Sprinkle Hunt

Its Saturday night, and you are baking in the kitchen. There is one lone flickering overhead light on and it barely illuminates the recipe. A solitary figure, you sift the powdered sugar necessary to make the frosting for your Fairy Drop cookies. Spread out on the counter are the many other ingredients, such as almond extract, vanilla extract, butter, and milk. The food coloring and sprinkles are set out nearby. You hear something. You turn around, scanning the room. There is nothing there. Curious, but you must have been imagining. The distraction has ruined your focus. You glance back at the recipe, reading the next step. You need the butter, so you look across the counter and... something is different. The butter... it's there, but it should be between the milk and the sprinkles... OH NO! the sprinkles are missing! WHAT? How could this have happened? You are astounded, frozen with shock. You frantically search the kitchen, throwing open cabinents and ripping open boxes of wheat thins. Where could the sprinkles be? Gaaa! You've checked the entire room, but no sprinkles! Wait... do you hear that? Listen closely... a small whispering sound. You can't locate its source, but as you listen you are able to distinguish certain words. "follow... follow the sugar trail... the sugar..." What? A cryptic message?? What good is that? No, wait... Look!A sugar trail! Follow it! Follow it and see what will follow! You must find the thief and seek out the fate of the sprinkles! Don't be scared; you must avenge your sprinkles! Now onward! You follow the trail. The sugar pieces glow luminescent in the dim light, creating a haunting picture. Will this path ever end? It goes on and on, for miles it seems. You grow tired, and the sugar grates on your feet. The path finally curves around the blue container and brings you to the stove. It doesn't continue. Dejected, you look around. There doesn't seem to be anything around but the cookie sheet with raw cookies on it, the ones you had placed there before any of this happened, forever ago. You go over the cookies, thinking maybe you have overlooked an important clue. You sit down next to a cookie, and sigh, because it really does look hopeless. You feel the warmth of the heated oven underneath your feet, and it feels nice, but not nice enough to stop you from crying. "Oh, little cookie, I wish you could help me!" you say in desperation.

"Oh but I can," the cookie responds. You jump up in surprise, gaping. "What?!?" "Yes," says the little tyke. "Not only am I a Fairy Drop Cookie but, since you have stamped me with one of those crazy food stamp mechanisms/utensils that don't really have names, I am also a... COMPASS COOKIE... and I can totally help you find your way." You are overjoyed. You dance up and down, because you seem to have so many friends that are willing to help you! How great! "Well, little one, how will you help me? What do I need to do?" The cookie has an immediate response. "I have four points, north east west south. One of my points will glow with the light of a million moons, highlighting the right way for you. You simply need to press your hand in my center, and think, very intensely, about what you have lost. That's it." You do as the compass cookie has instructed, pondering the sprinkles and all the great hopes you had for it, as well as all the great times you had spent with sprinkles, like at Christmas when you decorated the special holiday desserts. Weren't those good times? Oh! One of the points of Compass cookie is glowing. Wow, that is bright, and... whoa! You have to cover your eyes, the light is so blinding. "You must really want what has been taken from you," the cookie says. "I have never glowed as bright as that, in all the minutes of my existence. Your way is certain. You must go east. I have other advice for you, too. Find wooden spoon. Wooden Spoon is a mystical utensil and she will help you if ever you need more assistance. I wish you the best of luck in your quest." You thank cookie, but now you must be on your way. Continue to the east!