The essence of dreams began to slip away from her as the morning drew near, but she didn’t mind, no matter how wonderful the dream she’d been having was. The sun approached at a dreadfully slow pace, taking its time in lighting up the girl’s room while she silently urged it to rise faster. She found herself rolling impatiently around her bed, tangled in her sheets, while waiting for the sun to impolitely appear on the horizon, late as always (in her mind).
What seemed to be an eternity later (it was only five minutes), her alarm began to ring melodiously and she jumped to return it to silence, the smile plastered on her face as radiant as the sunlight that filled her room. While her clothes were indecisively discarded on the floor and her room returned to a state of natural messiness, her closet became a mess of a single white dress and a pink cardigan, both of which she threw on hastily as she gathered the rest of her clothing and shoved them back into their prison of a closet.
Amarella giggled to herself as she stared at her clone in the mirror, braiding two sections of her chestnut hair and pinning them together with her only bow, allowing the rest of her curls to bounce freely. The clone grinned at her, giving a sign of encouragement as the girl stepped through the door and into her little bread shop with a joyful bounce in her step.
Glittering sunlight poured itself through the storefront’s windows without anyone’s permission. She took a small trip from behind the counter and to the front door, her eyes closed as she walked the unobstructed path that she had memorized from years of practice. Amarella skillfully walked around the empty, spotless display cases, hopped out of the way of the only table and chair in the shop, and brushed past the looming bookshelves. She reached out her hand and found what she seeked immediately, as expected. “Open for business!” she said to no one in particular as she opened her eyes and flipped the hand-written sign on the door with flair. The smooth wood was warm from the sunlight that continued to fill the room.
Before she returned to her post at the counter of her little bread shop, she found herself staring at the photos she had hung up on the wall next to the door. She knew she hung them there the day the shop opened up, and surely she had put them up there for a reason other than decor. No matter how hard she analyzed the photos, however, her memories always outsmarted her and hid elsewhere. The day she hung up those photos, they merely became colorless blobs to her. Staring cluelessly at the photos was part of her routine now though, and it was time to get back to it.
Amarella treaded lightly into her bread workshop. She began to knead fresh dough and gently separated pieces into their own pans before sliding them into the flaming oven, watching her little inventions rise as their outer layers became golden-brown crust. The aroma of fresh bread wafted aimlessly through the shop as she continued to go through the monotonous motions of her day, enthusiastically creating flaky pastries and assembling glamorous cakes while humming a long-lost melody to herself. Strawberry shortcakes, peachy pastries, and raspberry tarts hopped out of the oven and into the display cases. Fluffy croissants, soft cookies, buttery baguettes, and other delights joined their mouth-watering counterparts. Amarella refused to believe that her bread shop was the same as a bakery; everything she made was a pipe dream in the world of bread.
As she set out her colorful works of art in their displays, cherry blossom petals found their way to the floor. The petals came from the trees hanging from on the glass roof, disturbed by a nonexistent breeze. The blossoms didn’t belong inside, nor did the trees, but her shop always found a way to defy logic. She took out a watering can and began to water the persistent blossoms, ignoring the petals that always returned to the hardwood floor and fell atop her bready desserts. In a way, the petals added something special to her bread, a dash of color and sweetness and tang that couldn’t be found anywhere else in the colorless world outside. The tiny and tame flowers that were hanging in a row above her counter also received some cold water to foster their dreams of growing into strong little plants.
By the time the sun was high in the sky, Amarella finished all of her daily duties and retreated into the final part of her routine. Picking a handful of random books from her two bookshelves, she carried them back to the counter and set them down as gently as she could. The bindings on each book were worn out. She had read all of these books at least a hundred times, but she couldn’t bring herself to leave her shop, and the predictability of each book was now a part of her sacred unchanging routine.
