I walk down the street in search of the bakery. People all around stare at the stitches on my cheek that holds together my cut and the large square bandaids on my knees. I would ask one of them where the bakery is, but I want to explore the town.

I pass under a brick archway and my eyes land on a sign that reads: 'bakery'. I walk inside and find Matthew behind the counter kneading a large lump of dough.

"Matthew?" I say. He turns to face me and wipes some flour off his cheek.

"Ah, Anna!" He says. "What brings you here?"

"I need to go to Ebloodale and Indiana said to get the train ticket, i should get the money by working here for a bit."

Matthew grinned. "I would be happy to let you work here!"

*   *   *

I kneed my fifth lump of dough. It's hard work. I've only watched the making of bread once before.
I had gone down to the kitchens in the castle to nick some caramel tarts but i stayed behind to watch the cheff making some bread. At one point, she turned away amd i grabbed the pepper shaker and added some pepper to the dough. No-one notoced. But that joke backfired when I was the one who ended up with some of that bread.

I begin to kneed another lump of dough.

*   *   *

A few hours later, I wipe the sweat from my brow and step back to admire my handy work.

"Great work, Anna!" Exclaims Mathew.

I had helped make 22 loaves of bread, 10 scones and 15 pastries. I cant remember myself ever working harder in my life. "This is tough work!" I exclaim.

"Yeah, it can be difficult to make a living in through life in the bakery. But we're lucky. We have good food, a loving family, and a roof over our heads. We should remember to be grateful for all the great things we have."

I fell a pang of guilt in my heart. Is this how the worlds has been living around me, whilst I've been in the comforts of royalty?

After cleaning up in the bakery, I make my way back to the house. I clean myself up, eat my supper, and lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. One day down, just a few more to go until I can see Ash again, I think.

----------------------------

A/N
Sorry I haven't updated in a while. It's assessment time and there will probably be even more if a gap between updates as my school obviously has to come first. Sorry again about the wait!

P.S. the town Aria wants to get to, Ebloodale, is pronounced eb-loo-dale.

Thx!