The Pastry Chef's Story

When I was younger, my mom used to be always be baking. My dad wasn't around often because of his job, but when he came home, my mom always spent the whole day baking. The smell of cookies clung to her like perfume, so all of her hugs would surround you in the smell of happiness. I loved watching her work, she was so happy all the time. When I was old enough she started teaching me, and when I got even older, I went to study to become a pastry chef. No matter how far away I was from Japan and my mom, whenever I smelled cookies, I was home. I had a successful job running a bakery, but when I got the news that my mom had passed, I lost all my courage to step into a kitchen again. I couldn't bring myself to start baking again, it was too much. The only comfort that came about with her death, was that she was finally with my dad, his death had just broken her heart so much.

My name is Matsumoto Yoshiki and I had spent the 30th year of my life jobless and in mourning. I suddenly had gotten the great idea to get a new hobby so I began my search. My life was baking so when that was taken away from me, I was hopeless. Walking along the street, I saw a store called The Book Jar, a bookstore that sold new and old books. I went inside on a whim, and fell in love with the atmosphere. I picked up the novel being advertised and went to pay for it, the cashier shyly worked behind the counter with expert speed. I wonder if the owner would mind if I just sat here and read? There was no sounds of protest, and so I lost myself in the book.

I started coming back everyday, sitting in the same spot, but soon it seemed like the reason I came here wasn't for the books, but instead the mysterious cashier. I would often catch myself watching him work, he seemed to know the store like the back of his hand, maybe he was the owner? He looked very young, with long dark hair pulled back and a thin pair of glasses obscuring his emerald eyes. Whatever the reason or who he was, I became a resident of the store.

It had been about a month or so that I had been going to the store everyday when I found myself filled with an unexplainable happiness. My body seemed to move out of habit, and I found myself in the kitchen baking cookies for the first time in forever. And for the first time in a whole year, the smell didn't fill me with sadness, but instead joy.