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A year later,it was opening day at Bernie’s shop.This lavajavapot was full,and hot logs rolled on a warmer.Bernie stood behind the counter with Ember beside him.
Cinder stocked shelves nearby.When a Fire Element entered,Bernie greeted them.“Welcome!Everything here is authentic.”
“Then I gotta try the kol nuts,”said the customer.
“Kol nuts coming up!”said Bernie.
While her father rang up the order,Ember tapped the keys on her toy cash register.
“Good daughter,”Bernie said warmly.
He and Ember squeezed logs in their palms to make bite-sized pieces of kol nuts and placed them on a plate.Ember handed the plate to the customer.
“Someday this shop will all be mine!”she announced with pride.
Bernie tousledhis daughter’s flames.“When you are ready,”he said.
As time passed,more people emigrated from Fire Land to the Firetown district of Element City.Bernie’s shop grew busier.Most of the customers were Fire Elements,but sometimes other Elements shopped there,too.The busier the shop became,the more Ember helped out.She even assisted Bernie with his deliveries.Ember rode on his shoulders as they buzzed around town on a scooter.
“Delivery!”Bernie announced.
“Delivery!”Ember echoed.
Soon she was old enough to make lollipops,one of her favorite tasks.
On one busy afternoon,two Fire kids approached the counter.One of them ordered two lollipops,placing a few coins on the counter.
“ I got it,Àshfá! ”Ember told her father. She melted a lollipop with the heat from her hands.Then she blew into it,sculptingthe pop into a glass-like bubble.While she worked, her inner fire glowed happily.A rainbowcolored haloshimmered around her.
Ember formed flames at the top of the pop and used her finger to draw on a face. When she was done,the pop looked just like her customer!She tweaked the nose and handed it to the Fire kid,who laughed with delight.
The Fire kid’s friend leaned over and tried to lick the pop.
“Hey!”snapped the first kid.
Bernie smiled,until two Water teenagers entered the shop.The teens tracked water inside and carelessly bumped into shelves.
Bernie nodded at Ember.“Water,”he muttered.“Keep an eye on them.”
Ember zipped up her fire as if putting on protective armor.Then she salutedher father.She approached the teens,who were pouring water onto some flaming souvenirs.
“Oops!”said one teen,giggling as if it were an accident.
“Oops!”said the other as the Blue Flame souvenir in his hand sputtered and smoked.
Ember blazed upbeside them.“You splash it,you buy it!”she growled.
One of the Water teens began to boil from her heat.“Ahhh!”he cried.The souvenir popped out of his hand,and Ember caught it just in time.
The teens sloshed out of the shop.Ember watched them go with a satisfied smile.
“You showed them,huh?”said Bernie. He hollered out the door after the teens.“Nobody waters down fire!”
“Yeah!”called Ember.
A few years later,Cinder restocked shelves while a Fire soap opera played on the TV above the counter.“The truth is...,”a soap opera actress said dramatically on the screen. The customers in the shop hung on her every word.
Cinder finished folding a KISS ME,I’M FIRISH T-shirt.She glanced at the TV.“She’s not in love with him,”she guessed.
“...I’m not in love with you!”said the soap opera actress.
The customers in the shop gasped.
“Ha!Knew it!”Cinder boasted.
Behind the counter,Ember helped her father make kol nuts.Now that she was a teenager,she was even faster than him!While Bernie struggled to compress the log into kol nuts, she effortlessly stacked up a pile of the tasty burned nuts.
When a man with thick glasses approached, Ember nudged her father.“ Àshfá ,”she said.“Customer.”
Bernie hesitated.“How about,”he said,“you take it today.”
“For real?”she asked,beaming.She had been waiting to hear those words for a long time.She wiped her hands on her apronand took a deep breath as she welcomed the customer.
“How can I help you?”she asked with a smile.
The customer placed a metal basket filled with items on the counter,next to a bucketof sparklers.“All this,”he said.“And sparklers are‘buy one,get one free’?”
“That’s right!”said Ember.
“Great!I’ll take the free one,”said the customer.He grabbed a sparkler out of the bucket and lit it with his finger.
Ember laughed nervously.“Oh,no,see...you need to buy one to get one free.”She gently took the sparkler from the customer’s grip. Then she blew it out.
“But I just want the free one,”he insisted, taking another sparkler.
“Sorry,”said Ember,plasteringon a smile.“That’s not how this works.”She grabbed the sparkler from his hand and blew it out.
“But the customer is always right,”he snapped.
“Not in this case...,”said Ember.
He took another sparkler.Ember took it away.He grabbed another,and she took it away.“Nope,”she said,blowing out the sparklers.Soon she had a bouquet of burned-out sparklers in her hand.“Nope,nope,nope, nope,nope!”
“Just give me one for free!”demanded the customer.
“That’s not how this works!”Ember bellowed.Her flames flickered,turning purple, and then...
KABOOM!
She exploded.
By the time the blast cleared,the shopping basket on the counter had melted into a smoky blob.A black scorchmark was streakedacross the floor,and little fires burned throughout the shop.
“Oh!”said Bernie,hurrying over.He grabbed some sparklers from the bucket and stuck them into the melty blob.Then he blew on them to light them and handed the blob to the customer.“Happy birthday!”
Bernie walked a shocked Ember away from the counter.“What just happened?”he asked.“Why did you lose your temper?”
“I...I don’t know,”Ember sputtered.“He was pushing and pushing,and it just...”
“Calm,calm,”said Bernie.“Sometimes customers can be tough.Just take a breath and make a connection.”
Ember nodded.
“When you can do that and not lose your temper,then you will be ready to take over the shop,”said Bernie.
Ember forced a smile.She could do this. She would do this.