dreaming of funnel cake

“Nine, ten…” A little blue Pompi was busy counting her droplitz, placing each one into the small pouch on her stomach as she called off its number. “Eleven…”

“Peri, you ready?” 

The determined, slow counting came to an abrupt pause at the interruption of another voice, and the little creature whirled around to face a much taller figure standing in the doorway behind her.

“Um…” Peri looked down at the remaining droplitz in her hand, brows furrowing together for a moment as if in deep thought–and then, she stuffed the rest of the droplitz into her pouch and shrugged. “I hadn’t finished counting, but yeah, that should be enough.”

“I thought I was treating you today.” The other figure, a Snugzi with canine features, stepped further into the room, crossing his arms across his chest. 

The Pompi, apparently unsure of how to answer his statement, shifted her weight from one foot to another. “Well… it’s always good to have backup, right? Just in case?”

“Mhm. I suppose you’re right.” There was an amused glint in his eye as he stepped to the side of the doorway. “We’d better get going, though, before everything gets sold out. Then it won’t matter whether or not we have backup.” 

“All right! Let’s go!” 

It wasn’t a long walk down to the market, but as they approached, the lights of all the shops grew ever brighter, and the noise and chatter ever louder. Every street was packed to bursting point with stalls, Snugzi, Pompi, and their pets wandering about, purchasing and eating delicious food and conversing happily with one another. As the two companions entered the throng, Peri instinctively reached up and grabbed a handful of her counterpart’s blanki trim. The last thing she wanted was to somehow get separated from each other in this massive crowd.

“What do you feel like eating? It looks like they have a bit of everything here.” 

Peri looked around, admittedly already a bit overwhelmed at the multitude of sights, sounds, and smells that permeated the environment. “I think we could just walk around for a bit until we find something we like.”

The Snugzi wordlessly nodded in agreement, properly offering Peri his hand to hold before they walked any further, which she seemed to gladly accept. 

They passed stalls offering all kinds of different food–dumplings and kebabs and pretzels and lots of other things she didn’t even know the name of. Despite the fact that everything looked absolutely delicious, nothing quite stood out to her just yet. Her Snugzi companion had paused at a stall to grab a couple of tacos for himself, and as Peri stood waiting, she scanned the stalls around them for anything of interest. Her eyes landed on a pretty, ornately decorated blue and white stall. Fairy lights were strung across the roof and the flames of small candles placed around the stall flickered in the breeze. Squinting her eyes, she stared hard at the sign hanging from the front of the stall, wondering what kind of food such a cozy and inviting place might be offering.

In colorful, fancifully painted lettering, it read: “FUNNEL CAKE.”

Peri’s jaw dropped, her eyes lighting up with excitement. “Roscoe! Roscoe, look!” She gripped her Snugzi companion's arm and pointed. 

“Woah!” Roscoe, who had been facing away to chat with the Snugzi in the taco stall, turned around, shifting his food to his unrestricted hand. “Careful. I almost dropped my taco.” He took a large bite of his food, as if to make sure that it wouldn’t somehow end up on the ground. “What’s up?” 

“There’s a funnel cake stall. Right. There.” Peri pointed again, waving her finger emphatically. “I want a funnel cake. Pleeease.” 

Roscoe’s gaze followed where Peri had pointed, and despite her unsteady directions, was able to find the funnel cake stall. “All right, let’s go over and have a look,” he said, despite the fact that the little Pompi was already pulling him over towards the stall. 

As they neared the stall, Peri could better make out the Snugzi inside. She had large, mouselike ears, but what really caught Peri’s attention was the assortment of treats attached to the Snugzi’s blanki. A slice of pie, a popsicle, cookies, an apple, and even a whole teapot, which was actively pouring tea into a teacup that was also attached to the snugzi’s blanki. She was like an entire walking tea party.

The funnel cake Snugzi looked up at them as they neared her stall, greeting them with a smile. 

“Hi there.” She said in a smooth voice. “Name’s Mally. How can I help ya?”

“We would like–” Roscoe began. 

“Funnel cake.” Finished Peri. She could see and smell the warm funnel cakes up close now, and she had to do everything in her power to keep her mouth from watering. 

Mally chuckled in amusement. “Well, you’ve come to the right place! She gestured at her display of funnel cakes. “Regular ones are four droplitz, but you can add toppings for extra, if you’re interested. I’ve got chocolate, sprinkles, lots of fruits…”

“Do you have strawberries?” Roscoe asked. “She loves strawberries.” 

“Strawberry…” Peri murmured quietly to herself. Her eyes were wide and sort of glazed over, and she looked like she’d gone into a food coma, even though she hadn’t even eaten anything yet.

“In fact, I do!” Mally chirped. “Give me just a few minutes to get that ready for you.”

While Mally prepared their food, Roscoe took several droplitz out of his pocket, counting out the correct amount which he then exchanged with Mally for a large plate heaped with sugar-coated funnel cake topped with strawberries. 

“Thank you so much! Enjoy, you two!” Mally grinned at them.

“It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve seen in my life.” Peri said dreamily. “Besides you, of course.” She added quickly, looking up at Roscoe. “Thanks, by the way.”

Roscoe pulled a face and rolled his eyes, but couldn’t completely keep a sheepish smile from crawling onto his face. “Yeah, yeah. You’re welcome. Now, let’s go find a place for you to sit down and eat this, so it doesn’t end up on the ground.”