A DAY OFF

Sucre has always been a very dedicated employee - whenever the bakery required assistance, she was more than willing to offer her services! After all, baking was what she enjoyed doing. You could never get too much experience, especially if she wanted to own her own store in the future. She's spent months, years, perfecting her sugar crystal cookies - yet, she continued to learn. Talking and meeting baos from all over made the job delightful. As much as others preferred lounging around, she took pride in working and forming connections. The most rewarding feeling of all was seeing a bao enjoy something she made by hand. If Sucre has the opportunity to sweeten up a bear's day, that was all the repayment she needed.

Of course, she needed to take a break sometimes. Unfortunately, this leaves her blindly fumbling around, searching for something to do - something to keep her paws and her brain relatively busy. Often, she would just walk around town and sit at the libeary. Other days she would sit at home and clean, reorganizing her kitchen and bedroom to be neat and tidy - taking inventory if she needed any new ingredients or anything to wash or donate that she no longer needed.

It was a cleaning day today, her paws making effective work in dusting and wiping down counters and corners alike, freeing any specs of dust or forming cobwebs in locations that were overlooked previously. It was more physical work than she had previously assumed with moving furniture and stretching to the highest corners of her room. Sucre didn't wish to leave any edge blemished or any item ignored. A busy bao, it didn't take long before she got hungry, being hard at work for only two hours.

What kind of bao would she be if she didn't stop to eat? The last thing she wanted was to be unwell, and she deserved some sort of energy source to keep on going. In addition to having an excuse of enjoying a batch of premade soup and dumplings, eagerly waiting to be heated and devoured.

The baker waited in the living area with patience as the water began to boil, scrolling through the television channels to find something interesting to serve as background noise for when she picks up her task once more after filling her belly. Her attention was diverted, easily distracted in favor of a letter dropping through the mail slot, unceremoniously falling to her wooden floor.

Odd, it wasn't supposed to be a mail day.

With curiosity, she takes hold of the envelope within gentle paws and brings it to the kitchen with her. It doesn't appear to have a return address, or even a destination - was it by pure chance? Perhaps it was a secret love confession!

Her cheeks heat up at the mere thought - what a silly thing to be excited over! Yet, a secret she was always too embarrassed to admit was she had always been a secret romantic. Oftentimes she would daydream of falling in love at first sight with a beautiful bao stepping foot into her bakery, and she would give that bear a custom made cookie with her phone number written in icing.

What a cheesy fantasy - yet it was fun to consider at times! Not that she has much free time to indulge in a romantic relationship. Perhaps one day, but not at the moment.

Sucre takes the time to pour her soup flavoring and seasoning from the mason jar into the boiling water atop her stove, only attempting to delay the inevitable. She is so curious to see what the envelope contains, she was unable to wait until her food was finished like she initially meant to. After setting the timer on, the letter stood no chance.

Much to her disappointment, it was no confession - no princess to come and sweep her off her feet, but rather some sort of puzzle. In large, bolded letters, it reads 'DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO ASSIST NEW BAO CITY'S GREATEST DETECTIVE?'.

Surely, this must have been some sort of mix up - yet curiosity pulled her to keep reading, brows furrowing in uncertainty the more she read along. A picture of a compass below some confounding instructions to find an avenue of some type, someone waiting for her there.

Perhaps there would be a change of plans today. The puzzle interested her, and she wanted to see what adventure may await her if she figures it out. Even if she didn't elect to go for a walk - at least she would feel some sense of accomplishment solving this mystery, even if it isn't baking.