The Bread Bet
By: Set3

Tom and Elaine were third generations in their families' bakery and the large rural/farm land. Both were quite prideful in their baking skills and had an unofficial bet with one another. There wasn't any wage put to one another should one lose, but it was your typical 'I bet my baking is better than yours." followed by a 'Nuh-uh' and so they went to settle their disagreement at a local fair that was held for a week-long celebration. And with their bake goods loaded, and their stall set up beside one another, their contest began.

For much of the day the siblings were roughly equal in sales, Elaine selling slightly more at times and Tom pulling ahead in other times as the day wore on. At the end of the day they were so evenly matched in sales that both agreed that there wasn't a decisive winner between them. And so, the unofficial contest proceeded to the second day.

On the second day, both started off evenly enough selling bread and other baked goods, pies cupcakes and such. However, by the afternoon, Elaine had pulled into a narrow lead keeping just ahead for most of the day, only once Tom pulled ahead only briefly before Elaine reclaimed her narrow lead. Once again, despite Elaine's held lead, both agreed that there was still no clear winner. And so, their contest continued.

As the third day began and wore on, Elaine's narrow lead had grown and while twice Tom had closed the gap, he was still behind. At this point Tom had grown worried and a little jilted.

On the fourth day the crowd of people that had crossed the siblings stalls had bought more of Elaine's baked goods than Tom's and the people only started to buy his stock in earnest when Elaine had sold out. At the end of the day Tom still had half his stock left.

At home he thought on the matter. Why wasn't he selling as much as his sister? They were both nice to the people that came to their stalls. And after sampling some of his wares, there was nothing wrong with the tings he baked. could it be because his sister was a girl? He thought on that line long into the night.

Early the next morning, he approached his mother to explain his idea as well as he and his sister's unofficial bet. His mother gave a good-natured laugh at his idea but agreed to help him through. A quick shave a stuffed bra one of his mom's older dresses and a healthy dollop of make-up from his mom and he made a passable look of being a woman and set off for another day of selling baked goods.

Despite his best attempts of pushing sales hardly anyone bought anything from him. By noon, he conceded defeat to his sister who took her victory with grace, not rubbing in her win. With the victor of best baker of the sibling decided, Tom had asked Elaine to take over his stall and disappeared for the rest of the day.

As the day wound down for the day Elaine packed up the stalls and left for home for the day. It was just an hour before dinner before Tom finally arrived. When he walked in the door his parents and sister were surprised by his disheveled look. He had mud and dirt caked everywhere. Even the dress he was worn had ripped in places. His make-up was completely smeared.

On walking in, he placed two large full bags onto the table.

"What's in there?" his father asked as he peeked in one of the bags.

"Bacon" Tom responded simply as he sat down to rest.

"It's all bacon?" his mother asked incredulously .

"Yep!" Tom replied cheerfully.

"We can't possibly keep all this, it'll spoil before long," his mother told him.

"But I worked so hard to win all this," Tom reasoned.

"Actually, we can use this for new recipes," Elaine put in. New ideas for new kinds of bread and other good starting to fill her head.

And so it was decided on that day.

Elaine may have been the bread winner in the family, but, Tom was indeed the one to bring home the bacon.

The End.