keep your wishes.

... Once upon a time, there was a girl called Ella. And she saw the world not always as it was, but as perhaps it could be, with just a little bit of magic ... eleanor ‛ ella ’ de barbarac. farmer on cornblue farms. 27 years old. aka. cinderella. ( info ).

[s1ngsweet]

cursed-reginald‌:

“I definitely wasn’t. Not that much manners.” he said, grinning back at her. She certainly liked using her shoe to clean things. At the suggestion that Reginald was a ‘tea connoisseur’, he scoffed modestly, “More like a tea admirer. I just add water, I swear!”

Reginald smiled, a little over the moon at this woman, she was delightful, “I did recognize you, I just… I’m weird with meeting people outside of the shop sometimes, but you’re lovely! Y-you should come in more!”

Cornblue farms? He’d have to get a Lyft out, because he didn’t have a car at the moment. “Killer scones, huh? Okay! I’ll come judge your tea sometime. Do you, uh… want my number?” he asked, fidgeting with the bag of sugar he was carrying.

“I will come in more, I promise,” she put a hand over her heart, chuckling. "You’re lovely too, don’t worry, you’re not being weird at all--” Ella smiled an encouraging smile. “I mean, look at me. I’m like the Abominable Snowman!” She picked up some flour in her hand and blew it to the side. “But yes, definitely, we’ll exchange numbers. Fun fact, my New Year’s resolution this year included making more friends, so this is perfect.”

She slung around her handbag, taking out a small notebook, ripping out a page, and then ripping that page neatly in half. She wrote on one half: ‘Ella --’ and then her phone number. “And I know it’s a little difficult to get out there sometimes, unless -- do you have a car? If you don’t, maybe we can do it so like I’m in town and I’ll just pick you up, and then drop you off home again.” She offered him the paper.

[s1ngsweet]

kitcheshire‌:

Kit made it a policy not to help out, but it was a rare treat for him to be the tall one. He grabbed the bag of flour, making as if to putting it in her hands then pulling it away. “So, little kitten, what exactly are you going to with this if not haunt people?”

She’d placed the empty bag on the shelf and was ready to pick up the new one, when it was suddenly pulled away. “Ella. Not ‘little kitten’,” she pointed out. “I’m going to bake a cake. There are benevolent ghosts, after all.”

[s1ngsweet]

faithgodwinn‌:

it was grocery day, a fun activity for someone like faith. everything from making the list of what she needed ( by hand, of course ) to gathering it all up in her cart to helping pack it away in her reusable bags, she loved the time she spent doing something so unusually calming. stimulation toys and coloring were for the children she worked with; she liked picking out fresh fruit and what kind of pies she could make with them. this was adulthood, she supposed.

just as the blonde turned down the aisle for baking supplies - something in her heart made her want to make cookies in the coming nights - she was met with a cloud of white expanding through the air. it even reached her, but only enough to dust her cheeks and nose with it, making her whole face scrunch up. then, when the mess cleared, she gasped. there was a person in the middle of all that ! abandoning her cart and pulling out a miniature package of baby wipes, she left footprints in the white as she hurried over to the other. “ oh my goodness ! ” she exclaimed, pulling the first wipe out. “ here, love. ” finding the other’s unrecognizable hand, she set the wet cloth in hand. “ wet nap. ” she pulled out another, for her to get to work. “ i’ve got you. ” then, and only then after she began properly fussing and wiping away the flour, did she smile a little and ask, “ what happened ? ”

maybe it was the cloud of white, making the world look a little more dreamlike than usual, but there was something strangely familiar about that voice. ella blew away the dust in front of her with her hand, though her face was still caked in the flour. when the stranger finally appeared, there was a flicker of recognition in ella’s eyes. the name was on the tip of her tongue -- and she stammered until it could come. 

“ -- wet nap? oh -- wipes -- ” ella took the offered cloth and started on her face. she wiped at her eyes, blinking as her vision cleared. the blonde hair. the kind eyes. ella stopped wiping her face, wanting to concentrate on sparking her memory as much as she could. “ i, um...i... ” she faltered, just staring at her. “ the bag fell through. i picked it up but it was loose so...so... ”  

the woman was so familiar, but it was from a time she didn’t want to remember. a time that had many lessons, when ella learned the true meaning of kindness and gratefulness. a time where she learned she could go far, go the distance, if she just had a little --

and then it hit her.

