Muffin Magic

[TaLi63372]

The girl didn't understand why the Faeryl wouldn't sit down with the Calli. She was able to guide her to the table, but that was all before the Faeryl quickly left the tavern. The girl had stared at the floor, trying to figure out the odd predicament when she was rescued once again by the Muffin Mage, Rotep. He told her to come with him and like with almost all things the adults said, she did it without question or complaint. She left with Rotep in obedience and trust, the issue between the two women quickly forgotten as he worked his magic and distracted the child from the unfun business of adults.

He effortlessly opened a gate. She had seen these blue ovals before, but she looked to Rotep and waited. "In," came the command and she obeyed. On the other side was a small room with a bewildered lady in a green apron. She looked around the edge of a large canvas at them as Rotep motioned for the girl to follow him. He lead her to the next room and out of the gaze of the surprised woman. This room was larger than the previous one and held a few easels and desks. A couple other ladies looked a bit oddly at them when they came out of the back room. Despite not having seen them enter it, they still smiled when they spotted the little girl following the man in the blue robe. There were a few open books on the desks along with paints and brushes near the canvases.

Rotep stopped at the first one and picked up some paints handing them to her. He dipped a finger in the red paint and made a mark on the canvas. She mirrored him and repeated it with the same color. He wrote the word 'paint' on the canvas, saying the word and then spelling it 'P-a-i-n-t'. She dipped a new finger in blue and then copied the word and then wrote the word 'rotep' below it. He nodded at her in approval. She listened to him talk and caught a few words that she understood including the word 'drawing'. She listened carefully as her eye caught a finished painting hanging on the wall behind her easel. She leaned as her tiny head tilted as her brown eyes looked at it. Her eyes looked between the painting and the slightly used canvas. Looking over at Rotep, she pointed at the painting and then the canvas with her red-covered finger. Rotep nodded again at the connection and then dipped his finger again in the paint and wrote something after the word 'paint'. He wrote an 'ing' and sounded out the whole word to her "Painting" then spelled it and pointed to work of art. The girl looked at the word and you could almost see the wheels in her eager mind trying to figure something out. She looked down at the paint and then to the painting. That sound at the end of the newest word she had heard many, many times before at the end of other words. Some of the words she associated with something like 'drawing' and some she was clueless as to their meaning. They all had the same sound that came when he added the three marks at the end 'ing'. She would pay closer attention to those words with that sound at the end to see if she could figure out a pattern to its use. She was a smart child, but having been sheltered from even the most basic discoveries she appeared simple-minded. Rotep watched her for a couple minutes studying her as she was obviously working something out. When she looked over at him again, he started talking again. She heard a couple words she knew, but most she didn't. She liked how he talked with her even if he knew she didn't understand his sounds. She was his personal sounding board as he carried the whole conversation. Self-answered questions and statements which were affirmed. As if he had made up his mind, he told her to come and opened another gate. He told her, "In" and in she went.

 

[TaLi63372]

The girl blinked at the outdoor brightness as she appeared on the other side. She looked up at the huge buildings that towered over her that she almost missed the small humble shop right in front of her. Rotep motioned her to follow and they stepped inside to the comforting yeasty smell of risen bread and the humid air from the proofing bowls. The girl took a deep breath and let it out reluctantly. It smelled good. She looked at the variety of baked goods in the display case. Some she recognized like the round loaves of bread and others like the elaborate cakes looked alien to her. She followed Rotep past the store front to the back of the shop. There was a woman also in there, but she seemed to not react when they stepped behind the counter. Rotep pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil and placed it on the counter. "...... ...... ..... 'muffins'.... .... , " The girl's head tilted at one of her favorite words and seemed to listen to him more intently. He hefted a huge brown bag on the floor, opening it. "Flour. F-L-O-U-R. Flour" he said the word and spelled it while holding the bag open for her to see. She leaned over and looked in at the white powder. He picked up the pencil and wrote the word for her on the paper. She looked at the word and the white stuff and nodded. Next came "Sugar. S-U-G-A-R. Sugar." He wrote the word down for her and held out the small bag of sugar to her. She looked at it and then looked over at the flour. They looked similar, but this sugar looked like the ground by the endless water. He told her to taste and dipped a finger in it and then put it in his mouth. She went to mirror the reaction and almost used her blue paint-covered finger. She decided against that and used a paintless finger instead. She smiled as she popped the sweet sugar in her mouth. He smiled at her expression and nodded. She started to wiped her fingers off on her robe and had second thoughts. Her arm became the preferred canvas on which to clean the paint from her two fingers. He put down the sugar and took a cloth and cleaned both their hands before they went further.

