Muffin Run
by Kristi Stokes © 2008
Calvin stood in a grocery store looking for his wife's favorite mini muffin flavor-blueberry. The store didn't have them. It seemed there weren't enough to go around in the world and yet, he couldn't go home without those mini muffins. There was no telling what she'd do if he arrived home empty-handed, or worse, with the wrong kind. Calvin shuttered at the thought.
With his wife, Candy, at home nine months pregnant and due anytime, Calvin jumped at the chance to run to the store for her latest craving. Now he was regretting that decision. Why didn't he just sit on the couch and watch TV? Why didn't he pretend he hadn't heard her begging for the mini muffins? Why had he decided to go on the muffin run?
Now, Calvin was standing in the middle of the bakery department of his third grocery store. The coveted blueberry mini muffins weren't found at any of the other stores either. Growing frantic, Calvin looked around the bakery department hoping to find someone to help him. When he spotted an older lady across the aisle, his heart skipped a beat. Excitement grew inside him. Surely this woman would know where he could get the blueberry mini muffins he so desperately needed!
Calvin walked, trying to exude an aura of calm, toward the woman so as not to scare or startle her. “Excuse me, ma'am?” he said in his most gentlemanly voice. He flashed a smile in her direction.
The older woman looked up at him, gave him a once-over, and said, “Yes?”
“I was wondering if you knew where I could get a good blueberry mini muffin,” he said to her, still smiling.
The woman laughed a little and Calvin's façade of confidence began to fade. Just as he was about to thank her for her time, the woman responded. “Have you ever been to Harold's Bakery down the street? He makes wonderful muffins, some are even mini muffins.”
Calvin wanted to kiss the woman, he was so grateful. Instead, he thanked her and ran from the store. Moments later, Calvin stood in the center of the largest bakery he'd ever seen. From the outside, Harold's Bakery looked like any other bakery; but inside, it was huge and filled with muffins! Every square inch of the place seemed to be covered in muffins. This place isn't just Harold's Bakery, it's muffin heaven he realized.
Now Calvin understood why the woman laughed. Obviously this was the only place you should ever go to find mini muffins he thought as he breathed in the blissful scent. Harold had every color and flavor of mini muffin you could ever want. He had red ones and blue ones, banana ones and lemon ones, and he even had the blueberry ones Calvin had searched the entire city for. Just as Calvin was about to grab the muffins, he saw an even more beautiful sight.
It seemed as though the muffins were almost glowing. There, just a few muffins away sat the most wonderful mini muffin ever baked. His wife might be weak when it came to the blueberry mini muffin but at least that one had some fruit in it. The muffin Calvin couldn't resist stood in front of him now. The chocolate mini muffin with chocolate chips was, without a doubt, the best muffin ever baked. It was far superior to any of the others, so much so that it was in a class all its own.
Calvin dug in his pockets searching for his money. When he found it, he pulled it from its hiding place and began counting. Calvin's face fell as he realized he'd only brought enough money for Candy's blueberry mini muffins. A sigh escaped Calvin's lips as he picked up the mini muffins he'd come for, feeling defeated and lost.
A mini muffin like that was hard to come by. How could he just walk away from it? He couldn't just leave it there. His wife would understand, wouldn't she? But he knew in his heart of hearts that she would not. He had to buy the promised blueberry mini muffins or face his wife's pregnant wrath. Calvin shuttered as he pictured the crying and the drama that would take place at home if he walked in without the right muffins.
As he picked up the blueberry mini muffins and walked toward the counter where the cashier waited, Calvin hung his head in disappointment. It wasn't that there weren't enough mini muffins in the world. There were too many, and now he may never know the joy of the chocolate-chocolate chip mini muffin.