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Frank Frankly's P.O.V
I carefully knocked on the door to Poppy's barn. As expected, she squawked in surprise, but this was the best way to alert her that I was here.
Poppy opened the door, her feathers still a bit puffed from the shock. "Oh, Frank, it's you! Please, come in," she stepped to the side to let me in.
"Hello, Poppy! It's good to see you," I smiled politely at her, following along as she guided me to the kitchen.
Every month or so we liked to set some time aside to bake, even if there was no special occasion.
Today was especially exciting because we were making a gelatin mold. Well, perhaps that was only exciting to me. There was just something so satisfying about neatly lining up all the fruit or other ingredients and preserving them in that shape to be eaten.
Not to mention the texture! It was so strange and alien, and yet so wonderful!
"I already have all of the ingredients set out for us. I wasn't sure what sort of fruit you wanted, so I just got an assortment. I do hope that's alright," Poppy said, gesturing to the bowls of fruit on the counter.
"This is all perfect, thank you Poppy. Would you mind peeling the oranges while I start cutting the strawberries?" I started planning our steps.
The peaches, strawberries, and maybe the raspberries were the only things that needed to be cut. Poppy was terribly afraid of knives, so I would have to prepare those. Which left the blueberries and oranges for her to prepare.
Poppy nodded. "Of course! And please, be careful while you're cutting things. Do you need some protective gloves?"
I slightly swiveled my head with a chuckle. "I'll be just fine, don't worry. Besides, gloves might cause my hands to slip. It will be much safer without them," I reassured her.
She sighed. "I do suppose you're right. I would just feel simply awful if you got hurt," she said, grabbing an orange and carefully peeling it.
I grabbed a cutting board and knife, deciding to de-stem all the strawberries before slicing them. "I won't, and neither will you. It's okay, really."
We both quietly fell into a rhythm. Eventually, Poppy asked "So, have you heard any interesting news lately?"
I gasped, trying to keep a straight face. "What do you take me for? I never gossip."
Poppy turned to me with a raised eyebrow and my already cracking composure broke. I burst out laughing, setting down my knife.
"Okay, okay, fine. Maybe I have heard a few things," I conceded.
Poppy smiled. "Oh, do tell."
I started lining the gelatin mold with the fruit, creating a visually pleasing pattern.
"Well, to start, I hear Eddie and Howdy are in a bit of a spat," I said. Poppy softly gasped.
"That's not good. What about?"
I smirked. "I heard from Wally that Howdy said that Eddie could, and I quote, 'really talk your ear off.' Howdy thought that Eddie was out of earshot," I paused for dramatic effect. "But, Eddie overheard! So of course Eddie was upset, and he nearly dropped Julie's delivery!" I mimed dropping something.
"Then Howdy commented on how Eddie can be, well, a bit injury-prone. You know how much it takes for Eddie to lose his cool, so imagine everyone's surprise when he yells at Howdy!"
Poppy gasped. "No! Not Eddie! Did he really?"
I nodded, waving my hand around for emphasis. "I know! That's what I said!"
"Well what did Eddie say to Howdy?" She asked, handing me a bowl with the prepared orange slices. I started to place them to fill in the gaps in the fruit pattern.
"He essentially said 'At least I've never been late for a delivery,'" I paraphrased.
Poppy's eyes widened. "He brought that up? I know Howdy was a day late to deliver paper to Eddie's post office last week, but I never thought Eddie would be that, for lack of a better word, petty!"
"Exactly! Julie doesn't even believe it, she insists that the whole thing is made up." I paused, studying the fruit in the mold.
I carefully held it up so Poppy could see. "Does that look alright?"
She grinned. "Better than alright! You did just a wonderful job. You have such a way with patterns."
I waved my hand, swiveling my head. "It's really nothing." I set the mold back on the counter.
Poppy shook her head, but dropped the matter. "Anyway, how did Howdy react to that?" She asked instead.
"He up and left! He went to the back of the store, probably to calm down," I explained.
I pulled out a pot so I could start boiling the water.
Poppy clicked her beak in concern. "Oh dear. Have they made up?"
"Eddie apologized right away, but he's still a bit upset about it. Hasn't talked to Howdy in two days, even though he's out of milk. According to Barnaby, minus the tasteless puns, Howdy plans on giving him a few coupons as a peace offering. I hope that works, because Eddie has been stealing my milk…" I trailed off as the water started to boil.
Poppy frowned. "I hope so too. And I have an extra jug of milk if you really need it," she offered.
"Oh, it's no big deal. What flavor of gelatin do you think we should use?" I asked.
Poppy hummed, stroking her wing feathers. "Cherry would be much too overpowering. I think raspberry would probably be the best," she decided. She reached into a cabinet high above my head and pulled out a pink box.
I removed the boiling water from the stove and poured it into a metal bowl Poppy had gotten. Poppy poured in the gelatin powder and I quickly started mixing.
"How is Sally's newest play going?" I asked Poppy. "She's been begging me to come to the rehearsals."
"Well, she has her heart set on doing Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz," Poppy started. I rolled my eyes.
"She wants me to be the wicked witch, doesn't she?"
"No, actually. She wanted you to be the tin man. Since Howdy is already green, he's going to be the wicked witch," Poppy explained.
I raised a corner of my eyebrow. "Interesting. Maybe I will go then, for at least one rehearsal. Just to watch," I decided. "Has anything interesting happened?"
"Sally has been furious with Barnaby for changing the script," Poppy offered. "He's supposed to be the wizard, but in the real story the wizard is a fraud. So, he keeps trying to change the ending so that the wizard can have real magic."
"That doesn't surprise me in the slightest. Sally hates unexpected changes to the script! It's one of the few things we agree on," I muttered. "By the way, I think this gelatin is dissolved. Do you have the cold water?"
Poppy handed me the measuring cup. I poured the water in and mixed it.
"Oh dear, now for the frightening part," Poppy clicked her beak nervously.
I smiled reassuringly. "I've got it under control! How many times have we done this without disaster?"
Poppy sighed. "Quite a few."
I started to pour the liquid gelatin into the mold, covering the neat fruit pattern. "Exactly."
Once I was done I handed the mold to Poppy. I opened the fridge door for her and she placed the mold in.
"I think we did a good job!" I said. Poppy nodded.
"I agree. That should be ready in an hour or so," she said, sitting at her kitchen table.
I sat beside her. After a few minutes of silence, I said "So, did you hear about Eddie's hair care routine? It involves school glue!"
Poppy's eyes widened.
I smirked. "Let me tell you all about it."