Is there a more perfect smell than bread fresh from the oven? Well, apart from cakes, pies, tarts, pastries, muffins…Winston’s eyes glazed over momentarily as those wondrous delicacies paraded past his mind’s eye one after the other; what he wouldn’t give to get his hands on some of those right now!

Then the scent that had stoked the fire of that train of thought wafted back up his nose, returning him to the real world just as easily as it had nudged him towards Dreamland: he was a baker, for crying out loud! Those sweet treats were his business! Cramming oven gloves onto his increasingly pudgy mitts, he tugged the oven door open to extract the golden-brown loaves which had been his first project of the morning. Each tray was then placed tenderly on the counter for its contents to cool and be inspected by the big boss (not that there was ever an issue with the bunny’s baking these days).

After helping himself to the majority of the larger crumbs that littered the shining steel surface (all in the name of helping the clean-up, of course), Winston returned to what he’d been doing before becoming distracted by half a dozen loaves of warm, soft, delicious bread…mmm…

“Bread’s good as ever, but maybe we could have a little less daydreaming?”

Winston started, his eyes refocusing and landing upon the portly mouse standing beside him, bread-testing stick in hand. “Oh! Sorry, Maurice,” the bunny answered apologetically, his ears drooping slightly to complete the image.

“Just get those cookies baking, then you can help yourself to some of yesterday’s overstock,” the rodent said sternly, but for a small twitch of the corners of his mouth.

Winston’s ears returned to full perk at that, his demeanour suddenly very business-like, “Yes, sir!”

“Atta boy,” Maurice said with a chuckle, leaving the rabbit to work with a pat on the stomach; months ago, this would have seemed an odd gesture, but it was all part of being the fattest of the baking fraternity now.

Seizing the mixing bowl that he’d discarded to attend to the bread, Winston swiped a speck which had dribbled down the side of it with a finger which was then inserted into his well-trained mouth: yep, gooey, chocolate-chippy goodness as always! Having passed its third or fourth taste-test, the mixture found itself being dolloped onto a vast sheet of baking paper on an equally expansive tray, though neither could hold a candle to the chubby bunny tending to them. Then it was into the oven, still warm from its bread-baking escapades, with the numerous puddles of cookie dough, their eventual fate being to accompany any and all hot drinks the restaurant would serve later in the day.

Job done, Winston dusted his hands of floury residue, then began the waddle to the table at the end of the rainbow, his eyes already fixed on his first cupcake of the day.



Story by my friemb  befedelbumps
Part 2 for  ROLLER-2009