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Jason hadn’t been in the Manor that long, but old habits die hard. He couldn’t help it. The instinct to always have food available and within reach was strong with him. It started with saving half his dinner and sneaking it into his room. It escalated to sneaking into the kitchen in the middle of the night and raiding the pantry.
Jason was meticulous and talented at arranging items so it looked like none of the food was missing. The only food item that gave him away was the bread. Jason loved bread. It was the one item he could count on to appease the hunger pangs. Living on the streets bread became harder to buy and even harder to steal. But now he was living in a house with a fresh loaf of bread any time he wanted. He started sneaking a couple slices each night.
It took about a week for Alfred to figure things out and confirm his theory that Jason was in fact hiding food, specifically bread.
Alfred wondered if teaching Jason how to cook and involving him in the preparation of his meals would help flourish a healthier relationship with food.
So every evening after Jason finished his homework, Alfred asked if he would like to help him make dinner. Jason jumped at the chance. Not surprisingly Jason’s favorite item to make with Alfred was bread.
And then Jason died. Alfred stopped baking bread with meals, instead choosing to buy it. The process wasn’t the same without his little helper making sure each and every teaspoon and cup of ingredients were measured precisely. Until one day, a few years later a familiar voice surprised Alfred asking if he could help him bake bread with dinner.