de-sac towards the right.
She felt a tap on her shoulder and jumped. As she squinted in the dark to find out who it was, she noticed the person's pearly whites being revealed slowly.
"Mara?" She whispered.
"I thought the high and mighty Anya would never do something illegal."
"W-w-what do you mean illegal? I was just here for a stroll."
"A stroll? in the shadiest part of the city? where the bakery our colleague told us about deals in the white stuff?"
"Ah that bakery is here? I don't even like the white stuff."
Somehow Anya could hear the rolling movement of her eyes.
"It's okay, we grew up on Suga-"
Anya shushed her. "Don't take the name."
"Sugar - sugar - sugar, ugh the sweet nectar of happiness." she chanted.
Anya's knees buckled as she remembered the heady scent of lightly burnt caramel.
Gulping, she whispered. "Fine, it's my birthday tomorrow and I haven't had sugar ever since the government banned sugar ten years back. I heard our colleague talking about this little bakery that operates in the dark and gets sugar smuggled from Dentistan."
"I've been meaning to ask, where is Dentistan and why do they have sugar?"
"Dentistan is this private island in the Caribbean Sea inhabited by out of work dentists whose secret mission is to get the world hooked on sugar again."
"So, are you going to go Anya? I've been going back and forth for days but I can't work up the courage."
Anya clenched her fists. "The government should not care if I eat unhealthy things, I want to feel that tingling feeling when sugary treats touch your tongue, and you get that cerebral high from pure glucose in your veins. Besides, if I get caught, I'll say I've gone temporarily insane."
"Solid defense." Mara said wryly.
"No risk, no reward. I will have a piece of chocolate cake and eat it too; it'll be so cloying that my body cells will protest."
Anya walked up to a grimy window and cleared her throat.
"Psst."