“ faith, ” she gasped. “ miss faith ! miss faith, it’s me ! it’s me -- it’s ella -- ”

[fuckstruckswan]

requested by @the-ginger-trash

[s1ngsweet]

cursed-reginald‌:

“You actually apologized to the bag. That’s great.” Reg laughed and shook his head. Making sure she was okay, he was about to continue his shopping, but then she said she recognized him. “I’m good? I think we can do better than good.” he snorted, but then nodded, “Thank you. The tea is already perfect, I just serve it. The coffee on the other hand…”

He stepped forward and grabbing her hand before she withdrew it, shaking it enthusiastically, “Ella! I’m Reginald, but please call me Reg, because I hate ‘Reginald’.” Reginald was also his father’s name, and he hated that man with a passion, but also he hated himself a little bit. Past Reginald anyways.

“Did you want to, um… come have tea sometime? I’d like to try your cake.” he offered, being friendly, with no innuendo whatsoever.

“I was raised with manners,” she laughed. Ella continued to dust herself off as they spoke, beginning to use her shoe as a makeshift broom, gathering all the flour to one place on the floor. “Tea can be difficult, though, so you must be doing something right. They have a name for that don’t they? Tea connoisseur or something?” 

“It’s very nice to meet you, Reg. I’m glad I finally met you,” Ella grinned. “And of course I’d love to have tea! I’m surprised you didn’t recognise me coming into your shop nearly everyday -- well, no, that’s not very fair, I haven’t been coming by very recently. Been busy working,” she dusted off some flour from her head with a short laugh. “Do you know Cornblue Farms? We could have tea and cakes there! And you’re very welcome to try our jams. Plus, Madame Cendrillon makes killer scones.”

[s1ngsweet]

meekvns‌:

  with a deft motion of her nimble fingers, marilyn worked on sewing the pair of pants that needed to be hemmed. enjoying the sound of her daughter’s giggle as ella made silly faces. these were the afternoons that she enjoyed the most. everything was so peaceful that she hoped nothing would ruin such a moment.

  leaning back as she grabbed her cup of coffee, taking sip from it before she placed it down on the table in front of her. a smile painted on her face as she watched the interaction between rosie and ella. “i could just stay in this exact moment forever. so peaceful.” her voice soft and low like the other. mari’s nose scrunched up in delight as the toddler clapped her hands together with yet another giggle. “she adores you so much, el.”

“every peaceful moment is a blessing. sure beats a random night at stinky pete’s. no offence to james. or full offence, i don’t think he cares,” she chuckled. ella glanced from mari to baby rosie again, a look of pure love and care on her face as she smiled at the little girl. “gosh, i could just gobble her up. how’s she doing, by the way? is she okay with the animals, and madame cendrillon?”

[s1ngsweet]

cursed-reginald‌:

“Don’t be sorry to me, be sorry to the poor defenseless flour bag you gutted.” He teased. He let her dust him off, and in turn he reached over and patted the flour out of her shoulder. “It’s okay, flour comes out just fine. It’s sugar you gotta worry about. Ants for days!” he said, moving her out of the way when a bemused worker came to see what had happened, and then left again, presumably to get cleaning implements.

He reached up and checked another bag, and when he was sure it wasn’t going to break, he took it down off the shelf for her. “Here you go. So you don’t have to have a cake with hair all through it.” He said, looking at her. What a sorry sight. “Did you um… need a hand with anything else?”

“Well, all right then,” she said, only pretending to be haughty, and her smile betrayed her. Ella looked to the bag. “I’m very sorry.” She blinked as she was physically moved out of the way, saying a quick ‘i’m so sorry’ to the worker as they left, and then offered another friendly smile when she was handed the bag. 

“Thank you very much,” she beamed. And just as she was about to say goodbye, she had a better look of him and her eyes brightened with recognition. “Oh, I know you! You’re the owner of the Tea Kettle, aren’t you? Oh, you’re good. How do you get the tea so perfect over there?I’m Ella, by the way --” she held out her flour-y hand for a handshake, and then took it back. “Ah, right, sorry, flour.”

