The Sprinkle Bandit

#deardiary #adventure #shortstory #comedy

Dear Diary,

If you were to ask your neighbour, your mailman, or even your family what day of the week they look forward to the most, there is a very high chance that they would all say Friday. Why? Because Friday symbolizes the end of another work week, promising the next two days of relaxation and zero worries of work.

But not ME. The day I look forward to the most is Monday. Every Monday morning right as the shops open for the day, I stop by my local patisserie and order their freshest batch of sprinkle donuts. I love sprinkle donuts, together with my morning cup of hot chocolate it sets my week up to be a sweet one. Because I make this trip every Monday, I have dubbed it to go by the name of 'Donut Mondays'. Catchy right?!

Yesterday was no different, I pick up my delicious box of donuts and make my way back home. Placing the donuts on a big plate, I leave it by the window on the kitchen table while I make my morning dose of hot chocolate. I found this recipe that adds cayenne chilli powder after the chocolate has melted into the milk, and I have to say, I love the kick it gives at the end of each sip. It doesn't take that long to make it from scratch, 15 mins at most, which is why to my surprise when I reach the kitchen table I see a sprinkle trail leading to the end of the table and one donut missing from the plate.

I didn't understand the scene in front of me, who could have taken it? Only I was in the house and there are certainly no pets who could have snuck one off the table. I know, it must have fallen off, the donut pile was stacked quite high. I followed the trail leading off the table, the sprinkles lead out of the kitchen across the hall and into the living room. Turning the corner I see the sprinkle trail lead up onto the couch cushions where a few crumbs were left behind.

How did the donut manage to get on top of the couch, leave a few crumbs and drop back down onto the floor?! This donut seems to have enough energy to continue it's sticky trail across the living room floor and back out into the hall on the other side of the room. Stepping over the sprinkle trail to keep from making a further mess, I pass the couch and follow it back out into the hall where it turned left towards the front door, and another left towards the staircase.

At this point I found it odd that this simple sugary pastry has been able to travel so far a distance....I bet I'll find it lying by the first set of steps. Oh boy was I wrong. The evidence of crumbs showed that the donut rolled its way up the stairs to the second floor. Where was it going? I suspect it was off to find a hiding spot. When I reached the top of the stairs, I turn of the right and right in the corner of the hallway was the missing donut, surrounded by its crumbs and sprinkles, and right in the centre of it sat a grey mouse with large pink ears, big beady eyes, and the longest whiskers I've ever seen, munching away on the glaze.

So that's how the donut was able to move around the house so well, it was a mouse this entire time. As if reading my thoughts, the mouse jumped out of the donut centre, grabbed the outside of the pastry and tried running away to a new hiding place. "Oh so sorry to startle you," I said. Curious, the mouse looked up at me and was listening to what I was saying to it. "I see you like the donut, they are my favourite too. Why don't you come back down to the kitchen and we can enjoy the donuts together. Do you by any chance like to drink hot chocolate as well?"

I could swear when the words 'hot chocolate' left my lips, the mouse's ears perked up as high as they could go. Slowly hopping back down, I could hear from behind me small muffled footsteps, and a soft sticky thud down each step. The rest of my morning I spent enjoying my donuts and hot chocolate in the company of a small mouse who happened to enjoy the same.