It was the day before Thanksgiving. Denise was happy that the four-day school break was finally here. It had been a rough last few weeks trying to get her high school students to comprehend the World History material. She looked forward to dinner with the family the next day, and then lots of holiday shopping!
After dinner and a little television, Denise went up to her bedroom, changed into her favorite pink nightie, brushed her shoulder length brown hair, and decided she would check her school e-mail before going to sleep. She turned on her laptop, lay down on the bed on her stomach and clicked on her e-mail, scrolling through all the usual announcements and reminders and ads.
One e-mail caught her attention; she had never seen it before, and didn't recognize the sender...the subject read:
"Magical Holiday Discounts - Only For Teachers!"
"Wow...." Denise exclaimed, "It's nice to see someone giving us something for a change!" And she clicked on the message, curious to see what kind of discounts they were offering...
The click was a link to a website, entitled "Extra Credit...Super Savings for Special Teachers!" and there were dozens of holiday items shown, row after row of holiday decorations, gifts, and apparel. The prices were simply amazing, and the website even offered free next day shipping! Denise felt lucky to have been selected to receive the link to this site, as she clicked on a few items she thought she might like.
Her excitement started to wane just a bit, however, when each item she clicked on said "Sold Out". "Oh well..." Denise muttered, "I'll just check some others...with prices this low it's no wonder..." But every item she clicked on said the exact same thing: "Sold Out."
Denise was getting just a bit weary as she neared the bottom of the page. As she did, her eyes were drawn to a long-sleeved shirt she had never seen before.... it was red, and the lettering on the shirt was, "I Ate the Milk and Cookies".
Denise giggled at the funny saying. "Okay, I'm SURE they're all sold out too, but what the hell..." And she clicked on the picture of the shirt.
"Quantity Remaining: 1"
Denise's fingers whizzed across the keys. In a matter of seconds, she had added the item to her shopping cart, went to the checkout, entered all of her information, her address, credit card, measurements for sizing, scrolled down through a standard disclaimer, and clicked "I agree, finalize my order". Her confirmation number popped up, she turned off her computer, and bounced happily on her bed like a little girl on Christmas Eve. "It's mine, it's mine, the last shirt is mine!"
Thanksgiving Day was a very relaxing and fun day spent at her parents' house with all of her family and lots of delicious food. Denise's grandmother had baked some yummy chocolate chip cookies, and while everyone else was eating pumpkin pie, Denise went and poured herself a nice tall glass of cold milk and dunked her cookies in it happily. Her fortunate purchase from the night before was still in her thoughts as she blissfully munched on the cookies. Without realizing it, the eager young teacher had devoured every last crumb of the entire batch of cookies!
That night, full of turkey and cookies, Denise slept like a baby.
The next morning, Denise was awakened by a knock on her door. Wearily trudging down the stairs in her nightie, rubbing her eyes, Denise walked to the door and glanced through the peephole. No one was there.
She opened the door, and her eyes widened in excitement at the beautifully wrapped package that had been left on her front porch! Denise knelt down and picked it up, admiring the shiny paper, colorful ribbon and large bow it had been wrapped with. She ran inside with it to the kitchen counter, breathless, and although she normally opened presents carefully, to save the paper, this time her excitement could not be contained as she ripped it open.
As soon as she opened the box, her senses were overwhelmed by the most wonderful smell of freshly baked cookies! Denise giggled as she lifted up the shirt, admiring it, it looked even better than it did on the website. Also in the box was a shiny red apple, with a note pinned to it, "For a Special Teacher", and also a card.
Denise could not wait. "I have to put this on right now...gosh, I hope it fits!" She pulled her nightie off, the only item of clothing she was wearing, tossing it aside as she grabbed the new shirt and pulled it over her head quickly. It was perfectly snug all around, like it was made just for her! Denise dashed to the bathroom to check it out in her full-length mirror. She stood there, admiring how well it fit, staring there for several minutes before she finally snapped herself out of her reverie. The cookie aroma was still lingering on the shirt as she trudged back to the kitchen and back to the open box.
The apple was absolutely perfect looking, Denise thought as she slid the note off it and took a large bite of the juicy apple. It was then that she noticed the card in the box and picked it up. It read:
"Milk and Cookies...a new bakery featuring the most scrumptious goodies...Now Open in time for the Holidays!" There was an address; Denise recognized it right away, as it wasn't very far at all from the high school she taught at! 'I wonder why I hadn't seen it before...' Denise thought as her tummy rumbled slightly.
"Gosh, I'm really hungry...." Denise thought as she skipped up the stairs towards the bedroom..."guess I should stop somewhere on the way to the mall and get something to eat..." and the words from the card floated into her mind again. 'Of course, I'll check out this new bakery! I'll grab something there and then I'll be ready to shop!' she thought as she pulled on her favorite pair of jeans and slipped on a pair of low black heels, which were surprisingly comfortable, even for a day spent walking around the mall. She slipped a clip in her hair to hold it up, a pair of pretty red earrings to match her shirt, and a soft pink lipstick, then skipped back down the stairs, grabbing her purse, the apple, and the card as she headed happily out the door.
Denise continued to munch on the apple as she drove into town, as she passed the school she looked to her right and saw it...a small building, fairly plain looking from the front, with a generous parking area in the back. Denise's first thought as she turned off the road down the lane to the bakery was that it seemed a rather large parking lot for such a small building! She pulled around the back, and sure enough, there was the sign..."Milk and Cookies"....
Denise parked next to a line of four other cars that were already there, towards the back part of the lot. She finished the last of her apple as she got out and walked to the front door of the little shoppe. The moment she opened the door.... she was greeted with the exact aroma she had experienced when she had opened the box, only ten times more powerful.... her curious eyes quickly wandered all around the inside as she stepped in, drinking in the wonderful scent.
