Purple Pop's Arc

Chapter 5 of 16

Before dawn, Purple Pop walked into the woods with empty baskets. She picked plump red berries from a sunlit clearing until her fingers were stained pink. Then she crept to a grove where round hives hung from leafy branches, and she gathered slow golden honey while the bees hummed around her. Back at the cottage, she stirred and rolled and wrapped until the table was full. Berry drops glittered in jars. Honey chews sat in neat rows. She tied ribbons on small sachets, journals, and bookmarks she had crafted from pressed flowers and scraps. At the cart, she stacked the new goods high. Jars climbed the sides. Sachets dangled from the handles. The little craft display perched on a crate beside the wheels, spilling bookmarks and tiny journals onto a cloth on the grass. Customers came back along the gumdrop path. They bought berry drops by the handful. They sniffed sachets and tucked journals into their pockets. The coin jar filled fast, then fuller, until it clinked to the brim. Purple Pop smiled, then frowned. Her cart was buried under its own bounty. Goods spilled onto crates, onto cloths, onto the ground. The cart was too small now. She would need somewhere bigger to hold her dream.