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It’s 11:40am at the bright and colorful Pastel Kingdom. It’s just another spectacular and lovely day!….. Unless you belong to the royal family at the Pastel Palace. It would be just another dull and restless day if you happen to work there.
But it was different for the young Lieutenant named Beckett Dandridge, who works as a foot guard. He was dedicated to his job despite receiving a low income like his co-workers. He stood still, facing the presumed ‘Haunted’ Forest at the back of the Palace. His long-time, middle-aged shift buddy stood beside him and watched the forest as well.
“I swear,” the older guard started. “I want to scream.”
Beckett looks at him with frustration.
“I feel like I can’t move my legs,” the older guard deadpanned. “I’ve been standing at the same place for almost six hours. To this day, I’m still confused as to how you’re still enthusiastic working at this place.”
“Well, it’s obviously because I like my job,” Beckett replied, though he had different reasons as well. Beckett worked hard to raise his ranks so that his crush, Princess Maria, would acknowledge his perseverance to his job and maybe, just maybe.... he might even earn her heart as well—
“Ah yes: standing still, staring into that creepy forest, and getting a penny a day sounds like a dream, eh?” the older guard scoffed.
“Well, can I ask why you chose this job out of all other possible jobs you chose here in this Kingdom?”
The older guard bit his lip and sighed, “Two years ago, I moved from Seersucker Kingdom to here ‘cause, I saw an advertisement about the Pastel Kingdom being a great vacation site because of their ‘fairytale like land’. I stayed here for a week's vacation and it wasn't that bad back then. I guess the good thing here is that this place has very strict rules about cleanliness.
“Another thing is that the restaurants and bakeries here slaps! Like man, those muffins are—” the older guard closed his eyes and did a ‘just right’ sign, like an uncanny resemblance to that one meme.
Beckett spoke up, “So, about your point about choosing to become a foot guard?”
The older guard placed his hands on his hips, “Jeez, for a young lad like you, you sound more like an old geezer than me!”
Beckett furrowed his brows in exasperation.
“Learn to wait, mate—anyways, I did try to apply for some jobs here, but most of the in-demand jobs here are mostly being a chef and…. I’m really bad at cooking,” The older guard frowned. “Well, there is another in-demand job here and you already know what it is, right?”
“Right, the Pastel King wants to recruit more guards.”
The Pastel King was very eager to enlist more guards in the Palace. Though strangely enough, he is very strict about the guards to never look at his daughters. The King even went as far as executing whoever laid eyes on the Pastel princesses. Beckett decided to let go of that thought and respected His Majesty’s request, despite how absurd it is.
“A couple of weeks later after my vacation, I decided to immigrate here in Pastel Kingdom and applied to work as a full-time foot guard of the Palace. The job seemed okay for the past few months since I started working but now…. I feel like what we’re doing is just repetitive. Just staring into that abyss of a forest, assorting stuff in the Lost & Found Receptacle, and arresting that witch that keeps poisoning the King’s son.”
“I still wonder how that witch manages to escape prison though…” Beckett wondered.
“At least it wasn’t false advertising about this place being magical,” the older guard shrugs. “Ok, but what time is it mate? I think my stomach rumbled about four times now…”
Beckett reached his pocket to retrieve his pocket watch.
“Hm… Oh! It’s twelve o’ clock now.”
The older guard clapped, “Nice! Let’s hurry up, we don’t wanna waste time on our lunch break.”
The older guard ran as he said that. Beckett followed him and went to the Guards’ Lounge inside the Pastel Palace.
“Aye captain, me and Beckett are gonna go downtown to Pastel Plaza for some lunch.” the older guard said to his boss, the head guard.
“Yeah yeah, sure,” the head guard replied as he adjusted his glasses while fixing some paperwork. “You better be back at one o’ clock sharp, ‘kay?”
“Of course, of course. C’mon mate, let’s go!”
“Sure, wait—I’m bringing my wallet with me,” Beckett said as he grabbed his gray waist bag from his locker.
The two then walked down the hill and reached Pastel Plaza; the Pastel Kingdom’s biggest marketplace which is famous for selling baked goods.
“Little Miss Muffet’s Buffet again?” the older guard asked Beckett.
“Hm…. yeah. I’ll just get their regular pancake there. Say, do you want to get pizza after?”
“Sure bucko.”
As they reached Little Miss Muffet’s Buffet, they were met with a long line of people waiting.
“Ughhhh… are you kidding me?!” the older guard huffed in frustration. “Beckett, I’m gonna go sit on one of those chairs over there,” he said, pointing at the unoccupied chair outside the bakery.
“What? You’re just going to leave me alone here?”
The older guard tried to shut him up by giving him some money to pay for his own meal. “This is the total amount of money for six chocolate brownies and one strawberry milkshake—”
“Uh yeah, I’m not buying it.”
The older guard sighs and gives him more money.
“I’m not paying for the rest. You’re not the only one who’s broke.”
The older guard gives him an irritated look, but Beckett shrugs it off as he’s used to his shift buddy’s shenanigans.
