Quote:
Prompt 7: You've seen the commercials, take a bite of a chocolate mint patty and feel a rush of so cold you feel like you're atop a frigid mountain? Now, imagine you found a cute little shop with a sweet grandmother selling cookies from a recipe passed down for generations. She was warm and friendly, and very good at selling her cookies. They look normal, taste normal--except when you take a bite, for a few seconds, your vision fades and is replaced by a glorious view. You're at the top of a mountain, watching the sun rise above the clouds. The sunset is beautiful and soft, and you can't even feel the absolutely frigid air despite the snowcapped mountains all around you. There is something otherworldly and timeless about the location, and even in the dark of winter it has the ability to fill you with some unshakeable hope. When you swallow, the illusion rapidly fades, and no subsequent bites guarantee any further illusion--but, maybe if you eat enough, you'll eventually find that magical bite again...
Now thoroughly in the swing of having downtime during the snowlocked winter of Destiny City, Nakhett was enjoying mapping out her excursions each day to see everything the metropolis had to offer. Obviously there was her favorite cafe, but that would quickly become boring if that's all she frequented. There was a really cool nightclub from the previous week, and she'd heard tell of an old-fashioned theater in the arts district. That's where she was headed today.
It wasn't much her style to sit through a movie alone, but until she made some regular friends it didn't bother her. She could enjoy an impromptu movie and popcorn just as well solo. Grabbing her keys as she tugged on her jacket, she closed her apartment door behind her and locked it. On the way to another merry adventure in the tale of newcomer enjoying the city!
The woman was amazed at just how much snow fell during the winter in this city, but then again that really wasn't the strangest thing about it. Magic, mythical creatures, strange happenings... those kind of took precedence. Though she was trying her best to keep it out of her mind, the recently-received letter from her father to her mother and the ghostly haunting had been plaguing her ever since. As was usual while walking, she fell into deep thought and hardly paid attention to where she was going. Not the best practice if one wanted to end up in their desired location.
When she finally shook herself out of her reverie, Nakhett found herself in a wholly unfamiliar section of the city. It wasn't run-down or anything, quite the opposite. It almost looked like an Old Town or something similar. Maybe this was the original city that had grown to the sprawling megalopolis of today? Either way, a quick pop into her map app would solve the situation in due order.
As she fished into her jacket for her phone, the tall redhead stopped to sniff at the air. Now that was one delicious smell! It reminded her of a sweets bakery or something similar, and a nearby little building squeezed between two store fronts seemed to be the source. A snack before the movie couldn't hurt. She ventured inside and out of the cold.
It was cozy and warm in the bakery, with confections of every kind imaginable on display. Cookies, cakes, muffins, rolls, you name it. It was there. The proprietress was even a cute little granny!
"Have a chocolate mint, dear!" the kindly elder called, out, stepping from behind the counter with a tray of the cookies. "They're very fresh!"
"Oh no thank you," Nakhett declined politely, turning away from peering at the largest chocolate chip cookie she'd ever seen. "I'm not much of a fan of-"
"Well you've never tried my recipe now have you? Just a bite, come now."
She certainly was insistent, but then weren't most old people? Maybe having a small distasteful bite wasn't the worst thing to satisfy a wrinkled old lady. Nakhett herself was certainly pleased when people liked her cooking.
"Alright, just a bite I guess."
She took the offered sweet, breaking off a tiny piece and popping it into her mouth before managing a small genuine smile at the granny. Or rather, where the older woman had been. Nakhett now stood in swirling flurries of snow, jacket whipping in a fierce wind that somehow didn't chill her to the core. Was she being pranked? This looked just like the commercials for that other trademarked dessert.
Yep, just like them. Though light was dim, a fantastic sunrise was creeping over the edge of a nearby mountaintop, which illuminated the one on which she stood. That figured. Magic cookie to go with all the other insanity of the holidays. At least the image was so idyllic that Nakhett couldn't help but smile, swallowing the chocolate mint so it didn't sit on her tongue and ruin the moment with its taste.
The moment she swallowed, she was right back to staring at the granny... who held an expectant expression.
"It's... the best chocolate mint I've tasted," Nakhett admitted.
It was true. Though she hated the flavor, no other mint had momentarily transported her to a magical mountaintop.
"I think I'll save the rest for my movie. I'll be back for that chocolate chip!"
Not waiting for a response, Nakhett hurried back outside and thumbed open her map app. Time for a little normalcy. Once out of sight of the quaint bakery, the offending mint found a new home right in a handy trash can.
