Devonne Brown

Image generated with AI

Elsa had flour all over the kitchen and her fingers were sticky with dough. It would take more minutes of finger work, squeezing, kneading and molding the dough to get it to stick together for pastry. It would come together, get less sticky, then she would have to work her magic to make it into the crusts. If it was overworked, it would be too tough, underworked, it would fall apart. Elsa could tell by touch just what the dough needed.

She rolled it out and layered frozen butter shards to the top and folded it in thirds for rough puff pastry, a delicacy in the household. Timing was everything. She put the roll of pastry in the freezer and blew the flour away. The kitchen was pristine again. Elsa was able to work magic in the kitchen. 

She removed the pastry, rolled it out, and folded it again, returned it to the freezer and prepared the fillings. She’d been gone a long time, and she’d had to promise to do a good deed in order to return for a few hours. Elsa would have a basket of pasties ready for the family when they woke. 

She’d be gone before they woke, they got up so late. She’d always been an early riser, but her boys liked to stay in bed and smell coffee and savory breakfast while they slept. It gave them a good start to their day. She was happy she could provide that again today.

“You’re back,” said a voice from a boy in the kitchen doorway. “Where did you go?”

“You can see me?” asked Elsa. She was taken aback a bit. She was sure she was supposed to be wraithlike or invisible. That was part of the deal, she thought. What good was it being a ghost if you couldn’t be wraithlike or invisible? She was disappointed, but happy at the same time to see one of the boys. “Why are you up so early? She asked.

“The smell of coffee and sausage woke me up. We don’t have those smells in the house since you left. It scared me,” said the boy.

“I’m not scary?” asked Elsa. 

“No, you’re cooking. You were never scary unless you were mad, so you’re not scary now. Are you making pasties?” The boy got all excited. “When will they be ready? How long can you stay?” 

“Just until I put them in the oven. You can take them out. Help me with the egg wash.” said Elsa. 

The boy helped Elsa prepare the pasties for the oven and pop them in. “Set the timer for forty minutes,” she said and was gone. 

“The least you could have done was stayed for coffee,” he said.