Day 145: 1 April 2026

 Short Story -- The Dress

She’d seen the dress in the window of the shop all week as she walked to work and then home.

It was captivating. A rich red colour. Puffed sleeves. Gold embroidery: intricate geometric patterns.

She’d imagine the sort of woman who would wear a dress like that and what sort of an event they’d wear it to. She think about the different sets of accessories that would be worn with it depending who bought it and where it was being worn to.

She’d concocted dozens of stories already:

Lady Ursula, wife of the governing Lord. She was old enough to be taken seriously and young enough to still turn heads with her raven black hair and flawless olive complexion. Perhaps she’d wear it to the upcoming ball. She’d pear it with gold shoes and a large ruby on a gold chain. Her slender wrists bedecked in gold bangles and ruby encrusted bracelets.

Lady Tiffany, their daughter. At nearly sixteen she had her mother’s complexion and her father’s inquisitive green eyes. Perhaps she’d wear it in a date. Rumor has it someone had been chosen to be her betrothed, so long as she approved. She, too, could pair it gold slippers, perhaps delicate gold necklaces of varying lengths with different geometric charms. A gold comb with ruby flowers set in her hair.

The list went on.

None of these scenarios involved a girl who worked baking bread at the local bakery. A girl with strong hands and arms. A girl often with flour dust in her hair. A girl with scars on her hands and forearms from the ovens from when she first started.

She pulled the jumper sleeves down so that they enveloped her hands.

No, she decided, a girl such as herself would never wear such a dress. And it wasn’t only because of the cost. She had no where to wear it to. And she felt too plain for such a magnificent piece of clothing.

She paused by the window. But the dress was gone. It must have been bought sometime that day. With a sigh, she continued on her way home.

She wasn’t dissatisfied with her life. Not at all. She was proud to have a job. She had a small room that she rented that was all her own. And it was clean and comfortable if simple and a bit bare. And she was allowed to take home one loaf of bread a week slot with her wages, which meant she always had something to eat, if not a lot. But it wasn’t only more than some had. And she was thankful.

Her mind turned to the bakery where she worked. She was expected to be there extra early tomorrow. The ball would be in the evening. Lords and ladies from around the lands would arriving. And the bakery was providing cakes and bread and pastries. Everything had to be fresh and perfect. The past couple of days had been relentless with preparing ahead of time what could be along with the usual bakes for the shop.

In fact today, just that afternoon one of the temporary new girls that’d been hired had passed out in the back. She’d just crumpled into a heap on the floor. Tainia had given her some of her own simple lunch of bread and cheese to try and help fortify her whe she came to. And she’d try to shoulder as much of the girl’s work as she could, which wasn’t much. She’d feared the girl would be fired and kicked out on the streets if the owner found out.

Soon, she was tiredly treading up the four flights of stairs to her room. She stepped up to the door, pulled out her key…

And that’s when she noticed a parcel wrapped in plain, sturdy brown paper propped against the wall next to the door frame.

She finished unlocking the door and bent to pick up the parcel. She gently carried it inside and set it down on her bed.

‘To the girl from the bakery’ it read.

Well, that was her, she supposed.

She untied the string, and to her amazement, inside the box was the dress from the window!

Along with a small card. An invitation to the ball! And on the back was neatly written: ‘I saw you.’