SweetkinZ Journal, Chapter 6: Mable’s Doughnut Delay

On a bright sunny morning Mable was preparing to open the doors of her doughnut shop for the day. Her pink painted brick shop with striped awnings was situated at the edge of a small town near a dense forest. She had been up for a couple hours before sunrise in order to bake most of the fresh batches of doughnuts for opening time. The rest she would continue baking during the work day. She hummed a little tune while she was setting up her standing menu chalkboard outside, all while wearing her favorite blue apron that was covered with flour splotches from that morning’s work.

“It feels so good to be back in the shop again. And in the kitchen!” Mable beamed as she tucked the “OPEN” sign in the door’s window.

“Morning, Mable,” came the sudden friendly greeting from a chocolate colored puppy on a bicycle.

“Gully, you’re here! Good morning,” Mable replied. “Ready to make doughnut deliveries again?”

Gully nodded as he parked his bike in front of the shop’s display window.

“Definitely! I was happy for the break while you were on vacation, but now I’m eager to get back to biking around town!” Gully then chuckled, “Everyone has been excited to eat your doughnuts since you returned.”

“Let’s get started then! The shop is only open until noon after all.” Mable quickly bounded inside the shop to gather the boxes of orders she had assembled before dawn.

Mable handed the boxes of doughnuts to Gully, who then carefully strapped them into the crate that was bolted to the back of his bike. Once they were secure, he hopped onto the seat.

“I’m off! I’ll be back for the other orders soon!” Gully called over his shoulder as he pedaled away from the shop.

“See you later!” Mable waved to him.

As Mable entered her shop again, she went to the kitchen to check on her to-do list she had written on a wall mounted chalkboard. Most of the items on the list had been checked off. All except one.

“Uh-oh! I forgot to get more strawberries! I was supposed to have done that yesterday before reopening today!” Mable was in a panic, “How am I supposed to make the strawberries and cream doughnuts now? And I still have more orders to fulfill with those doughnuts.”

Mable peeked into front of the shop to check the seating area for customers. When she found none were there yet, she quickly scribbled a note on a piece of paper. The message read: “Out picking strawberries. Be back in two hours.”

After she wrote out the note, she pulled off her apron, grabbed her basket by the kitchen door, and headed outside. She left the new message taped to the window of the front door then headed to the forest nearby.

“I wish I had a bike right now too!” Mable said out loud as she hurried along with her empty basket hanging over one arm.

After a five minute jog to the woods, she headed deep inside to her secret wild strawberry picking spot. None of the other townsfolk knew of this spot except Mable. She followed a narrow, almost hidden path in the woods, checked her surroundings in case anyone followed her, then ducked into a hollowed out tree. Jogging through the tunnel formed by the fallen tree she finally reached her secret foraging spot for wild strawberries on the other side of the tunnel. Despite her thorough searching, Mable struggled to find even a dozen strawberries in the patches around her.

“Where are all of the strawberries at? I could have sworn there were more here the last time I came.”

Mable kept searching around every corner of the little grove she had worked hard to preserve. The strawberry plants themselves were plentiful as usual, and yet no strawberries could be found.

“Oh, what am I going to do?” Mable whimpered, a feeling of defeat setting in.

“What’s the matter, little fox?” Came a curious and gentle voice.

Mable flinched in surprise at the voice, then looked all around her. She could not see anyone though.

“W-Who’s there?” Mable’s voice trembled slightly.

“Hmm… You have a basket,” the gentle voice mused, “Oh dear! You were wanting to forage for wild strawberries in this grove, weren’t you?”

Mable nodded with slight hesitance, “I was going to bake with them.”

“I am so sorry! I must have gotten carried away the past few days with eating them myself. I didn’t realize anyone else came here.”

At last, the creature showed herself, stepping out from the shadows and some tall, thick brush. Her head was brought low and her eyes were turned up at Mable with regret.

Mable gasped in surprise, “ What…are you? Uh, I mean…you look like a pony…but…not…” Mable nervously stumbled over her words.

The pony-like creature seemed amused then and chuckled. “I am an alicorn. Never seen one before, hmm?”

By now, the lady alicorn had perked up and was displaying her wings to Mable. Her spiraled horn on her forehead gleamed as the light shown on it. Mable blinked in amazement until the alicorn folded her wings back to her sides.

“My name is Fiona, by the way. And I am sorry again for gobbling up all the berries. I just love the taste of wild strawberries. I couldn’t resist!”

