Sam burst through the grocery-store doors with a scribbled recipe in one hand and a small basket in the other. Bright aisles stretched ahead beneath humming lights. At the produce display, three shiny apples waited like polished buttons. A sign announced DOZEN VARIETIES! The door bell jingled behind Sam. “Which ones?” Sam whispered.
Sam lifted a red apple, then a golden one, then a green one. The basket filled, emptied, and filled again as each choice changed. Flour joined the apples, followed by cinnamon. Sam read the recipe twice. “Maybe this kind,” Sam thought, placing one bag back and reaching for another.
A runaway shopping cart bumped the basket. Clatter! Apples rolled beneath the shelves like red marbles. Sam laughed and crouched to gather them, one by one. Then the recipe came out again, its corners fluttering. The next aisle waited ahead, crowded with even more choices.
Sam followed the list past towers of flour, jars of cinnamon, and the chilly butter case. The flour came from the tallest stack. Cinnamon smelled like warm toast when Sam lifted the jar. Butter slid into the basket with a soft thump. “Three down,” Sam thought, checking the next line: sugar.
The last sugar bag slipped behind a tower of cereal boxes. Sam moved one box, then two, then six. Crunch, slide, shuffle. At last, the bag popped free with a soft poof of white dust. Sam blinked through the tiny cloud and tucked the sugar beside the butter.
At checkout, the register beeped. Sam looked into the basket and froze. Sparkling sugar glittered beside the apples. The recipe page fluttered in the grocery-store breeze. Sam counted the coins, then counted again. “Back for plain sugar,” Sam decided, turning toward the aisles.
Sam returned the sparkling sugar and found the plain bag behind the cereal tower. Back at checkout, the register beeped once more. Coins slid across the counter, leaving just enough for every ingredient. Sam gathered the basket and recipe, then hurried toward the bright glass doors.
At home, Sam lined up the apples, flour, cinnamon, butter, and sugar. The recipe page lay open beside the bowl. One step at a time, Sam stirred until the mixture swirled into a thick, fragrant batter. The spoon scraped the sides. Scrape, stir, scrape.