This bread shop was special, you see. The plants never died, even though Amarella always overwatered them. They never grew, either. The petals that fell from the cherry blossom each day never piled up, but always ended up on the tree once again, ready to fall once more. The display cases emptied themselves of desserts every day, and the ingredients that were used would always replenish themselves. The door hadn’t been opened since the day the shop opened.
She happily dove into her first book, absorbing every letter in every word, expecting her reading wouldn't be interrupted. Not once before had she ever received a customer in her little bread shop. Light gleamed even brighter through the windows and the cherry blossoms casted their shadows on the unsuspecting world below as she started reading. She managed to stay undisturbed for a handful of minutes.
And then a colorless man stepped in from the colorless world outside. His dismal gray eyes met her vibrant hazel ones, which had widened at the sight of him. Amarella couldn’t even remember the last time she saw another human being.
The man was wearing a black suit with a gray tie, gray watch, gray shoes, and a gray suitcase. His hair only had a slight tint of brown before fading to a dull black. Fabulous, he was boring. Based on the look on his pale face, he was severely confused.
“Excuse me miss, is this the Graphis Pen Shop?” the man said, clearly out of breath. His curly hair was somewhat disheveled, and it looked like he ran to get here. “I’m Levi Walsh, I was supposed to take an interview today.”
“What kind of person takes an interview to work at a pen shop?!” Amarella said incredulously. It took a moment for her to realize that she had said that out loud. She let out a nervous laugh before saying, “No, this is Bread Dreams Bakery. My name’s Amarella, welcome and how may I help you?”
“Do you know how to get to the Graphis Pen Shop?”
“I didn’t know pen shops still existed until now.”
The pair stared at each other for a moment, the confusion escalating rather quickly as they awkwardly stood in silence. Twenty-seven blinks later, Levi asked, “Mind if I browse, then? I haven’t had breakfast.” Amarella gave a small nod, and he began to wander aimlessly around the small shop. She carefully studied him as he stared at the glass displays. He faintly resembled the pictures she hung up on the wall, but she figured anyone in the outside world would resemble them anyway.
While Amarella was contemplating Levi’s identity, the man was not only famished, but awestruck as well. “You know,” he said, drooling as he stared at a bright red raspberry tart, “this is probably the first time I’ve seen color since I was a kid.”
“Is that so?” Amarella said, slightly curious. “I haven’t seen much gray since the day I opened this place.”
Levi let out a chuckle. “You’re kidding, right? Literally everything is black and white and gray outside, that wouldn’t be possible unless you stay inside all day…” His laughter faded to silence when he heard no reply. “Wait...you do go outside...right?”
“Nope!” she sighed, resting her chin on her hand as she started flipping through her book again. He was starting to bore her. “I haven’t had a reason to leave here, and I doubt I ever will.”
“But how?! Don’t you need to shop for supplies?”
“Nope.”
“What about getting food?”
“Nope.”
“You just never leave the store?” “Nope.” Levi threw his hands up in the air and started walking in a circle, to which Amarella responded with a look of concern. “What do you think you’re doing there, mister?” She said sarcastically, rolling her eyes with a little giggle.
“That’s amazing!” He said. “Everything outside is so boring and bland nowadays. The buildings are gray, the cars are gray, the plants are gray…it’s all gray. Heck, even kids nowadays are gray! I could’ve sworn I was at least 15 when I lost my colors. Everyone talks with droning voices like robots and creativity is dead!” He paused his rambling for a moment. “How is everything in here still so colorful? And vibrant? It just doesn’t make sense to me.”
“Ignorance is bliss, my friend,” Amarella said as she shut her book and slid it to the other side of the counter with a dramatic swish! At least this conversation was starting to get interesting. “I don’t ask questions. The shop doesn’t make sense to me either, but my day essentially resets on its own.”
“Ohhhhh that’s weird!” Levi was getting excited. “So do you live in some strange time loop or something?”
“I have no idea,” Amarella said with a laugh. “The mystery is what makes the magic, I suppose…You sure ask a lot of questions for someone who’s missing a boring interview right now.” Levi stopped dead in his tracks; he forgot that he had places to be.
