Pies with Ghosts

The old house creaked underfoot, as if lamenting its loneliness. Only Anna, an elderly woman who loved silence and baking, lived there. Above all, Anna adored her old oven, a marvel of past-century technology. From it emerged golden pies, fluffy buns, and crispy cookies that filled the house with warmth and a cozy aroma.

But one day, something extraordinary happened in Anna’s quiet life and her trusty oven. Waking in the night to strange noises from the kitchen, Anna tiptoed to the door and peeked inside. What she saw made her heart stop. Inside the oven, among the trays and racks, floated semi-transparent figures glowing faintly in the dark. Ghosts!

Anna, despite her initial fright, quickly composed herself. “So what?” she thought. “After all, they don’t bother me.” More than that, Anna decided to befriend her unusual housemates. She started leaving plates of milk and cookies for them at night, and sometimes even turned the oven on for a few minutes to keep the ghosts warm and cozy. However, her baking began to turn out rather strange. Pies had a slight taste of something unearthly, buns sometimes came out half-baked, and one day, her cookies turned into something resembling a casserole. “Probably the ghosts playing tricks,” Anna thought with a smile as she tasted her latest culinary creation.

At night, Anna often woke up from the heat. It turned out the ghosts, perhaps chilly in their ethereal world, cranked the oven’s temperature to maximum, turning the kitchen into a sauna. “Such pranksters!” Anna grumbled as she aired out the room. Yet the oven now emitted all kinds of scents: sometimes incense and flowers, sometimes the aroma of freshly baked bread, and occasionally something strange and otherworldly. “I wonder what mood they’re in today?” Anna mused, sniffing the air.

As she drifted off to sleep, she often heard mysterious rustles, taps, and whispers from the kitchen. “Add a pinch of salt...,” “Flip the cutlets...,” “Don’t forget about us...” the ghosts murmured. Anna smiled. She knew she was no longer alone.

One day, opening the oven, Anna found not the usual apple pie but a pizza with a face! The pizza winked at her and whispered, “Enjoy your meal!” Anna burst out laughing. “Thank you, friends!” she said. “You’re the best!”

And so, they lived together, Anna and the ghosts from the oven, complementing one another and creating their own unique story full of humor, warmth, and magic. The old house stopped creaking, as if rejoicing in its newfound harmony.