The Baker on Chambers Street
by Danielle R. Morrison
Part 1 appears in this issue.
conclusion
Aster tried to wiggle herself out of her captors’ grips, but they held onto her with all their strength. Every time she moved an inch, she felt their hands squeeze her harder.
“I did nothing wrong.” She attempted to kick her legs again but failed.
The man bent close to her face. “Daemons don’t belong in the human realm without permission from the courts or a human invitation with an offering. You had neither, to my understanding.”
Aster cackled. “I did. A human boy summoned me to help his family. Therefore, I technically did nothing wrong.”
The woman who tackled her let go of her arm with one hand and walked around to look her in the eye while holding her with the other. Her eyes were pale blue, almost blending with the whites around her irises. “That was weeks ago.”
Aster shook her head, strands of hair flying into her mouth. “Correct. But by the books, I’m in the right.”
“What do you think is going to happen to you if the humans find out what you are?” she said. “They’ll try to kill you to keep their souls.”
Aster shrugged. “I can’t die, and we all know those stories aren’t true.”
The woman sounded defeated. “They don’t seem to care.”
The man moved back and looked down at her, nose scrunched as if he smelled something rancid. “Why do you want to help them anyway? Humans are a waste.”
“We’ve been helping them since the birth of the Universe. Belladonna taught them science. Maylikal taught them philosophy. Saliele taught them how to love.” Aster’s voice rose. “Think of what I could teach them. And how I can help them.”
The woman motioned for her to keep her voice down. “You can’t teach them anything. We have shown them our power to create and destroy, and they chose to focus on what we destroyed.”
One of the men holding her left leg stepped in between Aster and the man and woman. “I think we should give her a chance.”
The grips on her limbs loosened even more. If she still had wanted to, she could have run.
He turned to the first man, who looked ready to punch her again. “Calm down, Dominicus.” He turned to the woman. “And you too, Aemula.”
The others backed away. As Aster shook out her limbs, she scowled at the redness around her wrists.
“We can’t let her go, Ulf,” Dominicus said. “We have a duty to return Aster to the spirit realm.”
“As a friend or as a prisoner?” She folded her arms across her chest so no one could grab them.
“Don’t test us,” Ulf said. “We are doing our job.”
* * *
Instead of immediately returning to the spirit realm, Aster left the boy and went to walk in a world she’d never been in but always dreamed of.
Her parents had told her stories of how the humans relied on the Ancient Ones to gift them with wisdom and knowledge to grow and support their mortal realm. It would someday become her duty to do the same and follow in their footsteps.
“Humans who have been enlightened understand the wonders we can do to help them,” her father once said during a lesson in their library. “But our stories have been twisted over centuries to make us out to be harmful creatures towards them.”
“Always remember,” her mother chimed in, “that good and evil are human concepts that try to fit every spirit and mortal being into tiny boxes. Their consciousness just hasn’t developed enough yet to fully understand the worlds around them.”
“Do we have to help them?” Aster asked.
Her father shook his head. “We don’t. But if we’re asked and offered a payment to show us respect and give us strength to, we can always try.”
“But why bother?” Aster sank into the velvet chair. “Sounds like a waste of our time and infernal energy.”
“It’s tradition.” He reached above his head to take another book from the shelf. “We know every secret of the Universe. Why not share it with those in need of it?”
The summer air in the boy’s town was humid and warm, just like home. Aster continued down the path, breathing in the refreshing aroma of wet grass and listening to the sound of the wind rustling the leaves of the trees that decorated the yards of the houses she walked by. She savored the stillness of that moment, where she could observe the world she had prepared for years to visit.
All those years of studying for that first call to help in the mortal realm brought her both disappointment and clarity. Her parents had taught her everything the Ancient Ones had shared with the humans but based on what that boy had revealed to her about his life, it sounded like all their wisdom had been forgotten. With everything they had been given centuries ago, they shouldn’t have been struggling any longer as much as they were.
“I wish you could stay,” the boy had said after she said she told him she needed to go. “I feel like no one understands me sometimes. But you actually try to.”
Aster felt her heart swell at his kindness. “I’m glad I could help. If you ever need anything, you can always call me again. My name is Aster, by the way.”
“I’m Mitchell.” He smiled with his eyes pointing to his feet. “I never thought I would have a daemon for a friend.”
Aster laughed. “I guess I never expected to have a human friend, either.”
She made it to the end of the block and turned left onto Chambers Street. Sweet little houses faded into shiny buildings with fluorescent lights and flashy signs. Aster marveled at the stark differences just a few meters had made.
One sign caught her eye. The Enchanted Bakery. Peering through the window, she saw a man with his head pressed onto the floured countertop, glittering kitchen utensils scattered around him in a semicircle. She tugged on the door handle, but the door was locked.