“You are absolutely right! I should get going,” he said with a pained smile on his face. He knew that the pen shop interview would, indeed, be very boring. “How much does one of these tarts cost?”
Amarella made a shooing motion towards him. She desperately wanted to get back to her routine already. “Just take it, it’ll find its way back to me tomorrow anyways.”
Levi’s face lit up as though he just won the lottery. “Thanks a bunch!” he said, smiling from ear to ear. “I’ll definitely come back here tomorrow!” He snagged one of the mouth-watering raspberry tarts from its display and made his way towards the door. Amarella let out a sigh of introverted relief as she heard the door open.
She sighed a moment too soon.
Amarella heard a loud thud! from the doorway as Levi’s suitcase fell on the floor, breaking open and scattering papers in the wind. Oh great, a mess. Levi was still standing in the doorway, but he didn’t look like he was going to pick up his papers nor exit as he originally intended. In fact, he looked completely different. Amarella saw the raspberry tart had a large bite taken out of it. “Oh no, did I poison you?” she gasped, startled by the sudden noise. Levi slowly turned to meet her gaze with wide, emerald eyes.
“I HAVE COLOR AGAIN!” Levi bellowed as he jumped with joy, his now light-brown curls bouncing as he began to spin around in hyper, dramatic circles. His skin was no longer a papery white, but a healthy tan color. His eyes were a soft sea-green. His clothes were still the same lame shades of gray, but the change in his colors and liveliness were noticeable enough. As his spin began to slow, he said to Amarella, “Why didn't you tell me your food could do this sooner!? The tangy flavor of this tart is terrific and I feel alive again!”
Amarella was confused as well. “I haven’t had any customers before, I didn’t know it could do that!”
Levi’s face changed from joy to shock like the drop of a hat. “You don’t have any customers?!? Amarella shook her head. “Well, you’re in luck! I wanted to be the head marketer of a lame old pen shop, but here I am with the opportunity to market something that everyone needs to see!”
“I think I really did poison him…” Amarella muttered to herself.
“Miss Amarella ma’am-”
“Who says that?!” she interjected.
“Can I be head of sales here? Pretty please?!” Levi begged, getting down on one knee in front of the counter as though he were proposing to her. He was acting undeniably childish, but Amarella could tell he was being completely sincere. “With your splendiferous desserts and my fantabulous marketing skills, we could return the world to the lively, colorful state it once was!”
Amarella hesitated. She had run this shop for over seven years now, and not once had her routine been interrupted. All so suddenly, she finally had her first customer, who threatened to bring in more customers, who threatened to make her do more work and stray from her favorite routine. On the other hand, it was an opportunity to share her passionate creations with the world and pull it out of the dismal state that Levi had described. Her thoughts clouded her mind like puffs of flour as she weighed her options.
“Get off the floor,” Amarella ordered with a laugh. Levi stood up so quickly that he nearly fell over. “I’ll give you a chance, but don’t get your hopes up.”
Levi saluted for some reason. “Yes ma’am! I won’t let you down!” He proceeded to run out of the shop without another word, leaving behind his half-eaten raspberry tart and random papers skewed across the wooden floor. Amarella didn’t move to retrieve tart nor the papers; she knew they would vanish on their own tomorrow.
“Huh. Weird day,” Amarella mumbled to herself as she went back to reading the book she discarded earlier. “Well, I bet that won’t happen again anyways. There’s no way he’ll find any customers, surely he’ll get bored and not even show up tomorrow.” Just like that, Amarella spent the rest of the day without any other interruptions.
The next morning, Amarella woke up to the sound of bustling voices outside. She got up from her bed and rubbed her eyes. The sky was still dark. Her tiny analog clock read 5:06 a.m.
