Sweet Perks to a Sweet Job

The prompt: Mystery Cookie
One Day you come into work and find a cookie mysteriously placed on your desk. Grateful
to whoever left this anonymous cookie, you eat it. The next morning you come in and find
another cookie. This continues for months until one Day a different object is left—and this
time there’s a note....

"OOOOOh!" Suzy says, "Looks like somebody has a secret admirer." 

"Maybe," I reply as I bite into another delicious mouthful of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. "Or maybe Santa is treating me to some early Christmas gifts." 

For the past week someone has been sneaking over to my desk when I am not there and leaving me a cookie. My class of Kindergarteners won't admit it and they aren't too great at telling lies yet... or so I thought.

Who could it be? And why are they doing it?

Days and days go by and the cookies keep coming, different times, different kinds, different ways. Each made fresh and each tasting just as delicious. 

By the second week, my mouth watered for the sweetness I craved. I asked teacher after teacher if they knew who it was? Was someone playing a joke? Did someone had a crush? Someone that bakes this good, could sweep me off my feet in no time... maybe.

As a teacher, you are told to not eat the random foods that make their way to your desk, but playing and learning with 37 Kindergarteners, a little pick-me-up goes a long way. And one as good as this, goes even farther. 

After 30 days (And 30 perfect cookies) I began to think the cookies would keep coming. If someone is going to keep it up for a month, maybe it will last a lifetime. As I bit into yet another bite of the mouthwatering snickerdoodle. I froze.

In the middle of the cookie... was a note. I quickly withdrew my teeth from the paper and stared down at it. "Meet at the flagpole, 5 o'clock" was all that was written on it in a coarse, dark handwriting.

...Well, this was odd, I thought. Throughout the afternoon, I couldn't help but flipping decisions. Do I go? Do I go home? I mean I might as well say thanks? 

I questioned myself all day. I had to go, but maybe I needed to bring someone. By then it would be dark? Did they pick that time on purpose? 

How was I supposed to know it was them? Like, that was a logical question. How many people did I think would hang around an elementary school's flag pole over 2 hours after school let out. 

Then right before the dismissal bell rang, I turned back towards my desk and on it, I saw a magic 8 ball. Figured, right?

So as I dismissed the children and let them run home to their loved ones. I quickly grabbed up the ball and asked it if I go to the flagpole.

"Without a doubt" it tumbled back to me. I had decided, through the help of a "magic" 8 ball that I would go meet the "secret admirer" that has been leaving me cookies for a month. 

As 5 oclock leared closer. I turned off my computer, reached for my bag and turned off the lights. I headed in the dark of the fall night to the flagpole and waited nervously to see who would appear.

All of a sudden, I heard a branch snap beneath someone's feet behind me. I froze and as my heart began to beat a little more back to normal, I turned slowly around. 

In front of me, was a 6th grade student, smiling ear to ear. 

"How'd ya like my cookies, Miss P?" Cody asked. I was shocked. How could this student be so sneaky? And why?

"They were the best part of my day, Mr. Cody. Where did you get them from?" I asked still in disbelief.

"I made them. After that time we made cookie dough in your class, I have been making cookies every week. That was years ago. I wanted to share what I could do with you. Besides, mom wanted me to stop leaving them around the house. So I thought I'd share my passion with the one who made it so."

"Wow Cody. They were marvelous! I can't believe you made them all by yourself. Why'd you leave the 8 ball?" 

"Oh! That's where I left it! I meant to borrow it to Troy today. Do'ya think I can get it from you tomorrow, Mrs. P?" 

"Absolutely, Mr. Cody. Oh, and Mr. Cody? Continue baking and keep pushing yourself. You have quite the talent. Thank you for sharing it with me." 

"No, thank you Mrs. P." Cody said as he slinked back away towards his home. 

I sat down laughing at myself for the fear I had after the note. Cody was always a sweet kid, though a bit on the shy side. He always worked really hard and made sure he pushed himself even farther. He always wanted to be the best and I am glad that at such an early age, he had found it. Teachers may not make the millions they should, but we sure get some pretty sweet rewards. 

