The Vampire Brinstat

By Brind'Amour

Chapter 1

Little Brinstat woke up one evening all excited about the dream he just had. He ran straight to his mother and shouted, “Mama, I had the best dream ever! I dreamt I got a job and made lots and lots of friends! That’s what I want to do, Mama, get a j…!

His mother interrupted him, “Hush now my son. There vill be no silly talk. You are a vampire. You vere born a vampire and you vill stay a vampire. That’s vhat you are.”

“But Mama!”

“Brinstat! That is enough.”

“Oh!” he complained. And with that, little Brinstat shuffled off, head bowed, disappointed about having his dream crushed.

Years passed and Brinstat listened to his mother and went through life being what he was—a lonely vampire. He wanted nothing more than to lead a “normal” life, have friends, and get a nice job, but being a vampire made that type of life quite hard to achieve.

While munching on a snack and reading the newspaper, Brinstat stumbled upon an ad. The ad read “WANTED: Pastry Chef for late night hours. Experience not necessary. Making customers happy a must!” Brinstat quickly put down the paper and ran for the phone.

“Leonardo’s bakery, can I-a help you?” said the friendly voice on the other end.

Wow! A friendly person, Brinstat thought. “Yes, I’d like to apply for the Pastry Chef job.”

“It’s-a evening hours. Is that-a good for you?”

“Yes! It’s great for me. Evening hours are perfect!” responded Brinstat enthusiastically.

“Okay-a, come on down-a and fill out-a application, my son-a.”

“Sure thing, I’ll be right down!”

Brinstat hung up the phone and contemplated whether to tell his mother or not. Finally, he thought it best to go and just tell her later.

To his surprise, Brinstat was hired on the spot since many people didn’t like the late night shift. He was handed a pile of recipe books, got a tour of the kitchen, and was left with one piece of advice…

“Keep-a this in mind-a, the people like-a suga. Make their bellies-a happy and you will have-a friends for life-a.

“Friends! That’s exactly what I’ve been looking for! Okay, Mr. Leonardo, I’ll start right away-a. Ooops, sorry,” giggled Brinstat.

Brinstat immediately opened the recipe books and picked out a few sweet treats to make right away. “Hmm, this recipe calls for a cup and a half of sugar. Mr. Leonardo said people like sugar. Hmm,” he said to himself. “Maybe if I add twice as much sugar, the people will like it twice as much!”

He took out the mixing bowls, utensils, and ingredients and got started right away. “This is going to be great! People will love my pastries and I’ll make a lot of friends! Friends! I never had friends before. This is going to be super awesome!”

Mix, mix, mix. Stir, stir, stir. The pastry dough was piled sky high and ready for the oven. By this time it was getting quite late, or early (depending on if you’re a vampire or not). All he had left to do was bake everything and have it all ready and done before sun up.

Brinstat put his creations into the oven and waited patiently for them to bake. A short while later, the smell of cinnamon, almonds, and pecans filled the air. Sweet, sweet smells. “I am going to make so many friends!”
The other employees started to arrive to get things ready for the early morning rush. Brinstat explained to them that the pastries were all in the ovens and were just about done. He then left in a hurry to beat out the sunrise.

Early the next evening, while watching Dark Shadows with his mother, the phone rang. “I’ll get it Mama!” Brinstat picked up the phone hoping it was Mr. Leonardo telling him how much people loved his pastries. Well, it was Mr. Leonardo but he had news nothing like Brinstat wanted to hear.

“Mr. Brinstat-a, I’m afraid-a I have-a to fire you.”

“What!!?” screeched Brinstat.

“How much-a suga you a put in my-a pastries? They all-a flopped. We had-a no pastries to sell-a this morning!”

“How can that be?” asked Brinstat.

“Too much-a suga makes-a the pastries too-a heavy. They all-a fell over and burnt-a in the oven! I have to let-a you go my boy. So-a sorry.”

Brinstat slowly hung up the receiver and just stood there flabbergasted.

“Brinstat! Vhat’s the matter, my boy?

“Nothing Mama.”

“Brinstat, you vill tell me your troubles!”

“Okay, Mama,” he said. “I took a job making pastries in a bakery so I could be like everyone else. I wanted to make friends, Mama. But it didn’t work out. I got fired.”

“You see Brinstat! That is vhat I’ve been telling you. You have to be who you are. You can’t be someone you’re not. Try to be happy being a vampire, Brinstat. And stop upsetting your mother!”

Maybe she’s right, he thought. I’ll go out and be what I am—a vampire. I’ll go out and do what vampires do. “See you later Mama. I’m going out.”

Brinstat walked in the brisk night air for more than ten blocks without finding a soul, and ended up in Willow Park. For two more hours he walked around the park, not even a stray cat crossed his path. Feeling lonely, he decided to rest on the nearest park bench. There, sitting on the bench with him, was today’s copy of The Daily News. Coincidentally, right on top of the folded paper, was an ad. The ad stated, “WANTED: Security Guard/Night Watchman for museum. Second shift. Experience not necessary. Keeping burglars out a must!”

Stay tuned for Chapter 2