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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 snow capped 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…
Odelia hadn’t been planning on buying cookies. Christmastime or not, she’d been planning to give out cute little knick-knacks she’d found or prints of some of her better scenic photographs. But then, more people than expected had given her some thoughtful little gift and she felt scummy not giving them something in return. But by that time, she’d run out of ideas and had taken to racing around the city looking for worthy gifts.
And then she’d found the cookie shop. The window displays were so cute and the cookies honestly looked amazing. Del decided that some pretty cookies and a nice card would be received just as well as a fancier gift and went inside. And then had to pause on the threshold to breathe in the scent of baking cookies. Eyes nearly crossing from sheer bliss, she circled the tiny shop slowly, looking at everything and considering.
By the time she reached the counter and the tiny, smiling old woman behind it, she’d already decided that she was getting enough cookies to finish out her gift roster, plus a few extra for herself. As she stood and selected cookies, she watched the old woman. After a few moments, she’d come to the conclusion that this lady was the very essence of sweet, old-fashioned grandmother from her beautifully styled puffs of snow-white hair to the lace trimmed apron around her waist. There was even the faintest hint of rose and lavender under all of the warm vanilla and sugary cookie smells.
Once the gift cookies were selected, they were placed into a pretty little box and tied off with a peppermint striped ribbon. Now it was time to pick the cookies Del wanted for herself. Which was posing a slight problem since she wasn’t really a sweets person. Too-sweet stuff just made her teeth hurt.
“You’d likely enjoy the gingerbread or shortbreads and lemon curd,” the old woman said when Del explained her dilemma. “Neither are overly sweet and all of my cookies come from old family recipes. Though I insist that you at least try one of my sugar cookies. Unlike that horrible stuff you can buy from the grocer, my cookies don’t taste of processed sugar and only processed sugar.”
Del had to laugh a little at this. Still, she agreed to at least try one , though she filled up her box with shortbread and gingerbread. Before the box was sealed, the old woman placed a tiny jar of pale yellow lemon curd in and bagged everything. Then, once Del had paid, a sugar cookie was handed over. Smiling her thanks, Del left the shop and took a bite of the cookie as she walked down the snowy street.
And almost immediately choked as the street around her faded and was replaced by a stunning mountain vista with the sun just beginning to rise over the snow-capped peaks. As the dark sky filled with soft pinks and golds and the dark of night transformed into the azure of dawn, Del felt tears trickling down her cheeks. Somewhere deep inside, she felt a strange fluttering of hope and wondered at it.
Worried that she might actually choke if she chewed and cried at the same time, Del swallowed the bite of cookie. And found herself standing in the mundane little street, frozen in place like an idiot with tears freezing on her skin. Scurrying back to the sidewalk, she took another bite, but nothing happened. Though, she had to admit the old woman’s boasts were legit. This cookie was super good. But Del wanted to go back to that mountain she’d seen. Practically inhaling the cookie with no results, she thought a moment. And then she went back to the shop.
“I’m, uh, I’m going to need another dozen of those sugar cookies, please,” she said with a sheepish smile on her face as she re-entered the shop.
(Word Count: 654)