[s1ngsweet]

cursed-reginald‌:

Reginald was after sugar because sugar was sweet and his tea needed sweetening. In fact, he could think of a few people who needed sugar in their tea. Or sweetness in their life. Especially people who complained about their coffee being wrong. Sure, they may have ordered a decaf long black, but what they really wanted was a creme brulee frappuccino. He could see it in their eyes, in the bags under them, in the frowns on their faces.

‘But I ordered a–’ ‘YOU’RE WRONG, THANK YOU, NEXT.’

Some people just didn’t know a good thing when it was presented to them. With sparklers.

Inspecting a bulk bag of individually wrapped servings of raw sugar inquisitively, he looked up when he heard a ‘fwoosh’ of powder going everywhere, some sprinkling his worn cherry Doc Martins. “Oh nooo!!!” he exclaimed, covering his mouth, mortified for the poor girl. “You poor dear, here–” he took the rest of the bag from her grasp and set it aside on the ground. “Clean up! Aisle 7!” he called out over his shoulder, and then looked back to her. “In the words of the great bard, Taylor Swift, you must ‘Shake It Off’.” he said, trying to stifle a giggle at how ridiculous she looked.

“Oh, no --” Ella said, just now noticing she had some company in the baked goods aisle. “Oh, I’m so sor --” She stopped, cutting herself off as she watched the man take care of business himself, taking the broken bag and calling for help as he did. 

Ella couldn’t help the amused and definitely confused smile on her face. 

“Great bard? Well, if I shake it off now you’d be getting even more flour on your person. I’m sorry about your shoes.” Ella used her own foot, wearing soft slip-on shoes, and dusted off the flour from his Doc Martens. “I still need that flour, though. I don’t think there’s enough flour on my head to make a cake...” She wiped the flour from her eyes then looked back to the shelf.

[s1ngsweet]

scltbreeze‌:

                     aria couldn’t remember a time where she wasn’t the one sent on grocery runs. sure, it was the price one had to pay for still living at home at twenty three, but that didn’t make the whole ordeal any less miserable. there was nowhere in the world she hated more than grocery stores for various reasons, the main one however being that she couldn’t seem to go down any aisle without someone stopping her. whether to congratulate her on her most recent competition victory or ask her how her lovely father was doing, she always had to reply with a smile for fear of word getting back to her dad somehow if she wasn’t perfectly polite. 

                     it happened just once in the while she was getting produce — a sweet older woman who couldn’t help but remark with a sad smile how much aria looked like her mother. she’d remained collected, brushing away the forming tears as she wandered into the bulk section. and now, as she made her way down the aisle of baking goods, she tried to prepare herself for what other unpleasant interactions may come. and one did, though it was more amusing than unpleasant.

                     she had only been three or four feet away from the woman when the bag of flower came toppling down onto her, and while she was quick to abandon her cart and rush over to help her, she couldn’t help the laugh that fell from her lips as she crouched down next to the stranger.

                     “ oh my god !! ” she sputters out between giggles, “ are you alright ? maybe ask someone a bit taller for help next time. ” 

ella wiped her fingers slowly across her eyes so she could see. looking around, there was no mirror in sight so she trusted the girl’s laughter to tell her how ridiculous she looked. she tried to act annoyed and inconvenienced, really, she did, but ella was never one to take herself so seriously. not when she probably looked like a farmer skeleton.

“ eh, i think i’ll live, ” she shook her head with a growing smile. “ but i really thought i had it, you know. and i practically did, except for the fact that it was already open and now i look like...old macdonald’s ghost. ” she flicked her hair back, layers of flour falling to the floor. 

ella picked up some of the flour from her hair and flicked it at the stranger, beginning to laugh herself.

[s1ngsweet]

kitcheshire‌:

Kit wasn’t entirely sure how he ended up at a grocery store. The only food he ever bought was take out, but Alicia insisted that cheap liquor was the way to go for what they had planned that evening. He didn’t expect to find a ghost in the middle of the aisle, which clearly was not the liquor section. 

