You stare into brake lights while on another morning commute as a light rain turns the sidewalk glossy and traffic on Main Street halts for another passenger train. The neon glow of an "open" sign blinks from the coffee shop window. Why not, you think, I deserve it, and you point your car into an empty space, happy that there is room to fit. You send a quick text to your supervisor, letting her know you will be a little late and then step into the cool rain.
The smell of wet leaves and black pepper fills the air, a crisp contrast to the warmth emanating from the storefront. It reminds you of a wax-melt you enjoyed last year. Funny how a smell can linger at the back of your mind. A bell jingles when you open the door and a short, grandmotherly figure grins at you from behind the counter--her fingers coated in caramel with a dusting of nutmeg and ginger.
“What can I get you deary?” she asks.
“Something with pumpkin,” you say, happy it’s that time a year again.
“I have just the thing.”
You walk to a cushy chair and plop down to wait, a candle on the table flickers from the downdraft air. The label reads: Sugar & Nice. You thumb open to a magazine story on pimento trees and read about the origins of allspice. The story and the scent of the candle so enthrall and absorb you that you fail to notice the old lady deliver a hot mug and a goody plate.
Absentmindedly, you dip the cake into the mug and take a bite. You taste apples and oats with a hint of honey. A rustling sound at the other end of the shop catches your attention, so you reluctantly set down the treat and investigate a blue armoire nestled in the corner. Was that there before? You wonder. Opening the doors and peering inside, you see a passel of raccoons around a campfire. The night sky glows with stars and smells of perfectly charred marshmallows. One dapper raccoon, with a bowler hat and a neat bow tie, stares into your eyes and beckons with a toothy grin to join the circle. Who could resist? And you step inside.
Is this real? Is this a dream? Merrily, merrily the world outside—with its mundane worries and needling deadlines—slips away into otherworldly bliss. Your heart: cozy and filled with warmth.
