Baker's Apprentice Who Lives In A Shoe

7:15 AM

"Miss Birdie, do you think you will have any extra cookies today?" The small boy said as he sat beside me. I have tried to get him to call me by my actual name, but I guess his nickname for me just stuck. I was on a break and I brought some food with me to where Geppetto and Pinocchio were working on some sort of wooden crafts.

"I think I can do that." I said between bites. "What kind is your favorite?" I asked. He smiled up at me and it made my heart sink a little. I missed my little girl. Belle had lived with Rumplestiltskin and I for less than a year, and I feel like such a failure. No matter what Rumple has said to me, on the subject of me being a parent, I have never forgiven myself for what happened between Belle and I.

"I like sugar cookies." The boy said, snapping me out of my thoughts. I smiled at him.

"Sugar cookies it is then." That is when I stood up and brushed the crumbs from my dress. "I will save you a couple cookies, Pin." I turned to the door after waving goodbye to Geppetto and Pinocchio.

"Bye bye, Birdie." He boy said before the door closed, and I made my way back to the kitchen.

My eyes slowly opened. It has been a long time since I woke up on my own. I looked at my alarm clock. I woke up about five minutes before it went off. That means that I have five minutes to just lie in bed and enjoy the comfort. I was so comfortable that I almost fell back to sleep. That is when my alarm finally went off. I groan as I pull myself from the bed to turn it off and get ready for the day. I go about my usual schedule. After I deliver Granny's order, and grabbing a bite to eat, I open up shop at the bakery. By that time it was around 10 in the morning. The first things I made were the cookies for the display case. The dream that I had last night had me thinking about sugar cookies, so I started to snack on some as I made everything else. Around noon the bell above my door rings. I look to see whom the person was that entered. It's the man that rode a motorcycle into town.

"Hey, stranger." I said as I lean on the counter. "Have you come to sample the locally baked goods?" I asked, jokingly. He laughed slightly as he walked up to the counter.

"You could say that." He leaned on the counter across from me. "I got a recommendation from someone. Apparently you are the one to talk to if I want to get a really good sugar cookie." That is when I suddenly stood up with my mouth hanging open. It can't be a coincidence. The boy in my dream last night, his favorite type of cookie was sugar. The man stood up and looked at me with interest. "Is something wrong?"

"No, no. It's just that I dreamt about a boy who really liked sugar cookies just last night. It drove me to make too many of them this morning." I said as I bagged up a couple sugar cookies for the man. "It just seems like it was some sort of sign or something." I pushed the bag of cookies across the counter. I looked up at his face, and he had the biggest smile on his face. "That's gonna be five dollars." He pulled out his wallet and passed me a crisp five. He picked up the bag and turned to leave. "Wait." I said before he made it all the way out the door. "What's your name?" He turned back to look at me with a smile.

"The name's August." He said simply. "There's a storm coming. You might want to pack up early today." He said before turning back to the outside. "Bye bye, Birdie." He whispered, but I could still hear what he said. It hit me. There was something familiar about this man. There was a reason that I had that dream last night. I stood at the counter thinking about the dream and the man named August. Both the little boy and August liked sugar cookies, and they both said goodbye to me in the same way. Thunder brought my attention back to the present. I looked outside to see that rain had started to fall, and the wind started to blow through town. August was right. I started to close up shop, but I didn't want to be alone. Instead of possibly interrupting one of Archie's sessions I head to Mr. Gold's shop.