Third Times a Passion

 

Wow. Of all days, this is not what I needed. Who would have thought I'd have been alone today. Today of all days. I don't know what I was thinking, thinking I'd be okay. I am not. I miss her. What if she was the one? She couldn't be, could she?

And there she is. 

He saw her walk into the little italian restaurant cool and calm. Collected. Like this day meant nothing to her. It meant everything to her once...

Once was so long ago. Back when they were so young and naive. Thinking that love not only changed the world but could save it. It couldn't even save them...

Not from the fighting, the heartbreak, the constant threat of explosion and sacrifice. I sacrificed so much to brighten our love. I barely made it out alive...

And yet, at this moment, he didn't feel so alive. He watched her from the corner of her eye. Stalking her, wondering. Who was she here with? Here? Today?

He straightened up, took a deep breath. What if she saw me? What do we say? How did we both end up here today... just like all those years ago.

10 years ago, they had met at this exact place, on this exact day maybe at this time.

Daniel has been dreading this day for months. Every year this day just brings unmanageable amount of gloom on his life. This one being one of the worst yet, he imagined.

Lately he found that he couldn't stop thinking about her, about the time they shared. Sure, they argued and fought but they were passionate and eccentric. They were growing and growing up. They could be whoever they wanted, do whatever they wanted. But sometimes it felt like all they wanted to do was feed the fire.

But it wasn't always that bad. Like 10 years ago today. They were set up on a blind date. Not knowing what to expect, not sure of how protocol really worked. They met up here. He showed up first. Flustered and not really in control. He thought She sure sounded pretty on the phone. This is a horrible mistake.

Yet he waited. Waited for the chance to see her, to see how it would go. Would they laugh? Would it be awkward?

Kaylan walked in moments later. Cool, calm, collected. Just like she was today. Exactly like she was today. She didn't look quite as frazzled as he was. And boy, she was stunning. Her hair shone like an auburn sunset and her lips, the parting sun. Her eyes, he recalled. Her eyes seemed to reach into his soul and search the wonders of the universe all with the same blink. Their dark green glint and light emerald charm was mesmerizing. And that smile. That smile looked mysteriously devilish and yet something inside him awakened.

 I never knew what I was in for. The night started out slow. I learned everything I ever needed to learn about her that day. He saw her for who she was. Asking her what her favorite color was, where she grew up, what her family was like. But I learned so much more. Like the way Kay laughed when she was nervous, moved her hair while she thought, and the way her passion roared like fire. As if helping others was the only thing that mattered.

Yet, she could never help me. Boy, did she think she had to try.

Within a week, they were attached at the hip. Soaking up every moment they could. Every thought they could have, they shared. They were inseparable. And they had intense chemistry. No matter what she looked like, she always found a way to sizzle his nerves, smoke his senses and ignite a part of him that craved such an awakening. He constantly fantasized about the way she walked, the way she moved, and the way she always left him aching for more. 

We weren't just passionate like fire, we seemed to create it. He always knew he did the same for her. The way she would drop everything at the drop of a call, make things easier so he never had to do a thing. He had the world by the balls. And no one was going to change that. The man in control of the fire, controlled the world. 

He always felt a need for easy power but he was never one to push himself too hard. He lived a fine life, never went too far but he was caring, he was generous, he was true. Yet Kay found Daniel's hazel eyes enchanting and his smirk inspiring. His wispy, spiky hair was sexy and he could make her tremble with a touch of his finger. The same finger he controlled her by.

Yet somehow the fire died, he reminded himself. We both believed so much in the magic power of love, that we stopped believing in each other... He thought.

We killed the fire. Somewhere along the shared memories and hopeless dreams, we broke each other. She always wanted to solve me, fix me, make me more. I never let her "fix" me. I mean, I wasn't broken was I? I wasn't just some toy that she could glue back together or some sand she could turn into a castle with the touch of her hands. I was a man, a man with nothing to lose.

