Page Eight

The Smell of Muffins and Cakes

Monika drowsily opened her eyes, sitting up with a stretch. She stumbled out of bed and yawned. Monika reached over to her closet, opening it and searching through it, pulling out an off-white top, a skirt, leg warmers, and a sage green cardigan. She rushed off to her bathroom and set her clothes down on the counter and grabbed a towel and quickly showered.

Monika stepped out of the shower, drying off and reaching for some hair product. Once the product was in her hair, Monika pulled her hair into a pony tail and got dressed. Monika took her toothbrush and squirted a bit of toothpaste on it and brushed viciously. Then, she put on a tad of make up and headed out to the kitchen.

"Hey, momma!" Monika beamed as she entered the kitchen, pulling down her hair as bouncy curls fell in front of her face.

"Hi, honey. Ready to open up the bakery?" Monika's mom asked.

"Yep! Excited, too." Her lips curled up into a beaming grin.

Monika's mom smiled back, "Well, go on now." She spoke.

Monika rushed out the door and hopped on her bike, rolling downhill towards the bakery her dad owns. Today would be the first day she would work there, she'd be ringing up orders and such.

Ten minutes later, Monika parked her bike outside the baker and strutted in.

"Hey, Dad!" She called as she entered the employees room.

"Hey, Kiddo." Her dad replied as he went up to Monika and squeezed her. "Ready to open?"

Monika replied with a simple nod.

Her dad smiled and went back to the kitchen.

 "You know what to do!" He said as he vanished behind the door.

Monika grabbed her employee name tag and pinned it on her cardigan and made her way to the Bakery's entrance, flipping it over to say "Open!"

She stepped behind the counter and waited for her first customer.

After a few minutes of waiting, a girl with wavy, blonde hair and curtain bangs entered the shop. She wore a sky blue tank top and a darker blue jacket over it, along with black denim pants.

The girl approached the counter awkwardly.

"Uh, hello." She spoke, clearly nervous.

"Hello! Would you like to take a moment and look at out menu?" Monika responded brightly.

"Oh- Um.." The girl glanced off to the side.