CHEERY BAKERY

"It's all a bad dream...this can't be happening! Please tell me you're joking, Mr. Webber?..."

Susie looked at him expectantly.

Mr. Webber seemed helpless as he compassionately said, "I'm truly sorry. I wish I could tell you that…"

Susie looked around at her cubicle where she had spent eight years giving it her all for her work.

Long hours, working into the night and doing more than required because she was a perfectionist.

One would think she was indispensable and secure in the employee roster. What a blow it was to the entire staff and a punch in the gut for Susie when her name was in the list of lay-offs!

Businesses were closing. The economy was crashing.

***

Come autumn and Susie was still unemployed despite her spotless credentials and references given. Bills and rent kept piling up. Her savings wouldn't last for long if this kept going. She would have to find a cheaper place to stay.

Oh! What on earth am I going to do! she despaired. Only a miracle can save me now.

With these glum thoughts, she drifted off to sleep only at the crack of dawn.

The next morning, Susie was rudely awakened by the shrill ringing of the phone.

Oh damn! It's eleven in the morning already?!

She groggily picked up the phone and drawled a greeting.

"Susie, it's Aunt Mabel..how are you, my child?"

Susie sat up sharply. Mabel was a grand-aunt who lived a few miles away.

"Aunt Mabel! Is everything alright?" she panicked.

"Nothing to worry about. Come over. I need to discuss some things with you."

***

Susie took a bus ride to Aunt Mabel's place.

"Would you like to take over my Cheery Bakery, dear? I'm getting old and arthritic and I can't think of anyone who could run it better than you…" Aunt Mabel looked at her hopefully.

"Aunt Mabel, I did enjoy baking with you when I stayed over during the vacations, but to run a full-fledged bakery...I don't think I can do it…"

"What if I told you that I have a magic recipe book and a secret ingredient to make your creations sell like hot cakes?"

She had a twinkle in her eye.

"I guess I've got nothing to lose. I'm jobless and will soon be hunting for a cheaper place to stay, so I guess your offer is as good as any."

***

Susie followed the recipes in the 'magic recipe book' to the T and made sure she used the 'secret ingredient'.

Years passed by and Cheery Bakery flourished like never before. Susie started believing in magic.

Only when she was on top of her game did Aunt Mabel reveal what the secret ingredient was.

"You already had the dedication, but a little bit of confidence was what you needed. This here is only sugar dust!" She tapped the sprinkler of the 'secret ingredient'.

"Magic is something you make! Believe in yourself."

And we all have that magic in us.

Comments

ABERCROMBIE LOCKE MANSION

This post is part of the Blogchatter A2Z Challenge 2026. CHAPTER 1 ABERCROMBIE LOCKE MANSION The sky bled bruises of plum and cherry over the rolling hills. A full moon hung low against the mauve casting silver shards through the trees. The mansion made of cold greystone loomed large beyond the rusted iron gates. It grated on the gravel, rasping on the hinges and yawned open like a predator's jaw as Goldwynn booted it open with her foot. Her sneakers squished heavily on the mulch of dead leaves. Clutching her backpack, she looked up at the towering, grim structure forebodingly. "Are you sure you want to do this?" her friend Lexi whispered, hesitating by the gate. "This mansion's totally cursed, they say." Lexi's voice was a thin thread. A chill crept up her back and she tight...

Moxie N' Mettle

MOXIE N' METTLE In slivers and fragments as my sleep tiptoes, did I do right or wrong my heart needles… Some skies are born of black holes and tempest wreck, There glitters not a ray of light, nor a speck When curtains turbid hold all light hostage, Sandstorms, hailstorms, dust storms, snowstorms, windstorms assail and ravage Spanning my wings as a raging fire Or as a mellow glow of a fairy light in the distant darkness, quite debonaire I'll ignite my spark from within like a star born into itself spurting lava Or explode leaving trails of cosmic dust like a Supernova I will be the Sun creating galaxies and many a constellation. Or burn like a single flame of the candle to keep my hopes and dreams alive with determination! I will be at my own pace I will be whoever and whatever I want to be—in my own race Collapse, crash and crumble! But I'll...

RUTHLESS REVELATIONS (DAY 16, LETTER R)

CHAPTER 15 RUTHLESS REVELATIONS The Three Little Pigs stood triumphant in the whimsical cottage's living room, surrounded by mismatched furniture and waltzing dust motes. Baconne , Porkinn , and Swinedell grinned at each other, puffing out their chests like gangsters. Baconne swaggered closer to the makeshift bar. "You know," he said, stroking his shoulder, "the Big Bad Wolf wasn't so bad after all, was he?" His grin split wide, showing a gold-capped tooth. The pigs snorted, their belly laughs vibrating the chandeliers above. Swinedell poured three tiny glasses of wild truffle liqueur with a theatrical flourish. "Cheers to us!" he growled, hoisting a glass. "We wanted his posh cottage for ourselves. Wolfie mutt was just defending his pad." His eyes glinted like cheap jewels. Goldwynn's face paled. She stammered as she whispered, " Wha...

THE BIG BAD WOLF( DAY 17, LETTER T)

CHAPTER 16 THE BIG BAD WOLF The pigs snarled like proper rascals, fixing their cold steely eyes on the Wolf's cottage. How dare he refuse to part with his cottage! When the pigs demand, it's given to them---no questions asked! Porkinn limped, Baconne was soggy, Swinedell rubbed a sore bump on his head, but they were far from defeated. Swinedell snorted, a crooked grin spreading across his face. "Wolf thinks 'e's posh, don't 'e? " Baconne sniffed the air, his nostrils flaring. "We want the cottage!” He growled. Porkinn cracked his fingers, his sly glance darting about. The pigs crept towards the back door, their footsteps silent on the soft grass. They spotted the Wolf through the kitchen window, stirring a pot of steaming stew for dinner. They kicked the door in, the wood splintering jaggedly. The latch gave in....

ANAM CARA

The waves are soft and frothy. Laced with gossamer frills tenderly kissing the tips of my toes covered with the grainy sand of the rugged seashore where I'm sitting, wistful. A gust of briny breeze tousles my hair as I gaze as far as my eyes can see. A flock of terns wheel overhead, their sharp, shrill cries punctuating the air as they dive and swoop over the surfs. A lone frigate bird , its crimson belly dazzling like a jewel skims majestically above, its long, slender wings outstretched as it rides the thermals high above the ocean. I absorb the sights and sounds of the late afternoon while absentmindedly scooping seashells beside me. As the afternoon phases, the furthest rim of the ocean is fringed in a gilded hem and the sleepy sun yawns, its dipping glow streaking the sky in a mellow tangerine and warm cherry. As I continue sitting there, the ships and yachts appear --specks of light from the portholes glimmering in the distance, reminding me of the phrase “That ship has sai...

Sangeetha Kamath

Search This Blog