Godspeed, all the bakers at dawn

Yellow cake, chocolate cake, carrot cake, spice cake, four batches of each, fourteen to a batch, bread pudding, butter cream frosting, cream cheese frosting, chocolate frosting, 24 quarts. Full-body stickiness. Sink overflows, mop up the floor. Full-bakery stickiness. Frosting makes excellent hair mousse, the ends of my tresses caked in flour and cocoa and powdered sugar. Going through the motions, nine eggs, one cup oil, four cups water, mix mix mix, pour pour pour, again again again, hours and hours and hours. Let it sink, in the hot water. But the worst part of the day, by far, is not the 6 AM start time, but rather, the clean up process. The sopping up of mounds of excess ingredients from the linoleum counters, the clumping, the goo, the liquidation of everything combined, everywhere. Scalding rags coated in sugary filth, piled in the sink, and the steam from the faucet, is so hot.