Location: Hartley's Bakery
Morning light spills across Marigold Square as June Hartley reaches Hartley's Bakery. The faded sign stirs in the salt breeze, and the smell of fresh bread meets the sharper scent of new paint from across the square.
Outside the bakery window, Old Sam Okafor stands with his arms folded over a paper bag, looking from one side of the street to the other like he is weighing a verdict.
Old Sam Okafor: “About time someone came by. Your window latch is fine, but the noise from Delmar's Coffee is rattling nerves on both sides of the square.”
Priya Sharma hovers near the steps with a notebook tucked to her chest, glancing between the bakery door and the bright banners still hanging across the way.
Priya Sharma: “No one is angry exactly. They just keep talking past each other. I thought you might want to hear what was actually said.”
Theo leans out of the bakery doorway, flour on his sleeves, trying to look bored and failing. He jabs a thumb toward the square, where a delivery crate sits half in the lane and half on the curb.
Theo: “If we move that crate now, Sam stops muttering. If we don't, he keeps telling anyone who'll listen that the square is being taken over by espresso and bad manners.”
June pauses at the threshold as the morning bustle tightens around the bakery, everyone waiting to see whether she steps in, speaks up, or lets the misunderstanding settle into something worse.
June closes the distance to the crate and stops beside Sam. The lane is still blocked, but now the problem feels smaller, pinned down between them.
Old Sam Okafor: “That thing has been sitting here since dawn, and Delmar’s people keep treating the lane like it is theirs to use.”
Priya Sharma: “He wants the deliveries routed through the side alley. Mostly, he wants someone to ask before dragging town business across his path.”
Old Sam Okafor: “Exactly. It is not the crate alone, miss. It is the habit of not looking up.”
Old Sam Okafor: “If they need space, they can have it. They just cannot keep claiming the bakery door as part of their own sidewalk.”
Theo (thinks): Theo shifts closer to the crate, eyes on the lane, ready to move it if somebody gives the word.
Sam lifts his chin toward the square, waiting for June to answer, while Priya falls quiet beside the doorway.
The story begins…
Active Quests
Character Sheet: June Hartley
ATTRIBUTES
Health
Agility
Strength
Reasoning
Willpower
Perception
SKILLS
Humor
Cooking
Empathy
Work Ethic
Conversation
Organization
FAULTS
Overcommitted
Inventory
Grandmother's handwritten recipe notebook
Bicycle with a delivery basket