And I acted like it. I pinched every nerve that she ever showed me. She nagged and complained and I ate it up. I chewed her out. I wanted to show her just how passionate I could be, just how wild I could be, how powerful I was without her help. I wanted to engulf her, make her feel shackled to me. For years, I had her wrapped around my finger, my single fancy her greatest goal. But day after day, I noticed her eyes diminish. Her smile became damaged. Her spirit broken. She couldn't handle my power. She wasn't as passionate, as wild as encompassing as the fire we had become. I. Had. Become. Because. I. Had. Nothing. To. Lose....So I left her.
That same day 5 years later, she showed up to meet Daniel at the same restaurant they were at today, in the same place at nearly the same time. And this time, he never showed.

Days later, the impossible happened. She approached me with that old smile and new frosted over eyes. I thought she had returned the woman she was always supposed to be with me. 

But she told him otherwise. She told me she was sick of the fighting, sick of the pushing. She wanted more. More out of me. More out of the man I could be. She wanted to see the fire in my belly not just in my words. She wanted my dedication to move mountains and my passion to change the world. She knew hers would but only if she stopped today. She needed someone...

Different. But would she feel the same today? He looked back at her. A drink in her hand, giggling at her phone. He sensed she was nervously excited. He thought of approaching, offering his smile, turning on his charm. Why was she here?

Must be a date. At that thought, a man walked in, crisp jacket, airy hair, devilish smile. I could never have been that man. The man seemed to be everything Kay ever wanted and as soon as the wine showed up, he recognized the moment, he was witnessing. The man clinked his glass. The noisy room simmered and whispered. 

I froze. I couldn't leave and let her notice. I couldn't stay and watch but I knew what was happening. I looked down, spinning my pasta on my fork like it was the only thing that mattered in the entire world. But I heard. The man talked about a woman the world wouldn't survive without, a woman that changed his world and the world around them. A woman that not only cared more about others than she ever could about herself but made that care contagious and this man was incurably infected. The man got down on one knee and asked Kay those 4 words Daniel always dreamed would fall off his tongue.

Daniel left the restaurant, hands in his pockets, heart re-shattered. 

I never turned into the man she dreamed I could be, the one sitting across from her holding her hand, sharing such a moment of happiness. I never moved mountains and I can't. 

The only passion I ever had, I met on a frightening Valentine's Day 10 years ago. And fight after fight. Singular triumph after triumph, I broke her. I extinguished her smile, I froze her smile, I broke her heart. 

But I know that love we shared moved mountains in my world, that love changed my world. And as frightening as that Valentine's Day was all those years ago, this one was suffocating. As he leaned against the back of the building, another tear fell down his cheek, and he knew.

He knew all those years ago he should have done more, could have done more. He couldn't blame her. It was always him. He could have been that man across from her. He could have helped her move mountains but not now. We didn't extinguish the fire, I did.

Now she was just the one he let get away. Once a fire is drenched, it can never reignite.

Day 2:
The One That Got Away

The breakup of the month

 

Dear Writer’s Block, 

It’s not you, it’s me. I know the time we have spent together, we have had some fun relaxing but now we really must be saying goodbye. Oh I know, I know what you are thinking “Don’t worry she will be back. They always come back” but this time I think its time for us to say goodbye. Goodbye to the evenings where I stumble along on Facebook wasting hours of thinking time. Goodbye to the days of unnecessary stress and over thinking dilemmas. Goodbye to the moments we have shared when we have gotten nothing accomplished. I know in the day there is more time that can be used than you have given me and in the past it has been to easy to fall into your embrace. 

But it is time for me to go, to move on, to be the better person, the bigger person, the stronger person. It is time for me to say goodbye to those empty and forgettable yesterdays and make a notable tomorrow. I have too many dreams and too many wasted talents with you in the way blocking my every move. I know the lazy afternoons we shared will be cherished and the forgettable moments looked at as necessary relaxation. But in reality, it was a virus that you have spread through my being stealing my motivation, stalling my creativity and rotting my brain. 

Writer’s Block, I have heard all the lines before. “It will change,” “It is necessary” but in the end which of us has been full of the lies. Who is holding whom back? “You need me,” I only need myself. “I will die without you”: some things are better that way. I know I will hurt your memory of me and I know that there will be tomorrows that I will fight to stay out of your grasp but remember that as a writer I have the creativity to silence your voice, pause your video and erase your mark on my soul. So goodbye Writer’s Block. May you find happiness with another unfortunate soul. 

Farewell,

Ashley