Tarragon's Day Out
Tarragon's eyes slowly opened as she woke up. Gentle sunlight filtered through the windows, bathing the room in a soft orange light. The scent of sugar, cinnamon, and pecha berries wafted in from downstairs, and Tarragon smiled. Breakfast! she thought to herself as she sat up in bed and stretched, feeling refreshed and ready to go after a perfect night's sleep. She pulled her blanket off as she stood up and took a moment to look out the window at the sun rising over the ocean. The beachside Krabby had left by now, but the last of their bubbles still floated in the wind, glittering like iridescent diamonds as they drifted over the water. She continued staring out the window, mesmerized by the symphony of colors, until she was startled back to awareness by a knock at her door.
"Sweetheart, you up yet? Breakfast's almost ready," came the cheerful voice from the other side of the door. "We made your favorite!"
Tarragon smiled. "One sec, Dad!" she said as she grabbed her bracelet from on top of the dresser and put it on while running toward the door. She threw it open and was picked up by Thyme, who pulled her in for a hug.
"There you are, sleepyhead!" he said, chuckling. He set Tarragon down and the two of them started down the hall toward the stairs. "You sleep well?"
"Pretty well, yeah," Tarragon replied, brushing herself off. "How about you and Pop?"
"I slept pretty okay, and you know your pop," Thyme said with a smile. "He could sleep through the end of the world and wake up feeling fresh." The two of them laughed, the hallway briefly filling with their laughter as they walked down the stairs. "Anyway," Thyme continued as he opened the door at the bottom, "How about we have some breakfast before you head out for the day, eh?"
The two of them stepped out onto the first floor of the building, which had been made into a small bakery and cafe. There was a honey-yellow Snorlax known as Basil standing at the counter putting the finishing touches on a mug of hot cocoa, and sitting at the counter looking out the window was an Ursaring sipping a cup of tea. Basil looked up and smiled as Thyme and Tarragon came in.
"Hey, I thought I heard you two coming down the stairs!" Basil said as he set three plates out on the counter, each holding a freshly-baked pecha berry cinnamon roll topped with a hearty coating of his signature maple-apple frosting.
"Morning, Pop! Morning, Ursaring!" Tarragon said as she hopped up on one of the seats at the counter. Thyme sat down next to her and picked up his fork, eager to dig in.
"Hey, kiddo! How's my little exploration team leader?" Basil asked, giving Tarragon's hair a playful tousle as he set down a Teddiursa-shaped mug filled with hot cocoa. The perfect swirl of whipped cream on top was only disturbed by a single cinnamon stick resting inside.
"Good," Tarragon answered through a mouthful of cinnamon roll. She closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying the soft, flaky dough and warm sweetness of the oven-fresh treat.