By Little Kitetail
Copyright 2023 by Little Kitetail all rights reserved
* * * * *Tales of Eudoria: Baking for Beginners
Summary:
A young woman takes a job assisting the instructor at a baking class,
and she is surprised and impressed to see he’s only a young boy. While
undoubtedly talented, perhaps he’s not suited for a position of
authority after all...
This is an entry in the
Tales of Eudoria Anthology. It is recommended that you read "The
Advancement Counselor" first for an introduction to the world in which
the stories takes place. Other stories in the series are designed to
stand alone and can be read in any order. Feel free to email me with any questions, comments, or suggestions. I hope you enjoy it.
There
was no mistaking the classroom's purpose as the smell of flour and
cinnamon hit Anna. A long, carefully cleaned, and polished counter
faced rows of smaller workstations, each one of them equipped with a
set of baking tools carefully arranged. The sets were almost identical
save for a few that had one or more of their tools replaced after the
old one was lost or damaged.
The little master baker himself
sat behind the largest counter. He looked so adorably ridiculous in his
little apron and hat, carefully tailored to fit him perfectly, as he
took stock of his utensils, each of them looking gigantic in his tiny
hands.
Anna smiled at him. "You must be Fizz."
"You bet I am!" he answered in a voice so loud that it made Anna wince. "Are you hear for the class? Welcome, welcome!"
"No, no… well, sort of. I'm Anna. Mrs. Whitney said I was going to be your new teacher's assistant."
"Oh… right," he said, "Sorry for shouting… most of the students think
it's funny when I yell, especially if it's inappropriate."
"Well, it was kind of cute," Anna answered with a smile, "But I like
this volume better. So tell me, Fizz, what exactly am I going to be
doing as your assistant?"
The little boy shrugged. "I dunno.
I've taught lots and lots of classes without one. But Mrs. Whitney says
I need a physio adult to watch me around the oven. I don't know why;
I've never needed one before."
"Maybe one of the students
complained," Anna hazarded, "or maybe it's an insurance thing. But tell
me, can you really teach this whole class without any help? That's very
impressive for a low-physio like you." She really meant that. The class
he taught was only beginner-level, but it was still unusual to hold a
job at such a young physio age. It was rare with boys and almost
unheard of for girls, who needed to focus on their education and
advancement.
Fizz swelled up a bit with pride. "Everyone
thinks we're too little to do anything, but we can do lots of things if
we work hard enough. I practice how to do this stuff all the time so I
don't forget."
"That must really cut into your playtime," Anna
said with a mixture of concern and condescension. Wouldn't it be easier
if you aged up a bit?" Fizz shrugged. "I like being little, and I like
living here. But I also like being good at something. So I do both.
By this time, the students had begun to file in and take their spots
behind the counters. Anna noticed the transformation in Fizz almost
immediately. It seemed he could turn on the "excitable child" persona
like a light switch. "Goood morning, everybody! Who's ready to have
some fun?"
It was apparent after a little while into the
lesson that no one was seriously here to learn anything. Mostly, the
students just wanted a show. Fizz did a great job of giving them what
they wanted, but Anna could also sense that he took the lesson
seriously. Anna wasn't sure to what extent Fizz was aware that this was
more entertainment than education.
Anna's eyes met with a
student in the back. She was clearly struggling to keep up. The
dark-haired girl was one of the few that was actually trying. The other
students either seemed to already know what they were doing or to not
care very much, but this one seemed nervous and frazzled.
"And
then you just slap the dough on the floured surface like my mommy slaps
my butt!" Fizz shouted to uproarious laughter. Anna was amused but also
dreading how grating this routine could become after a few lessons. She
also didn't quite know what to do with herself. Ever since Fizz had
introduced her at the start of the lesson, all she could think to do
was stand awkwardly in a corner. A part of her hated to admit it, but
the boy did know what he was doing, both with the baking and
showmanship. At this point, Fizz's lecture had begun to die down as the
class began to work on their assigned tasks. The little instructor had
slid off his bar stool and was now mingling with the students as they
worked on their assigned tasks. The little boy alternated between
praise for the ones that knew what they were doing and childish jeering
at the ones who weren't trying, which made their classmates laugh.
Anna placed her hand gently on his shoulder and pointed out the
dark-haired girl. She was still struggling with her project and clearly
needed help. Fizz gave Anna a confused look but slowly made his way
over to the girl anyways. The girl smiled at him gratefully.
"Having some trouble?" he asked, "Oh my gosh, you are!"
The other students laughed, a little nervously. Anna could see the girl's face turning a little red.
"Fizz, be n-" Anna tried to warn him. But he seemed to be paying her no mind.
"Is that supposed to be dough, or chowder?!" Fizz jeered to more uncomfortable laughter!
"Fizz, that's enough!" The poor girl seemed to be on the verge of tears
as "I wouldn't feed that to my… Ah! What are you doing?!"
Anna
couldn't take it any longer. She had marched forward and lifted the
little boy off his feet. The laughter from the class was quickly
becoming less hesitant and more boisterous.
"Let me go! This
isn't…! You're not supposed to…" Fizz protested as he kicked and
squirmed in Anna's grip. Anna marveled at how easy it was. She wasn't a
particularly athletic woman, but she was a mighty Amazon compared to
little Fizz.
Anna paid him no mind. She laid the boy over his
counter, ensuring his little rear faced the class. Pinned under Anna's
arm, Fizz could only kick and struggle as she worked his pants off
one-handed. The boy flushed red as his bare cheeks were exposed to
uproarious laughter. Anna took a wooden spoon in her hand and gave his
butt a sharp SMACK!
"AH!" the boy whined as Anna continued to rain swats down on his tender bottom. "Ouch! Stop! Please! I give up! OOWWWIE!!"
The classroom was a cacophony of laughter and cheering, and for the moment, baking was the last thing on anyone's mind.
—
"You were just supposed to watch," Fizz complained sullenly, "You weren't supposed to do anything."
By this time, the class was over, and Anna and Fizz sat alone in the classroom.
"Fizz, I…" Anna started to say. She took a deep breath. "I'm not going
to apologize for what I did. You were out of line with that girl. She
was really struggling and you were really hurting her feelings."
"That's what I always do! They love it when I make fun of them. It makes them laugh! They know it's not real."
That may be true for most of your students. The bad ones don't really
try, so they don't care. But that girl… she wasn't in on the joke. I…"
Anna stopped. She could see Fizz bristle at the word "joke," as if he
felt his undeniable skill was being called a joke. Anna chose her next
words carefully. "Fizz, you are an amazing person, and you've
accomplished so much. The stuff you do would be amazing even if you
were high-physio like me."
Fizz started to crack a smile. Anna
continued, "You've taught me that low physios can achieve more than I
ever thought possible. However…” Anna knelt down to meet Fizz's gaze.
"Mrs. Whitney was right. You do need to be supervised. There are so
many things us high-physios take for granted that you'll struggle with.
Like understanding how people feel and when it's ok to tease them and
not. You're good at baking and stuff because you put all your time and
energy into it. But that just means you haven't had a chance to learn
all the other things you might need to know."
Fizz said
nothing, but Anna could tell her words were getting through to him on
some level. It wasn't what he wanted to hear, but it was true. "But
that's ok. I'm here to help you. I can tell we're going to make a
wonderful team and really make something special out of your talent.
But this can only happen if you do what I tell you even if you don't
understand why. You'll have to trust that I know best. Then together,
we'll be unstoppable!"
Anna gave the little boy a hug. Then, she felt him hug her back.