Erik poured the oatmeal into his cup, topping it with soy milk. He thought it tasted like pressed cardboard. According to some people, soy milk was supposed to be indistinguishable from cow's milk's, but Erik didn't buy that. That soy stuff had nothing to do with the milk he remembered from his childhood.
Not that he had much choice, anyway: with rationing, real milk was difficult to find, and very expensive. Erik already spent more than he should on the cigarettes he bought secretly from a neighbour, who in his turn got them from God knows where. And those little tubes of tobacco became more and more expensive by the month... but Erik had so few guilty pleasures in his life that he just couldn't bring himself to give up that small daily satisfaction.
"You look worried," Thea's voice st