“Oh. Um, I see.” Mable tried to sound like she understood, but she did not hide her lingering disappointment very well. “I, uh, I’m Mable. Nice to meet you.”

Fiona could still see the worry on Mable’s face as plain as day.

“Why do you need wild strawberries so urgently anyway?” Fiona asked with her head cocked slightly to one side.

“I…need them to make my strawberries and cream doughnuts at my doughnut shop. They seem to taste best in my doughnuts, more than the farm grown kind.” Mable tried to hold back her tears, “But now I’ll have to delay making them for a while. Oh, why didn’t I plan ahead to get the strawberries yesterday like I was supposed to?”

“Oh no, no, no! Please don’t cry, Mable! I’ll help you find some more strawberries, okay?” Fiona frantically offered.

Mable began blinking away her tears. “You… You will?”

Fiona nodded with a reassuring smile, “I’m very skilled at foraging. Especially wild strawberries!”

“Umm… Okay.” Mable wiped away the rest of her tears. “I need all of the help I can get. If you help me find more, I’ll make some of my strawberries and cream doughnuts for you too!”

Fiona’s tail swished in excitement.

“That sounds great! You’ve got a deal.”

Fiona then turned and trotted deeper into the woods, “Come on, this way! I think I remember where another grove might be nearby.”

Mable went after her, protecting her basket of ten strawberries.

It took about one and a half hours, but Fiona did indeed successfully find more patches of wild strawberries scattered around the forest. Most were not as large as the secret grove’s patches, but they were decent sized patches. With Fiona’s keen foraging skills and memory, along with Mable’s sharp eyesight, they found enough berries to fill Mable’s basket completely.

Mable held the basket out to Fiona to show her the pile of berries, “Thank you, Fiona! This will be plenty for my doughnuts for the next few days.”

“Awww… You’re so welcome! It was actually really fun foraging with you.” Fiona whinnied joyfully at their success.

“It’s getting late,” Mable realized, then looked back in the direction of the shop, “I better hurry back to town and start baking! I left a note saying I would be back in two hours.”

“Well, it’s going to take way too long for you to return on foot. Hop onto my back and I’ll get you there in a flash!” Fiona offered. She even kneeled down on one of her front legs so Mable could climb aboard with the heavy basket.

Mable lit up in surprise, “Are we going to fly there?”

“Of course!” Fiona smiled wide.

Mable hesitated for a moment, thinking back to her kite flying fiasco where she was carried away into a tall tree, and had a hard time getting back down.

Fiona sensed Mable’s uneasiness.

“Don’t worry. I won’t let you fall, I promise.”

Mable took a deep breath then before she clambered up onto Fiona’s back and sat down while holding tightly to the haul of berries. Fiona then stood up tall again and began trotting toward a small clearing in the woods, her wings already beginning to flap as they entered the space with less trees around. In about three flaps of her powerful wings, she gently soared into the sky. Mable could not stop herself from squealing in delight.

Once they were above the trees, Fiona had an easier time spotting the town. She began gliding and angling herself in its direction.

“Here we go! You’ll have to point out where your shop is as we get closer to town, Mable.”

“Don’t worry! It’s the building with the big sign that says ‘Mable’s Doughnut Shop’ on it.”

“Oh. You mean…like that one down there? Fiona laughed, “It really is a big sign! It’s nearly as big as your store front.”

Fiona then spiraled down until she alighted in front of the shop gracefully.

“That was so much fun!” Mable cheered.

She thought it was a lot better than hanging from the end of a run away kite, that was for sure. She also thought that perhaps it would be fun to fly with Fiona again when she was not in a hurry. Mable then slid off Fiona’s back with the loaded basket still in her care.

“I can’t wait to try your strawberries and cream doughnuts!” Fiona mentioned, her eyes lighting up with anticipation.

Mable chuckled, “I’ll make sure you get the first batch then. They’ll be a little while before they are ready though. I could have Gully deliver half a dozen doughnuts to you, if you like.”

“Who’s Gully?” Fiona asked, blinking in her usual curiosity.

“Gully is a friend of mine and my delivery boy for all my long distance doughnut orders. He can bike to anywhere in town, but I’m sure he could bring your order to the forest too.”

“Okay!” Fiona nodded, “He can bring the doughnuts to the edge of the forest then. I’ll be waiting there.”

“Perfect. I’ll tell him when he comes back from his other deliveries.”

