The sun was already starting its descent over the horizon. The sky over Las Vegas was various shades of orange and purple. Starlee had just locked the front door to Purebred and flipped the OPEN sign to CLOSED. While the bakery was officially closed for the day, she still had a lot of work to do. It was Monday night, so she needed extra work to fill the display case for the week ahead. Stretching her arms over her head, she went to the back kitchen, where cookie sheets were stacked and ready to be loaded.

A large industrial mixer was hard at work whipping up the next giant batch of pet-friendly frosting. While that whirled behind Starlee, she pulled out a basket of cookie cutters and sifted through them until she found her desired shapes for the week. She would focus on a whole spring theme since St. Patricks Day had just ended and Easter was just around the corner. Last week's clovers and shamrocks went over without a hitch, so we were confident her floral bouquets would be just as popular. 

Star carefully cut out the tulip, daisy, sunflower, and rose shapes from a batch of cookie dough on the aluminum table. She placed them on the awaiting cookie sheets and popped them into the oven, knowing they would need to bake low and slow until they reached the perfect texture for her furry friends. The frosting was light and fluffy when the treats were in the range. Starlee turned the mixer off, and silence fell over the bakery. A few clicks on her phone had music blaring through mounted speakers, and she was ready to start decorating.

First things first, Star needed to color the frosting accordingly. She'd need a whole rainbow of colors to be able to start decorating. Grabbing a small mixing bowl, Star scooped some white frosting in and reached for the red food dye. After removing the cap, her grip changed and released much more than a few drops. Star's hands were doused in the colorant. "Sh*t." She went to wipe her hands on her apron, but after looking at the stained hands, her pulse started to rise.

The bakery lights started to flicker, and she felt the uneasy sense she would pass out. Looking at her hands again, they were different. They were no longer stained with food dye. This time, they were caked in blood. Frantic, she looked around and was back in Chicago, back in her childhood home. She wore the same clothes she wore on the night her parents were killed, the front of her bloodied with handprints. The front door was ajar, just as she remembered. That meant one thing would await her as she rounded the corner into the living room.

She took a few steps forward as sirens crept up behind her. With each step, she moved toward the door jam, the further away it seemed. She knew what she would find but was still desperate to see it. The sirens grew louder until they were so loud that she had to put her hands over her ears. She squeezed her eyes shut and screamed for the noise to stop. As if, by some miracle, it did. When she opened her eyes again, everything was silent.

She was back in her kitchen, only this time, she was on the floor. Her knees pulled up to her chest, and her whole body was tense. She passed out and had some nightmares. That thing hadn't happened before, and she wasn't even entirely sure what triggered it. She was still a little shakey when she looked down at her hands; they were still stained red from the dye. Her apron, streaked with red dye from her hands, covered her front. Star took a moment to look around the room and tell herself she was okay.  

She was a least going to be okay. She counted herself lucky that she didn't have to round that corner one more time. There could have been no recovery from that. With a sigh, Star pulled herself up and removed the cookies from the oven. The loud sirens were her alarm going off. It was as good of a spot as any to call it a night. After the episode that just happened, she needed a hot shower and to catch some sleep. She'd try again in the morning.