Butterscotch Bakery’s Delivery Boy

Coleen Jill F. Sajo @HSaijou

Itis a bright, sunny day in the town of Steampuff. Known for its advanc ement in developing steam engines for vehicles and for its delicious cream puffs, it is a popular destination spot for people of Tertenia to visit. Because of this, the streets of Steampuff have become even more bustling than it was before.

Despite the crowded streets, Poncho manages to slither his way while running hastily, his hand holding tightly unto his cap. The poor boy overslept, and is currently making his way to a bakery as quickly as his nimble fit can run.

As soon as he spots the storefront, Poncho swiftly makes his escape from the crowded streets. With a running start, he does a long, horizontal jump. He sticks the landing right exactly in front of the store and stretches out his arms to maintain his balance.

He turns around and sees an old man by the counter. He smiles triumphantly.

“I’m safe!” he exclaims.

“Only by a hair.” The old man sighs. “Now come in, boy. You got some deliveries to do.”

Poncho gives the old man a salute before entering the store, the bell above the door jingling right after him.

Inside the store, Poncho takes a deep breath as he takes in the scent of freshly baked goods—from raisin bread to chocolate chip cookies, from sugar-coated donuts to vanilla-filled cream puffs. His mouth would’ve watered had he not taken breakfast earlier.

“This place smells so delicious as always.” Poncho remarks while looking around. “You’re such a great baker, Mr. Butterscotch!”

“Why, it’s in the name, of course!” The old man, Mr. Butterscotch, harrumphs proudly.

Then, he hands a small note to Poncho.

“Well then, here’s your list of deliveries for today. Make sure you don’t forget any single one, okay?”

“I promise!” Poncho does a salute again.

After taking the note, Poncho looks at the list with eyes shimmering in excitement. Today, he has to do only three deliveries this morning. The baked goods he has to deliver are pretty light and easy for him to carry around the town.

Mr. Butterscotch smiles, and he leans down to pat the boy on his head.

“You’ll do me proud, boy. Now, take the goods with you and get going.”

Poncho returns the smile with a grin.

Then, he gets the boxes of baked goods that he needs to deliver for the day. The bell above the door jingles as Poncho exits the building, ready to start his day as a delivery boy of Butterscotch Bakery.

The first delivery is for Mrs. Winfield, an old woman who lives right across Poncho’s house. Poncho decides to take the shortcut, so he can easily get to his neighborhood quickly.

As soon as he arrives, he is immediately welcomed by his mother who is standing outside of their house. She seems to be waiting for him with her arms crossed and her glare menacing.

Something bad is definitely going to happen.

“So, Poncho,” his mother begins. “Did you arrive on time at the bakery shop?”

“Yep, definitely!” Poncho grins sheepishly. “In fact, Mr. Butterscotch said that I made it ‘only by a hair’!”

His mother raises her eyebrow. “Don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not lying to you, Mom, I promise!” Poncho insists.

“This is because you overslept this morning! Had you slept earlier last night, then that certainly wouldn’t have happened! You also wouldn’t have missed–”

“Oh my, what’s with all the noise?”

Upon hearing the familiar elderly voice of Mrs. Winfield, Poncho sighs in relief. At least, he does not have to listen to his mother nagging at him first thing in the morning—especially while he is in the middle of a delivery.

Speaking of delivery, Mrs. Winfield just happens to appear at the right time!

“Good morning, Mrs. Winfield!” Poncho greets her. He offers her a box of oatmeal raisin cookies. “I’m here to deliver some cookies for you.”

“Oh, thank you, dear Poncho.” Mrs. Winfield takes the box from Poncho. “You can go on, now. You have other deliveries to do, right?”

“Yes, Ma’am! I’ll see you and Mom later!”

After waving goodbye to both his mother and Mrs. Winfield, Poncho takes the same shortcut to quickly make his way to his second delivery. So far, so good. He hasn’t run into trouble yet, and everything has been safe and intact.

The second delivery is for a family who lives just two blocks away from the bakery. The mother and father are regular customers who used to frequent the bakery every now and then. However, due to the foot traffic every morning, it became more difficult for the pair to visit the bakery personally. So now, they decided to have deliveries instead.

“Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Selby!” Poncho greets them from the entrance. “I have a delivery for you from Mr. Butterscotch.”

As soon as the couple come out through the door, Mrs. Selby is the first to greet the young boy.

“Good morning to you, too, dear Poncho.” Mrs. Selby smiles at him. “I see you have our favorite wheat bread with you?”

Poncho nods, offering the box to them. “Yes, Ma’am!”