Next came eggs. He wrote down '2 Eggs'. He said the them and then spelled the word E-G-G-S. He showed her a pair of white ovals. They looked like weird stones. The girl's brow furrowed a bit at that and the '2' in front of the eggs. He then pulled out another bag and opened it for her to see. "Salt. S-A-L-T." He wrote it down and then made the motion of dipping a finger in. He said some words, but she didn't understand them. So she mirrored his gesture and without hesitation popped the salt-covered finger into her mouth. Her face scrunched up almost violently in reaction with an 'yeach' gagging sound. She tried to scrape her tongue on her front teeth as she wrinkled her nose up at him. He grinned at her, amused.

Next came milk and butter in quick succession.

Then he brought out a bowl and began to combine the ingredients. She watched him carefully as he poured the flour into the large mixing bowl. He was talking again as he tried to explain it to her. She looked up at him and then back at the bowl. She didn't know what he was saying, but she knew enough that she was supposed to be paying attention. As he finished, she tilted her head slightly. Her brown eyes were fixated on the side of the bowl as if comparing the level the flour was at compared to the top. Her eyes studied that comparison carefully. Next came sugar. That addition was much less, but she again noticed the level to what the bowl's contents rose to. He then took the white stones and hit them against the edge of the bowl. One at a time, he opened them and let their contents fall into the bowl. They may look like stones, but were obviously not those hard things on the side of the road that hurt her feet. Next he brought out a spoon and added 1 spoonful of salt. The girl held up a single finger as if to repeat the measurement. Next he poured in the milk. She looked at the container of milk before and after he added it. It was full before and now equal parts of milk and not-milk remained. She studied the bottle and then nodded. Butter followed and then Rotep began to mix it with a larger spoon. He added one smaller spoonful of honey and then some powdery stuff. He nodded at the pencil on the table which wrote the two new words down. 'Honey' 'Yeast' as he said the words and spelled them for the girl.

He carefully spooned the mixture into a pan that looked like cups that had been glued together. All the cups were about half full when he ran out of the batter. He exclaimed sharply and then pulled out a jar of blue balls. He shook the jar at her gently as if to emphasize them. "Important" he said and put at least five blueberries in each compartment of batter. He picked up the pan and showed her. He shook it back and forth as she watched those blueberries sink and disappeared. He looked at the pan of muffin batter almost with delight as he smiled at the girl.

He then picked up a pair of things that looked like what some people put over their hands. He showed them to her and pointed to the oven. He was talking again, but his tone had changed and his face became more serious. She understood 'hot' and 'hurt' as he pointed to the open oven. She followed his indications and looked at the fire. Eager flames licked over the logs. She chewed on her lower lip as Rotep again repeated himself. She knew that thing hurt. She pointed at it and then to her back. He nodded grimly and looked at each other for a long moment. He then emphasized the heat guards again before picking up the tray of muffins and putting them in the oven.

Then the waiting began.

Tali stayed far away from the fire, crouching and looking at the tray in the oven from a distant. The muffins began to rise and as they began to grow their classic muffin top shape, Tali began to recognize them. Muffins. He had been showing her how to make the muffins! She looked up from the muffins, beaming at Rotep. He smiled in return and they waited together for the agonizing ten minutes to pass. Rotep was all too eager to pull them out of the oven and set them on the counter to cool. He pointed at the muffins in the hot tray and wrote down a new word. "Fresh. F-R-E-S-H" he said. He used the heat guards to pop a muffin out of the tray, letting the air cool it quickly. He handed it to her. It was still warm when she bit into it. Her eyes lit up and she smiled with the mouth full of muffin. He pointed at the muffin she had in her hand and repeated the new word, "Fresh." He reached into her sleeves and pulled out a moldy loaf of bread from her pocket. He pointed at it. "No. Bad. Not Fresh" She took another bite of the muffin as her mind silently chewed on that idea. She looked between the muffin and the bread. Rotep pointed again at the mold on the bread. "This is bad. It'll make you sick." She took another bite. She didn't really understand why it was bad. It was food. It looked different, but that doesn't unmake what it was. You were supposed to eat food. It was valuable even if it had colors. She looked up at Rotep, studying his face as he again emphasized the lesson. His face was serious as he looked at her. She didn't understand how food could make you sick. The thought of throwing food that could be eaten was gut-wrenching to the girl. However, if Rotep wanted her to not eat the colorful bread, she wouldn't. She would do as she was told and obey him as she did the others. She reached into the pocket and pulled out two more moldy loaves and held them out. He nodded at her in approval and took all the loaves and tossed them in the trash. Bagging up the remainder of the muffins, he conjured a gate and took them back to the golden sandstone city.