Once upon una panadería - a concha comic zine

Once upon una panadería A concha comic zine

by Feliz Moniz

dedicated to Faith and her love of sweets.

Once upon una panadería (a bakery)...

there lived a pan dulce named Conchita, a round sweet bread with a sugar shell topping.

She longed for a little more spice in her life.

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Conchita lived in a bakery named Azucar y Amor (Sugar and Love).

She lived with her Mamá Concha...

and her Tía Piggie.

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Tía Piggie and Concha owned the bakery and dreamed of making their own line of baking mixes. They would be more famous than Betty la Crocker. Concha could not wait for the day her daughter would take over the bakery and continue in their family’s baking tradition.

But Conchita had her own dreams. She wondered what life was like outside the bakery.

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One evening during Tía Piggie’s nightly cup of relaxing hot chocolate, Conchita asked...

“Tía Piggie, do you every dream of seeing the world outside the panadería?”

“Aye mija, no! Why would I do that? We live a sweet life here.

We have everything we need.”

“Now let me finish my novela ‘Pan de Muerto’ because it’s starting to get good! Buenas noches, good night.” And with that, Tía Piggie rushed Conchita out of the room.

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The next day when Conchita was putting up a sign with the day’s special, she saw across the road a “grand opening” banner for a boutique bakery called “Dream Donuts.”

Conchita had heard of donuts, but had never met one in person.

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However, later that day one rolled right in asking to borrow some sugar. Her name was Destiny and she had velvety chocolate frosting with bright rainbow sprinkles.

“Thank you so much! It’s opening week at the donut shop and you would think that my grandma would have stocked up on sugar!”

“I really like your sugar coating!”

Conchita shyly replied as she handed Destiny a small sack of sugar.

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Smiling at Conchita’s sweet comment Destiny replied, “My icing?

Thank you! I just changed it. I’m really into glazes and ganaches lately. That’s why I’m planning to major in Frosting Design at the Paris School of Pastry Arts.”

“Wow, how cool! Is that in the town shopping mall?” Conchita asked.

“No, it’s in a whole other part of the world! In France. I’m heading there at the end of the summer after I help my grandparents set up the donut shop. Anyways, I have to jam but let’s grab milk one of these days and chat.”

And with a puff of powdered sugar, Destiny was gone.

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Later, when it was Conchita’s turn to make the buñuelos, she warmed her buns near the simmering pot of cinnamon and brown sugar syrup and imagined what it would be like to study at the Paris School of Pastry Arts.

Conchita had borrowed Destiny’s pastry school catalog and was daydreaming about taking classes on chocolate and candy making.

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Suddenly she was jolted back to reality by the sounds of Concha’s screams. Conchita had forgotten to stir the syrup and it had bubbled over into a sticky mess on the counter.

“How could you be so careless! You could have burned the whole bakery down! What’s this?” She glanced in the direction of the open pastry school catalog. “Why do you have that?”

“Destiny, the donut from across the street, let me borrow this. She’s going to the Paris Pastry School of Arts to study Frosting Design. I thought that maybe I could go, too.”

“What? How could you go over there to learn baking from those strangers when I can teach you everything you need to know about running this panadería? First lesson, don’t read books while making the syrup for the buñuelos.”

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Taking a damp sponge Tía Piggie started mopping up the spilled syrup. “They are not complete strangers, Concha. We do have distant relatives in France, remember?”

“Yes, but they do not want anything to do with us!” Concha shot back.

“Mamá, I thought that I might study World Pastry Cuisine at the baking school. I had no idea that flour, butter, and sugar could be mixed into so many different types of breads and desserts. There are so many other sweet breads to learn about and I won’t be able to do that if I stay here all my life.”

“The world will eat you alive, Mija! Trust me, stick with what you know.”

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Deflated, Conchita rolled out of the panadería and found herself at the Dream Donut shop. It was a hip and trendy establishment that looked more like a salon than a donut shop. Nonetheless, it still smelled good. At the cash register was an old yet regal cinnamon roll who must have been Destiny’s grandmother.

“Hi, is Destiny here?”

With a tired expression, the cinnamon roll shouted “D-E-S-T-IN-Y! There’s someone here to see you!”

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Destiny rolled in. “Hi Conchita! I’m glad you stopped by. What do you think of this frosting?” She twirled around and modeled her freshly frosted look of bubblegum pink with orange stripes.

“Destiny, it’s beautiful, but can I ask you for a favor? Would you mind if I tagged along with you to Paris? I would like to enroll in the Paris Pastry School of Arts, too.”

“Conchita, of course! That will be so fun! We will be two sweet treats glazing the big city! We can share a bread box apartment. But Conchita, you can’t go to Paris without updating your look. I just learned how to do sugar toppings -- let me do a new frosting design on you!”

Before Conchita could respond Destiny whisked her to the kitchen to begin preparing the sugar topping that would be Conchita’s new look.

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[Cut to the bakery.]

“She reminds me so much of you, Concha. Papá never thought you could run this bakery and you proved him wrong. You learned every pan dulce recipe there is and made this a thriving baking business. She has your lemon zest for life!” Tía Piggie said as she comforted Concha.

“Yes, but what if she goes there and forgets who she is? I don’t want her to lose her sweetness or her sense of self.” Concha replied.

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Just then the clanging bell on the bakery door jingled and a young sweet bread with purple, pink, and blue sugar entered the bakery.

She was wearing pearl nonpareils and her sugar in a whipped flip.

It was Conchita! Concha and Tía Piggie stared back in shock.

“Mamá, I know you don’t want me to go, but I’m leaving with Destiny to attend the Paris School of Pastry Arts. I need to spread my crumbs and see what’s out there!”

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Before Conchita began reading the long list of reasons for why she should attend pastry school, Concha interrupted her.

“Yes, I know that this is important to you and I’m sorry that I tried to discourage you. I’m just going to miss you!”

“Mamá, I wouldn’t be the bread I am today without you. You’ve given me all the ingredients for nourishment throughout my life.

The lessons and recipes you and Tía Piggie have shared will be with me always.”

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The next day, Conchita left with Destiny to follow her pastry passions. Concha had packed her a bag of Azucar y Amor mixes sprinkled with sugar and love.

The end.

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Contact: Feliz Moniz lovescomida@gmail.com © 2021