Chapter One

​

I  lie on the soft, grassy field,
rubbed her eyes and slowly woke up.
Grape-colored clouds floated across the sky,
and the moon, bitten by a celestial hound,
glowed with a ring of milky white light.
The air was filled with the sweet scent of vanilla cream.

​

"Who are you? I don’t think I’ve seen you around before."
asked the husky patrol officer, Brian.
"I… Where am I?"
The rich aroma of custard growing thicker in the air drew our attention.
Grrrrrr... I looked down at my tummy, which had made the sound.
"This smell... it’s way too tempting..." I lowered my head, a bit shy.
"Must be Granny Rose’s freshly baked cream puffs,"
Brian sniffed the air.
"Wanna go take a look together?"

​

​

The door chime rang brightly—
“Ding!”
“Ow!” Brian let out a yelp.
“You bumped into the door again, Brian?”
Granny Rose curled her lips into a helpless smile.
Thud! I crashed right into Brian’s back.
“Oww… that hurt…”
Granny Rose, still wearing her oven mitts, walked over to help me up.
The mitts were covered in fresh orange marmalade,
dripping gently onto the floor.
“I was just thinking too much about those cream puffs… totally forgot there was a door,”
Brian pouted with a sheepish look.
“Are you alright, dear?” Granny Rose asked gently.

​

​

“I-I’m fine…” I mumbled,
though my eyes were already glued to the plump, jiggly orange cream puffs.
Their round bellies wobbled with soft cream,
almost as if they were waving at me.
I swallowed quietly and quickly looked away,
pretending not to be interested.
Just then—
BOOM!
Dark clouds gathered, and a flash of lightning streaked across the window,
the glass trembled in fear,
and even the cream puffs seemed to quiver in panic.
Granny Rose patted the flour off her apron and looked at us with a smile.
“Looks like I made too many puffs today,” she said with a wink.
“They're all yours, kids. Good timing too—I was just about to head home early. Hungry?”

​

​

“That lightning just now…”
Brian licked the corner of his mouth and blinked.
“I thought the marshmallow on your puff exploded! Burnt and went pop!”
“If it did, I still wouldn’t tell you,”
Granny Rose gave him a playful pat, her eyes twinkling.
BOOM!
SWISH!
A clap of thunder followed by a sudden blackout—
the lights went out.

​

​

“Looks like we’ll have to close early today,”
Granny Rose glanced out the window.
Raindrops had begun tapping against the glass,
splashing into tiny puddles.
“For the sake of those puffs,” Brian said,
and stuffed the rest of his half-eaten puff into his mouth.
With a snap, he threw on his police hat,
and dashed into the rain—tap tap tap.