Hot pretzel

Winter, summer - in rain, snow and heat, it was still there. Standing on the stairs in front of the subway, the old woman sold bagels. She knew whether they were hot or not, but she kept repeating:
- Hot bagels, please! ... Hot bagels ...
They were hard for me - I would have broken my teeth safely, so I was passing them, but I admired the salesman. She was somewhat unobtrusive, small in height, poorly dressed / often clinging to a bunch of clothes in the winter / but still smiling. He must have been a good man, because there were two or three dogs around her who lay quietly and were asleep. Every morning, he broke a bagpiper and separated them. They swung it in her mouth and looked at her with gratitude ... Recently, "cuddly" to feed and three dove, a few sparrows and a raven. The birds were happy. They came from somewhere, cautiously landed on the ground, slowly and slowly approaching the woman, pecking down the crumbs and trusting the human words:
- Oh, sweet mummies, you are welcome! Have a meal, eat it! ...
All together they looked like an incredible picture that came out of the hands of a famous artist. People passed silently or wondered at her wits, and some simply muttered:
- Crazy woman! ... You speak for yourself ... Fool! Will birds and dogs understand it?
Well, they understood her! I was sure of this, otherwise it would have been almost hungry to be with her. What was hers-loneliness or love? I do not know, but I listened to her with delight:
"Well, dear, how are you today? Are you cold? Are you OK? Do you want more? ... Wait, Garvancho, wait! Do not be in a hurry, there is for everyone ... It, I will hardly sell as much as you will, but hungry will not leave you ... Do not crash, de! Here, eat -!
I looked at the clock - there was time until the beginning of the working day. I bought two coffees and sat down on the stairs at the bagel salesman. The birds were scattered ...
- Live and healthy! - he told me just - That was how I drank ... Thank you!
Then he took a sip, looked at me in his eyes, sighed and said,
"Do you see these dogs?" Comrades are mine. Pigeons too ... Lonely are like me ...
- Do not you have a family? I asked, I looked at her eyes, and they faded and poured in salty drops.
- I had ... It was nice ... The daughter ... Car hit her and ... there was her on the road ... Her father was worried, the heart attack got ... The son? They married in two years but went to desert America, money to win ... And I have not seen grandson yet ... I am already ...
The woman sighed again, drank the ex coffee, got up, dressed her clothes, and shouted,
- Hot bagels, please! Hot bagels ...
There was a sound on the wings, and the raven came to her as if she had accepted her words as a guest invitation with a sumptuous feast ...