Baker's Secret

Low on Luck

For a leprechaun, Kai was running out of luck, as ironic as that sounds.

As the youngest of 7 children, you'd expect him to be incredibly blessed with talents, but he wasn't a jack-of-all-trades like his siblings. While they were gifted with a multitude of childish tricks and whimsical pranks, he was skilled in the art of baking, from simple sweets to five-course meals. Whenever his family reunited with relatives from all over Ireland, Kai would be glad if his cooking got any attention, because it was always overshadowed by his family's tricks and playfulness.

Thanks to watching one of his brothers practicing it, Kai did know how to do one trick: he had the ability to make himself grow or shrink with the snap of his fingers. That way, he could walk amongst the humans without being at eye level with anyone's hips or being mistaken for a lost child. Not only that, but he also had a casual disguise to help him blend in with humans, and he was thankful that he never grew the stereotypical leprechaun beard. He was a rather charming blond lad with twinkling blue eyes and cream-toned fair skin, but while his siblings' antics brought them companions, he never found anyone who appreciated his cooking.

Not too far away from Kai's family's abode was a small town named Tompkinshire, a spot too tiny to be found on any map. In that little town was a house connected to a small bakery, which was run by one Emmy McDougall, a young woman who had recently inherited the business from her father. Unfortunately, tragedy struck the McDougall family shortly after Emmy took ownership, with her mother passing away before her father got very sick. Having given her mother a proper funeral and burial, Emmy saved all her profits from the bakery sales to help find a cure for her father's illness, as much as he told her to spend the cash on herself. All the same, this moment of crisis in her life brought a lot of stress upon her, especially since she was both owner and baker. With that in mind, she put a "Help Wanted" sign on the window of her bakery, desperate for assistance.

While on a casual evening stroll around Tompkinshire, Kai noticed the "Help Wanted" sign in the bakery window and decided to see how he could assist. The moment he opened the door, the aroma of fresh-baked treats tickled his nose, and his eyes momentarily lit up at the scent of everything. It was like he had walked into a baking paradise, and he was standing in the entryway with his eyes closed and a smile growing on his face when Emmy spotted him. She was in the kitchen cleaning a baking sheet before starting a new loaf of bread, and she had just got the perfect amount of yeast when she looked up and noticed Kai. Guessing that he wasn't a local by his elated reaction upon entry, she giggled softly as she approached him, snapping him out of his daze.