Startled from the rattling door, he quickly lifted his head. Aster waited as he unlocked the bolt with flour-covered hands and poked his bald head out.
“I’m sorry ma’am,” he said, his voice cracking. “We open at nine o’clock in the morning.”
Aster took a step closer towards him, trying to get a better view of the inside. “So makes this place enchanted?” she asked, ignoring his statement.
He stared at her for a moment, face remaining unchanged. “Everything here is just so good, you’ll be under our spell and come back for more.” His voice was monotone and quiet. “Is there anything else I can help you with this evening?”
In her mind’s eye, she felt his exhaustion, his stress, and his hopelessness. He was deeply unhappy, wishing for a better life to spend with his family. Within a breath, she knew everything about this man and what he suffered through just to continue to suffer with no way out.
Aster shook her head. “No,” she said, “but can I help you?”
* * *
The tingling in Aster’s wrists and ankles began to fade. “I understand my parents sent you to find me. But I am staying, as it is my duty to help those in need.”
Aemula reached out her hands, attempting to take Aster’s in hers. Aster kept her arms folded. “It is your duty to help your own. Not humans any longer.”
“I am following our tradition,” she said, “in my own way now.”
Ulf cleared his throat. “Would you be willing to come back and talk to your parents first? I don’t think they are aware of your plan. And I, honestly, think it’s noble, in a bizarre sort of way.”
Aster fought to hold her smile back. “I’m not ready to speak with them yet. This is something I want to do on my own. They sent me into this world, and I intend to finish what I started.”
“Do you even have a plan?” Aemula said.
“I don’t need one,” she said. “I’ve learned a lot of what they need and how I can help them already.”
Ulf took a step forward and leaned his head in. “And what have you learned?”
She sighed as she thought of Melvin and his family. “So far, I learned that all the lessons that were once taught to them have gone to waste. There’s little love in what they do in their day-to-day life and little wisdom to be gained from it. They are moving backwards.”
Dominicus glared as she spoke. He ran his hands through his neatly combed hair and sighed. “And if humans figure out what you are?”
She shrugged. “I’ll just come home then. No harm, no foul.”
“You really think you’ll save the decaying of this realm on your own?” He scoffed and turned his head away. “You’re the dumbest little daemon I’ve ever met.”
Ulf put a hand on Dominicus’ shoulder. “She thinks like the Ancient Ones. I think that’s something we can all admire. A way of thinking that’s been lost for centuries.”
“She’s moving backward to move them forward.”
A moment of silence moved between them. In the distance, Aster heard a drunken brawl over the music from the pub. Even farther away from them, crickets sang in the trees and dogs barked happily on their nightly walks. The faintest hum of the fluorescent lights above them buzzed in her ears. All sounds she would never hear in her own realm.
“You really plan to stay in this mess?” Aemula finally asked to break the silence.
With confidence, Aster relied. “Yes.”
A car alarm at the end of the street began to wail. Abruptly, Dominicus said, “We need to report to the spirit realm. But we’ll be back for you.”
All but Aster closed their eyes and remained still as they materialized out of the human realm. When the last fragment of their essence was gone, Aster felt alone.
* * *
The next day, Melvin didn’t come to work. Although Aster was hoping to see him so she could hear the news of his newfound riches, she was also relieved that he didn’t show. Finally, he could enjoy a day off with his family. One of many, she hoped.
The other managers didn’t come in either, as usual, so Aster delegated herself to lead the team for the post-dinner dessert rush. After she locked the doors and the last employee went home for the day, she settled in the manager’s desk chair in the office behind the kitchen. In the top desk drawer, she found a yellow memo pad and a pen. With it, she wrote a note that said:
Dear Melvin,I regret to inform you that I am resigning from my position as of today. Please know that this is not a reflection of you or The Enchanted Bakery. Unfortunately, I have a family emergency that I must attend to. Thank you for all that you taught me. I truly appreciate the time you took to ensure my success. I hope that our paths may cross someday again.
Regards,
Aster
P.S. Please tell Mitchell I said hello and have a great first year of high school!
Aster sealed the handwritten letter in an envelope and wrote Melvin’s name on the front in her neatest script. As she held the letter in both hands, she used her infernal energy to grant warmth, luck, and happiness to whoever read her words. She would miss the sweet cupcakes, but Melvin and Mitchell most of all.
She held the letter in her left hand. With a snap of her fingers, the letter dissipated away and would appear in his mailbox at home. She assumed he would get it in the morning when he was finally well-rested.
And with that, her work there was done. With tears falling from her eyes, she locked the back door of the bakery one last time and materialized away.
Copyright © 2022 by Danielle R. Morrison