With that decided, they parted ways after saying goodbye. Mable hurried into the bakery to get started on the strawberry doughnuts, and Fiona flew back to the forest.

Half an hour passed, and during that time Mable had finally gotten the first batch of her special strawberries and cream doughnuts baked and frosted. In between her tasks, she also handled register duty at the front whenever a few customers came inside to order. Meanwhile, Gully had returned to the store after finishing all of his deliveries in three round trips.

“I’m back, Mable!” He called to her, then stood in the kitchen doorway. “I’ve finished all of the deliveries. Do you need any other help in the shop?”

“Actually… “ Mable turned to him after packing six doughnuts in a cute stripe printed box, “I have a special delivery for you to take next.”

Gully stared at her, puzzled, wondering what she meant by that. “Huh?”

Mable chuckled and walked over to hand Gully the new box of doughnuts.

“Gully, please take these to a new friend of mine at the edge of the woods.”

“Wait…what?” Gully’s ears perked up in surprise.

Mable giggled at his reaction. “Okay… Let me explain.”

Mable took a few minutes to tell her story to Gully.

“If Fiona hadn’t helped me, I wouldn’t have had the ingredients I needed. These doughnuts are my thanks to her.” Mable hopped up and down in excitement.

“Wow! All of that happened in the two hours that you were away?” Gully marveled.

“Have you ever met an alicorn, Gully?” Mable thought to ask.

“Uh, no.” Gully shook his head, “They’re rare to see. Or, at least, that’s what I’ve heard. They spend all of their time in the wilderness, and very remote areas.”

“Huh… I wonder why that is?” Mable pondered.

“I heard they’re very cautious and particular about who they appear to, and who they speak to. I guess you’re one of the lucky ones.” Gully thought about his words for a second. “Uh, that said, maybe you should come along on this delivery, just in case.”

Mable glanced at the clock on the wall, then at the messy kitchen.

“Well… I guess it is going to be closing time soon anyway. Not as many customers show up at this time. Alright. You have a point, Gully. In case she doesn’t show up for you, I’ll tag along.”

After taking a couple more minutes to tidy up the shop a little with Gully, Mable closed up the shop early for the day, and locked the front door.

Once Mable was snugly centered into the crate at the back of the bike, Gully handed the box of doughnuts to her to hold on to it for safe keeping. Gully then quickly got on his bike again, moved the kickstand back with his foot, and started pedaling toward the forest. Mable guided him to where she first entered the woods earlier. They made it there in half the time it would have taken on foot.

“You can park here, Gully,” Mable instructed.

Gully brought the bike to a comfortable halt right outside the woods, then propped the bike up with one foot on the ground.

“Fiona! We’re here!” Mable called.

A few seconds passed, then they heard the sound of hurried hoof beats approaching from within the woods. The tempo of them grew faster and faster. Gully clenched his bike’s handle bars, anticipating that they might need to bolt out of the way.

Fiona then burst out of the tree cover and glided swiftly toward Gully and Mable with incredible speed.

“W-Whoa!” Gully was so shocked by the sight of the rapidly approaching alicorn that he jerked backwards and accidentally tipped the bike off balance. Both he and Mable wound up crashing to the ground.

Fiona skillfully slowed and landed on the ground just inches in front of them, staring in curiosity.

“Huh? Why’d you fall over?” Fiona asked, completely oblivious.

Mable slowly crawled out of the crate and stood up with the jostled box of doughnuts in her two paws, “Ugh…I think…you gave poor Gully a scare just now.”

“Oh. Oops! Sorry,” Fiona said to Gully with her head lowered bashfully.

Gully laughed nervously before standing and brushing himself off. “N-No harm done. Just slow down…next time?”

“Got it! As an apology, why don’t you two stay a little while and eat with me?” Fiona offered, looking hopeful.

Mable and Gully exchanged glances with each other, then they grinned and looked back at Fiona.

“Well, we do have a little extra time. A quick snack with a new friend wouldn’t hurt,” Mable giggled.

“Yeah! I’ve been waiting to get to eat some your strawberries and cream doughnuts all day anyway,” Gully added, eyeing the box in Mable’s paws with eager anticipation.

The three of them spent time snacking and chatting while sitting in the grass and basking in the sun’s warmth. They savored every last crumb of the specialty doughnuts, just as they savored their time together too.

To be continued…

© 2026 SweetkinZ