Far in the west, men built a great city on two shores, and they built a bridge between the two shores, so that the city of men crossed the ocean itself. Late at night, fog would rise up from the ocean and roll across the entire city, until it was as if it was covered in snow. On some days the sun would rise across the horizon and melt the fog away. On other days downy gray clouds would dim the sun and the fog would hang over the city until the lady Night spread her cloak again, and her eye the moon looked upon the fog, and turned it silver, and it would run off in rivulets along the city’s cobbled streets.

On those days the fog hung over the city, all the sorrows of every man and woman would become a part of the fog. When it would fade away into the night, it would take the sorrows of the western city with it, and in this way the men and women of the western city were happy. But time passed, and more and more of the city’s sorrows became lost in the fog, and all the sorrow came into the city with the fog. The men and women of the city would close up their windows and shutters, bolt their doors and hide in the basement, but still the fog of sorrows would seep into their homes.

It was at this time a woman named Sera lived in the city. In her tiny shop, she baked all manner of desserts and sold some small bottles of wine, all of which she made herself. Such desserts as she baked were not too sweet, nor too bland, and all the wine she sold glittered in the dimmest candlelight as if it were in the sun. But by far her most famous desserts were dreams, for Sera knew the secret of baking dreams into wonderful desserts. Customers from every part of the city would come to Sera’s little shop for a small piece of happiness, and she would give them pastries and wine and see them on their way.

Well, Sera had lived in the western city for many years, and she knew all about the fog of sorrows. She always baked extra dreams and extra pastries when she knew it was coming, and she always sold more than she baked the day after. She liked nothing better than to relieve people of their sorrows, but she wondered if there was nothing else to be done. After many years of making people happy as best as she was able, Sera became determined to lift the fog of sorrows.

Thus she gathered up her pots and her pans and her bowls and her mixers. She packed a bag of flour and sugar and eggs and butter, and she climbed upon her bike. Balancing the enormous pack on her head, she pedaled down to the bridge between the two shores. Sera walked along the bridge until she was high above the ocean, and there she sat with her bare feet dangling over the waves. “Oh, Ocean,” she said. “My beautiful western city despairs of the fog. I do what I am able, but I wish to do more. Tell me how to unburden the fog and I will make you a treat of dreams.”

Sera sat on the great bridge for many hours, listening to the waves of the ocean. Every so often she would say, “Please Ocean, hear my favor.” The sun was just beginning to descend in the sky when a great wave swelled up from the ocean and Sera heard a deep and melodious voice speak. “Very well, my daughter. If you are able to bake a dream for me, I will tell you about the fog’s sorrow.”

“Thank you, Ocean,” said Sera, and she went straightaway to the home of a friend who lived near the Ocean. She did not even spare time to return to her small bakery, but immediately set to work on baking a dream for the ocean. The small pastry had the end and the beginning of time within it, and the love of a daughter for her father. As the sun descended towards the horizon, Sera carried the pastry out to the ocean in a small paper bag.

“Here is you dream, my Ocean,” she said. “Will you hear my favor?” The ocean made no reply, but the enormous wave was still swelled up below the bridge, so Sera walked out to the wave and dropped the pastry into the ocean. Some minutes later she heard the voice again.

“Thank you, my daughter,” said the Ocean. “This dream was very sweet. I will tell you how to lift the fog of sorrow. For mortal men, sorrow is part of life. It may be endured, or understood, or lived through, but if they have no sorrow, they are not truly alive. Some mortal men seek to remove all sorrow from themselves, and from their lives. These men are without understanding, for the sorrow will only return a thousandfold.” With these words, the great wave sank back into the ocean, and Sera was alone on the bridge.

The very next day, Sera could see the fog of sorrows was due to appear. She baked a great many sweets and a great many sweet dreams, but when the fog of sorrows rolled across the city, she opened up all the doors and windows of her bakery. Few men and women of the city would venture into her little shop while it was wide opened to the fog of sorrows, thus no one saw her baking up little bits of the sorrow into pies and scones and pastries.

The fog passed, as it always did, and the next day Sera’s bakery was filled up with customers. She gave them all sweet dreams, but now she also gave each of them a sorrow baked into a dessert. Her customers would eat the sorrows, and feel sad, but Sera always had so many more sweets than sorrows that, even when they felt sad from the sorrow, she would raise them up with dreams. Sometimes they might feel sad even after eating the sorrow, but Sera always had enough dreams and sweetness to go around.

Night by night, and day by day, Sera worked to bake the sorrows into desserts. One person at a time she fed the sorrows back to all the people of the western city. They felt sorrow again, those that ate Sera’s deserts, but they no longer felt any of the sorrows of the fog. Sera gave the sorrow of men back to men, and so she took the sorrow from the fog and it troubled the city no more. All the men and women of the city could now see how beautiful the fog was, and it glittered in the sunlight and moonlight, being no longer full of sorrows.

The small bakery still stands in the western city today, and if she has not died, Sera is still baking dreams into desserts and making the lives of all the men and women of the city just a bit sweeter.