Baker's Apprentice Who Lives In A Shoe

The Thing You Love Most

Ah, the fresh air of a new day fills my lungs as I head over to Granny's with more pastries. On the way, Pongo almost trips me. I really try hard not to be a klutz, but it is so hard when he wraps his leash around my ankles. I feel a hand steady me so I don't fall.

"I am so sorry, Ava. I don't know what's gotten into him today." I giggle and look around the boxes in my arms to smile at Archie.

"Oh, it's okay." Archie starts to unwrap the leash from around my legs. "Um, Archie, do you have any time slots open today?" he looked at me as he finished unwrapping my legs from Pongo's leash.

"I think I'm free around noon. Why, is everything okay?" I shrugged my shoulders.

"Yeah, I just wanted to talk about a dream I had last night." I looked down at Pongo. It looked like he was so much more energetic.

"Sure, we can talk about whatever you want." We continued to walk down the street together. "I look forward to noon-time." He is too cute sometimes. I can't wave with my hands full, so I speak instead.

"See you then, Dr. Hopper." As I start towards Granny's and notice that Mr. Gold is walking the same direction that I am. "Good Morning, Mr. Gold."

"Good Morning, Ava. Any trouble with the door today?" I smile at him and slightly shake my head.

"Nope. The door was on it's best behavior today." He seemed pleased at that.

"That's good. Well, I think we both have places to be, so I'll let you get going." He walked away before I could say anything, but I continued on my way to Granny's with a smile on my face. As I got closer, I could see Ruby putting a sign out front.

"Hey, Ruby. How's it going?" She just looked at me like she was miserable.

"Same old, same old. Here, let me take a few of those off you." When she took the top two boxes I could finally see her face. "Granny's waiting for you inside." She led the way into the diner so I could get paid for the pastries and breads.

"Good morning, Granny." She smiles at me.

"Good morning, dear." She checks out my product and gives me the money for all of it. I usually leave right after I get the money, but I wanted to mull over my dream a bit. The thing is I just sort of stood there like a statue. "Are you okay, Ava?" I looked up at them, and I smiled. I seem to be doing a lot of that today.

"Yeah, I think I'm gonna grab something to eat before I go." I grabbed a seat at the counter and looked at the menu. "I feel like treating myself today. You know, relax a little." They smiled back at me.

"Don't relax too much, you may lose those great baking skills." I turn around to see the Sherriff sitting in one of the booths with a coffee. "I don't know what I would do without your delicious cookies."

"Oh, I think you would manage, Graham." He smiled at me, and I smiled back. We were not extremely close, but close enough to be on a first name basis. "So, do you recommend anything made by the chef here?" I look at the menu and try to decide what I want to eat.

"Well, I hear that the waffles are good, but my favorite is the pancakes."

"Well, pancakes it is, then." I close the menu and get Ruby to come over. "I would love to try some pancakes." She smirked and took the menu.

"Sure thing." As Ruby walked away the bell for the door to the diner sounded. I looked over to see the new arrival. She comes up to the counter, sits a few chairs away from me, and starts to read a Storybrooke paper with her as the headliner. She looks to be upset by it, so I decide to speak up.