Ms. Butkis handed out permission slips to her fifth grade class. "Tomorrow we are invited to take a field trip to the newly reopened bakery at the edge of town. Be sure to bring these back signed so we can all go."

The lunch bell rang. At the cafeteria kids excitedly traded food. The prized snack was a Zoobaybay; an artificially flavored, plastic wrapped, mass-produced cake that had the longest shelf life of any snack. The cakes were made at a local factory and rumors flew around the table about the old hermit who owned the company. Johnny always lost at trading and ended up with a stack of soggy peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Sloan was usually a ruthless trader but today he sat quietly watching with a grin on his face. When the commotion stopped he pulled his lunch cooler from under the seat. He opened the lid while bragging, "O.K. Losers, check out what I got at the store on the way to school." With both hands Sloan lifted a gold foil wrapped box embossed with letters that read "The Bakery." The boy untied twine from around the box to reveal a small cake that was a work of art. The kids went wild offering handfuls of Zoobaybays in trade but Sloan just laughed.