“Thanks, Poncho.” Mr. Selby takes the box from the boy. “Hard at work as always, huh?”

Poncho only smiles sheepishly as he rubs the back of his head. “Y-Yes, Sir. I owe Mr. Butterscotch a lot.”

“Why don’t you take a loaf with you, dear? You might get hungry along the way,” Mrs. Selby suggests. “Jimmy, darling, could you take one out for Poncho?”

As Mr. Selby picks a loaf out of the box, Poncho is quickly gesturing his hands in refusal.

“No, no! It’s alright, Mrs. Selby. I already had breakfast,” Poncho explains.

“There’s no need to refuse us, you know,” Mr. Selby interrupts. “Consider this as payment for always delivering our bread.”

Knowing fully well that he can’t refuse any further, Poncho reluctantly takes the loaf of wheat bread. “Th-Thank you so much.”

After a brief conversation with the couple, Poncho rushes his way to his third delivery. It is relatively far from the Selby residence, but he is certain that he can still make it on time if he walks quickly enough.

Eventually, he finds himself in front of a giant gate of a pretty old mansion. Its architecture seems rather gothic, and the atmosphere is darker compared to the warm and welcoming air in the Selby’s. The front garden seems rather gloomy, despite the colorful flowers and the green shrubs.

It definitely belongs to a noble. In fact, Poncho is almost certain that whoever this “Miss Lockwood” person must be is either the gloomy type of noble or the evil type of noble. Either way, Poncho can only swallow his fear as he hesitantly calls out.

“H-Hello!” Poncho stammers. “A delivery f-from Butterscotch Bakery!”

Silence fills the dark and gloomy air, and Poncho is wondering if there is even anyone in the mansion. The last thing he wants to deal with is delivering to a haunted house filled with ghosts and spirits!

Suddenly, he hears a voice belonging to an old man.

“You’re from Butterscotch Bakery, you say?”

Poncho looks up. Standing across the gate and looking at him with suspicious eyes is a thin man with graying hair. His face is wrinkled and his mustache is well-kept. Besides a pair of glasses, the man is wearing a tailored black suit— perhaps, the butler of the house.

“Y-Yes, Sir!” Poncho answers nervously. “I’m here to deliver cream puffs for a, um, M-Miss Lockwood?”

Poncho shows the butler the box of cream puffs. He made sure that none of them toppled on his way here, which was why he chose not to run. Furthermore, Mr. Butterscotch’s cream puffs are very popular in town, so it was very important for Poncho not to mess up in this particular delivery.

The butler hums thoughtfully. “Hmm, I see.”

In an instant, the gloominess in the air disappears as the butler smiles softly, as if he has just thought of something–or someone.

“That would be the young mistress, then,” he says. “She really loves the cream puffs from that particular bakery.”

Poncho visibly relaxes, and his eyes gleam with excitement. “She does? Mr. Butterscotch bakes the best cream puffs in the whole town–no, in all of Tertenia!”

The butler chuckles. “I see…”

“Oh yeah! Pardon me, Sir, but would you mind if I ask something?”

“What is it?”

“Where’s Miss Lockwood?”

From that moment, Poncho senses that the air has become gloom once again. He watches as the butler’s expression darkens. But rather than anger, the butler’s face seems to indicate a hint of sadness.

“Lady Elise is in her room right now,” the butler answers. “She has been in there for quite some time now. She can’t leave, even if she wants to. So, I’m afraid you can’t see her.”

Upon realizing what those words mean, Poncho simply nods. “I see…”

“She loves desserts. They bring her joy. And in particular, she loves the cream puffs from Butterscotch Bakery the most. Her smile is the brightest whenever she eats them, so I decided to order some for her today.”

Touched from the story, Poncho instinctively offers the box of cream puffs to the butler.

“Then, please take this to her, Sir. I…I hope she likes them! And, um, tell her to get well soon.”

“Thank you, little boy.” The butler momentarily laughs, and he takes the box from the boy. “Which reminds me, I haven’t gotten your name.”

“My name is Poncho, Sir. Poncho Harper.”

“Well then, Mr. Harper, I’ll make sure to send the young mistress your regards.” The butler bows at him politely. “Thank you, and please take care.”

Poncho gives the butler a salute, before quickly fixing himself to do a bow in return instead. “W-Will do, Sir! I’ll be off, then!”

The butler smiles, as he watches the young boy run off to the distance in the streets of Steampuff. Eventually, he turns around and walks back to the mansion with a box of cream puffs in his hand.

It is only when Poncho returns to the bakery when he suddenly remembers: he forgot to ask the butler’s name!

Ranniele F. Maspat @lalalaheyitisme

haiku