When she awakens, she realizes that she is hungry. Her belly rumbling, she forces herself out of her chair in search of food. She spots a candy machine near a door and gathers up what little change she has. Once she makes her selection, she waits for the reassuring sound of the candy bar hitting the open tray below. But nothing happens. To her dismay, she sees what seems like her only hope of nourishment stuck in the retractable metal ring.      "Oh no," she says aloud, reaching over to shake the machine. The candy bar doesn't budge.      She starts shaking it a bit harder, and then bangs on the side, hoping it will somehow loosen the ring's grip. Still nothing.      "Dammit!" she exclaims, frustrated. She frowns at the elusive candy, feeling tears of frustration beginning to well up in her eyes. The fact that she wants to cry over a candy bar makes her feel even more frustrated.      "Can I help?" says a friendly male voice.      She turns to see the waiter who had served her drink standing behind her.      "Oh," she says, embarrassed and blinking back her tears, "please if you could… My candy bar got stuck in this stupid machine and I can't seem to get it loose."      "No problem," he says. "There's a special trick to this thing." He taps it a few times in some mysterious secret combination, and the candy bar breaks free and falls to the opening below.      "Thank you so much!" she says, gratefully scooping up her chocolate bar.      "You'd think they would fix this machine by now," he says pleasantly. "I've had to retrieve candy from this thing 10 times a day for about two years now." He laughs and shakes his head.      "You've been working here for two years?" Melinda asks in between bites of chocolate. "It must be wonderful to work in this kind of environment."      The man shrugs. "It's nice I suppose, but it's a job like any other. This is the best time of year. There aren't too many kids running around." He holds out his hand. "By the way, my name is Ralph," he says.      Melinda grasps it and smiles. "Melinda," she says after swallowing a piece of chocolate. "It's nice to meet you."      "So tell me," he says. "What are you doing out here all alone? Where's your family?"      She shakes her head. "It's just me. I needed some quiet time to myself. Trying to get my life back in order," she half-jokes.      Ralph smiles understandingly. "Things are falling apart, eh?"      Melinda nods her head. "Like you wouldn't believe! It's been one thing after another!"      "Would you like to talk about it? Sometimes it helps to run things by other people," he says.      Melinda looks away shyly. "No, I couldn't. I don't think you'd have time to hear the whole story anyway," she says, laughing a little.      Ralph looks at his watch. "Actually, you caught me at a good time. I'm on my hour break."      Melinda considers him, wondering if she should share her problems with a complete stranger. Finally, she shakes her head no. "Maybe another time," she says. "I don't really want to think about real life today."      Ralph nods. "Hey, I don't blame you! Listen, are you hungry? I know a place hidden away on the resort that serves the best hot dogs you'll ever eat."      "That sounds wonderful!" Melinda says. "I'm starving, in case you didn't notice," she says laughing, gesturing to her now empty candy bar wrapper.