The shop is slow today, and I mean s-l-o-w. I am at the point where I am counting the seconds in a minute, the minutes in the hour, and the hours that my shop is open.
Now, trust me it’s not always this slow. It gets ok business, but some days are boring. Did I say that today was so boring? Because today has been so sluggish.
These days make me question my life. They make me think. I soon fall into a deep dream.
~~
I am in this green, grassy field, with some dirt patches. I feel free, clear, and unrestricted. It's an open field. For once, I don't feel a sense that I am locked up in something. At least not until I come across a patch of dirt and mud.
I start getting repetitive thoughts and fears about getting dirt on myself. I start to freak out. I am no longer clear and open.
As soon as those thoughts pop into my head, I hear a rustling and all the sudden a huge man-eating cupcake appears.
In my dream is a man-eating cupcake started chasing me pushing me towards something, but what is that something? Or is the cupcake chasing me away from something? Maybe chasing me from my own thoughts? I start running, heart beating quickly, away from the man-eating cupcake.
~~
The dream seemed so real that I almost started running for real.
Instead, I accidentally dropped the new glass container for the cupcake of the day. Today’s cupcake is Carmel Fudge. Glass shattered everywhere. Well, there goes my dream, at least I escaped.
As I was cleaning up the glass, I kept trying to think of new games I could play to pass the time. “Maybe I could keep counting? No, counting was getting boring. I already sorted and cleaned everything twice, so that’s out. Although, it never hurts to clean, I guess. Just as I was about to start cleaning things again, two guys walked into the cupcake store. I recognized one from the bar a few nights ago, I think he said he name was Lane, and he seemed to be with a teenager today.
“Hi, Lane, right?” I asked with the goal of dragging out some conversation since I have not spoken a word to anyone today yet, besides maybe screaming from my dream.
“Uh-huh,” was all he responded. He seemed a little off today.
Luckily, to help the silence, the boy with Lane spoke up, “Hey, I’m Stanley and I am a foster kid that Lane is mentoring.” Stanley seemed a little out of it also, but he just kept talking about how he had already become great friends with Lane and how they bonded in the park.
Then, as Lane began to join the conversation, he rambled on about his life, but I didn’t really pay attention, because all I was thinking about was if I should become a mentor. It could take up some of my time, right? Wow, this would open up new doors. Maybe I would no longer have to count every tick of the clock I hear.
Was that what the man-eating in my cupcake was trying to signal? Was it trying to push me to try something besides cupcakes?