“What in the world…?” She muttered as she made her way towards the bread shop, her bare feet patting the cold floor. When she opened the door, a cold wave of air brushed past her, disturbing her restless bedhead. She glanced past the counter and outside the front windows. To her surprise, there was a crowd camping out in front of her shop, and a small (and surely illegally-placed) campfire illuminated the colorless patrons, all of which would have otherwise blended into the unlit street. Leaning against the front door was Levi, who was wearing a wretched black-and-white tracksuit. He turned around to peek inside the shop, and Amarella dove underneath the counter. I regret giving him that tart, she thought to herself, hands on her head.
She crawled out from under the counter and revealed herself, walking to the front door. She opened it while Levi was still leaning on it, and he fell backwards to the floor and let out a yelp. The chatter between the patient bystanders outside stopped as they turned to see what the commotion was about. When they spotted the recently critically-acclaimed bakery owner, their chatter became even louder and more excited. Amarella simply shut the door and gestured at Levi towards the counter, to which he responded with a minor nod.
Once the duo reached the counter, Amarella was quick to address her concerns. “What are you doing here at five in the morning?” She whispered crankily, jabbing her finger at him in an accusatory manner. “Why are all these people here?” Jab. “Why are you wearing that horrid tracksuit?” Another jab, this time accidentally poking him in the eye. “Woops.”
“Ouch, ouch, and owwwww,” Levi whined, clutching his wounded eye. “I just advertised like you said I could!”
“I didn’t say bring a crowd at five in the morning,” Amarella said through gritted teeth.
“I didn’t! They were here before I got here!” said Levi, who was now waving his free hand around in self-defense. Amarella stood back to avoid his flailing and contemplated her options. It wasn’t ideal to be up this early in the morning, but she doubted she could go back to sleep anyways.
“I’m going to start baking,” Amarella said, facepalming herself. “Please go outside and tell those people to wait until 6:11 am before the shop opens up, and tell them not to come before then on any other day either.” Levi quickly carried out his orders as Amarella went to turn on the lights. She couldn’t help but notice that the people outside seemed to stay put despite Levi’s message. “Great, just great,” she muttered under her breath.
Amarella couldn’t help but feel self-conscious. She hadn’t even made contact with other human beings for the past seven years, let alone worked in front of them. Oh my, oh dear, oh gosh, she thought to herself. What do I usually do first? Uhhhh. Oh no, they’re watching me. Oh no, I’m still wearing pajamas! Her mind was in utter disarray, and it continued this way until opening hours.
Fortunately for her, she managed to get back in the swing of things. The shop opened on time with full displays of breaded goodies. Many dull, colorless people entered the shop, and dozens of vibrant, colorful people bounced their way out. The day was a success, but she made a lot of money she didn’t need, and she never got to pick up a single book due to the busyness of the day. Along with that, many people asked her how her shop worked, and she didn’t have an answer, nor wanted to provide one. At the end of the day, Levi was dancing around with joy while Amarella felt worn out.
“What a spectacular performance that was!” Levi said. “I still can’t believe you had no customers before me, you’re a natural with this stuff!”
“I don’t want to do that ever again,” Amarella groaned. “What a hassle it is to have so many customers. I only opened this place because I liked baking...and too many of them were asking me questions.”
Levi gave her a pat on the back, which Amarelle shrugged off in annoyance. “This will probably be everyday life for you from now on, my friend! You’re already a star, a hero! People admire you for basically giving life back to the world! Isn’t that exciting?” “Meh.”
“You’ll get used to it eventually,” Levi continued on. “I told them not to come so early in the morning anymore because you need time to prep and rest, along with prepping for the many new customers you’ll start getting. Also, I’m not keeping any of the money, because seeing a colorful world is good enough for me.” He paused to think for a moment, staring at her signature pink cardigan and white dress. “Didn’t you wear that outfit yesterday?” At that, Amarella stoically walked away to her room and shut her doors without another word, leaving Levi all alone at the counter.