“Fuck. I always knew a pretty girl was going to come back to haunt me. I’ll go quietly.” He raised his hands. “Do what you will.”

Ella still had the now-empty bag of flour raised over her head, her entire head drenched in the flour. She tilted her head, confused at the boy’s statement. 

“Haunt you?” Then she laughed, the thought clicking in her mind. “Oh, I’ll haunt you, all right. But I’ll leave you alone if you do me one small favour. My unfinished business, so to speak.” Then she pointed at another bag of flour on the shelf.

[lucybaird]

nonsense, child. if you’d lost all your faith, i couldn’t be here. and here i am.

[s1ngsweet]

ella hummed as she strolled through the grocery store aisles, looking at some ingredients for a new cake. she thought baby rosie might like a surprise cake for friday afternoon tea. “...no matter how your heart is grieving...if you keep on believing...” she sang, not entirely sure where she’d heard that before. probably one of the children’s movies on the tv. she’d been watching more and more with a toddler in the house. 

seeing the flour she wanted on a top shelf, ella reached up for it -- and as soon as she picked it up, the bottom of the bag gave way, showering her in white flour. 

“ptooey --” she spat out the dust on her lips. ella sighed. “this is....this is fine.”

[s1ngsweet]

after the craziness of a usual week in apple peak, ella was enjoying her afternoons with mari and rosie more and more. the sun streaming through the windows, the fireplace slow but crackling, and the coffee table covered in spools and fabrics and threads, weekend afternoons were simply divine. 

ella made funny faces at rosie, hiding her face behind a dress she was mending, and then lowering it to reveal another funny face. “i could do this forever,” she whispered to mari, beaming.    --    ( @meekvns )

[s1ngsweet]

darlingwcndybird‌:

“I would tell you, but then I’d have to kill you,” she said. “We do. Hardly ever have to make them though.” It wasn’t like people frequented Stinky Pete for the atmosphere after all. They did it to get plastered and probably end up in the alley for a brawl. “Not generally your type of scene is it?”

“Yikes,” Ella gasped, playing along. “Well, any mocktail you’re willing to make, I’ll have it.” She slipped onto a bar-stool, allowing herself to just completely flop, leaning against the counter. “Not really, no. I come here for friends. James isn’t half-bad,” she added with a half-smile. “Rosie’s been here a few times...it’s interesting. What about you? You work here but...is it really your scene?”

[s1ngsweet]

console (tony)

ella didn’t know what to do with herself. she didn’t know much of anything, at this point. the newspaper was still folded on her lap, the world still going on around her -- and tony was with her. the smiling face of her stepmother, now newly married with someone else, posing in front of her family’s house. ella leaned forward to bury her face in her hands, keeping back the tears. “-- i’m sorry, i’m -- i’m so sorry --” her voice shook, “we’re s-supposed to be going to the museum and now --” she dug her hands onto her eyes, telling herself, forcing herself to stop crying. 

new york had brought back only good memories so far. her favourite pizza place. the diner she’d worked at for a few months. if only she hadn’t stepped into the magazine store, where she used to buy issues on sewing patterns -- then she wouldn’t have seen the newspaper from rhode island. 

she’d hated crying in front of other people ever since her step-siblings caught her and told their mother. 

[purestparagon]

When is a monster not a monster? Oh, when you love it.

A playlist for Tony Lee and Eleanor de Barbarac.

[s1ngsweet]

darlingwcndybird‌:

“Well, normally I’d harass my boss with the hook or Tony into taking care of them, but they seem to be strangely absent.” She looked around the Stinky Pete. “This is why I hate sports. I swear, do all the idiots decide to come out to watch these things?” She rolled her eyes. “Let’s just hope they slip on something. What can I get you for?”

“Hmm,” Ella looked around with narrowed eyes and, sure enough, neither James nor Tony were in sight. “What’s going on tonight? Some secret underground fight club or something?” She wasn’t even sure she wanted to know. “Sports isn’t that bad. It’s just...” Ella shook her head, “people. But the best part is, they move on after making their mess. Do you have any new mocktails? Anything that tastes good that isn’t alcoholic?”