Beckett sighs, “Look, just go sit on one of the chairs now if you don’t want someone else to steal your spot,” he patted his buddy’s back as his shift partner started dashing towards the unoccupied seat.
He’s very stubborn, Beckett thought to himself. He then opened his waist bag and got some money out of it. Hmm, I guess this is enough… plus mate’s money…… ok, there won’t be any change when I buy!
About nine minutes pass, the line gets shorter as Beckett sees a group of girls enter the bakery. The four girls were laughing and chatting with each other; Beckett pays no mind to them.
“You’re kidding, right? That sounds impossible,” said one of the girls in the group. She has short blonde hair, wearing a baby blue dress paired with matching flats and a bow clipped on her hair.
“No, it is true! Clarissa was with me, right Clarissa?” A girl with mid-waist long lavender hair, wearing a mauve dress with a white daisy clip-on—asked her friend beside her.
“Yes, yes! We got a glimpse of him when we went shopping in a cosmetics store! No joke, but he’s soooo pretty like he was literally sparkling and glowing,” the girl with glasses said. Her strawberry blonde hair is styled in a pigtail braid and is wearing a purple dress with corresponding boots.
“What did he look like? I’ve never seen him in person…” The girl with light brown hair bound in a ponytail wearing a bright yellow dress asked.
“Well, I couldn’t see him clearly because he was literally glowing—it’s like staring at the sun.... But it’s true! He’s like an angel descended on earth~” Clarissa clasped her hands while she said it in admiration.
“You two are so lucky! You saw him at what cosmetics store?”
“It’s at Snow White’s beauté! Y'know, the new beauty shop... it's just around this street.”
“Oh! Let’s go there some time. The reviews said that their facial masks and makeup are high-quality.”
“Ahahaha! Maybe some of you have enough money to buy it, ahem.”
“I hope there will be an event in the Pastel Palace so I can see Prince Jamie in person too!”
The girls continued their long conversation as finally, Beckett reached the counter.
“Good afternoon, I would like one regular pancake with maple syrup with some butter. Also, six chocolate brownies and one strawberry milkshake,” he said to the vendor.
“Take out or dine in?”
“Take out please.”
Beckett paid the cashier and waited. Later, the vendor gave him a box with the brownies inside and in a separate box is his pancake. He also gave him three small packets of maple syrup and a small packet of butter. All items were placed in a paper bag.
Beckett then went outside to meet his shift partner.
“You done now? That took a while....” the older guard grunted.
“Well obviously, the line earlier was way too long. Let’s go to Pacha’s Pizzeria—Oh wait, hold this first,” Beckett gave the older guard the paper bag to get his pocket watch.
“12:27… we need to hurry up, we won’t have time to go back and eat lunch!”
The two went to the pizzeria, which was a block ahead. Luckily, there weren’t many customers and they don’t have to wait for a line of people waiting. There were some customers silently eating in the restaurant.
Beckett and the older guard went to the cashier. When they saw the cashier, she looked piqued with her red face and furrowed brows.
That woman… what was she thinking?! Who the heck sells pizza without tomato sauce? If she’s on a fruit- and sugar-free diet…... I swear, I’m gonna pop another blood vessel if another customer breathes, the cashier thought to herself while massaging her temples.
The cashier noticed the two and she gave them a warm smile.
“Good afternoon! What would you all like to order?”
“Uh, we’d like one single-serving sized pizza…. a pepperoni one,” the older guard responded.
“Ok, sure!” the cashier turned her head to face the kitchen. “One single-serving pepperoni pizza!” She then faced her customers. “Just wait for about a minute, misters.”
A minute passed and the duo got their pizza and left the pizzeria.
“Mate, I think we got a bit much food…” the older guard said while eating a brownie. “This is the fourth brownie I ate, I’ll continue eating the rest in the lounge.”
The two guards returned to the Pastel Palace. Both guards reached the guards’ lounge as Beckett opened his locker to return his waist bag. The shift partners then ate lunch with their other co-workers at the table while discussing about various topics.
The guards were on time as it was still 12:50pm. Only ten minutes left and he’s back to work. Beckett’s shift buddy decided to stay in the guards’ lounge to rest. The young lieutenant went to his usual security post, just below a familiar someone’s balcony. It was quiet and peaceful. He could feel the refreshing cool breeze of the Kingdom’s elevated area.
After that, the silence broke. It was replaced by a soothing soprano voice. Some would say it could be described as bewitching or enchanting; her voice is just that pleasant to anyone who hears it.
Beckett knew whose voice that was. It was none other than Pastel King’s eldest daughter, Princess Maria.
When he first got recruited, he heard the King had a daughter just his age who has a great passion in singing, so much so that she practiced it since she was very young. He had heard her voice over the past months of working. Her voice was warm and angelic, like he's hearing a free concert from above the heavens. Maria was quite talented as well; despite her sweet tone, she’s able to project her voice properly so that it can reach further areas.
Beckett leans on the Palace wall as he listens to the princess’s song. He wouldn’t mind being a guard here at all.