The next day, Amarella woke up even earlier. Despite Levi’s requests, an even larger group than the day before had crowded around her shop. She hastily got started with her routine, much to her dismay. Every day after that, more and more people stopped by. New looks, no books, and plenty more questions to leave unanswered. Amarella felt less and less motivated to wake up every day. Her daily dance with dough wasn’t fun anymore; it was all just work. Little by little, she felt herself questioning how her shop worked. The cherry blossoms on the roof started vanishing bit by bit. The flowers above the counter began to wither. Baking supplies stopped resupplying themselves, and the shop stopped resetting. Her desserts began to be simple breads, their exciting tastes fading away with every new batch. The shop was slowly starting to make sense with every dose of logic that customers dropped on it. Her routine had been obliterated by demanding crowds, and at what cost? Countless colorful faces popped into the shop now and then, and countless colorful faces took a little color with them.
A year and a half later, Bread Dreams Bakery and Amarella the Cookie Colorist were world-renowned names, credited for restoring color to the whole globe. Levi had been travelling the world to spread the word and make his dreams come true. The world was alive again at last. What had become of his little baker magician?
As he stood outside the quaint little bakery, he saw hundreds of people crowded in front of the doors. They were all colorful, how wonderful! “Excuse me, make way, head of sales coming through!” He said as he pushed his way past the crowd and stumbled into the shop. “Amarella, I’m back!” He yelled as he blindly presented himself with jazzhands. As he opened his eyes, however, he realized something was very wrong.
The cherry blossoms were gone, their petals no longer ornating the desserts nor the floor. The planters above the counter were devoid of plant life. The windows, which once poured strings of sunlight into the shop, were fogged up with smoky ash and dirt. The fruits on each bakery item didn’t look appetizing anymore; they looked bland and simple, as though any person could have thrown the piece together and into the oven. The two bookshelves that used to rest next to the counter had disappeared, replaced with an empty gray spot on the wall. Conversely, the old gray photos on the wall now contained pictures of colorful scenery and colorful, smiling faces.
Most importantly, the once-lively, bright, and snappy personality that used to stand behind the counter was gone. In her stead was a tired, colorless woman who wanted to be literally anywhere else.
“Excuse me miss,” Levi started, “where’s miss Amarella?”
The girl stared at him with dead eyes. There was no light to be found in them. “You’re looking at her,” she said in a monotonous voice.
Levi gave a light chuckle. “That was a good joke, my friend. Why don’t you have a taste of one of these treats? You look like skin and bones.” He picked up a raspberry tart from one of the displays. It looked nowhere near as good as the one he had the first time he visited, but he was certain that if Amarella made it, it would do its job. “I recommend one of these tarts, their terrifically tangy flavor is sure to put a smile on that face!” He held the tart out to her as a peace offering.
The girl stared blankly at the tart before taking it in her tiny hands. She brought it up to her face, and Levi became giddy with excitement. He was sure that she was the last colorless person on earth, and his mission to make the world colorful again would finally be complete. Not to mention how poorly the girl looked...he hoped to make her smile.
Instead of biting into the tart, the girl crushed it in her hand and began to cry into her sleeve. “I hate these tarts,” she said through her sobs. “I wish I never made them. I wish I never gave you one. I wish I never met you.”
Levi was taken aback by this strange girl’s words….surely they hadn’t met before.
Unless…
“Amarella?” Her dead eyes met his sea-green ones for a moment before she closed her eyes and continued to cry. He could faintly hear her whispering to herself, “ignorance was bliss, ignorance was bliss, ignorance was bliss.”
A little bit about this piece
This is quite literally my favorite story that I have ever written. It was inspired by Rush Garcia's thumbnail and orchestral rendition of Bread Dreams by Dark Cat (which you can listen to on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wXeRFwaV4A). I wrote it my junior year, when I was contemplating the idea that society either forces people to drop their passions or use their passions to survive in the economy. It's also a reflection of my fears about growing up. I don't necessarily agree with the ending statement anymore, since now I know how to set boundaries between my passions and work. It's still possible to pursue your passions when you grow up!
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