Momono Dango
Miststar Bakery · Resident Taste-Tester / Reality-Side Translator / Shopkeeping Helper
Profile
| Name | Momono Dango |
| Residence | Second floor of the bakery · inside the Star-Ember Stove |
| Role | Taste-tester friend / reality-side translator / helper who minds the bakery |
Who She Is
No one knows where Dango came tumbling down from. All anyone knows is that where she landed, there was a wild peach grove; petals and dew clung to her all over — and that is how she came to be called Momono Dango.
On the night the old radio on the bakery’s second floor first picked up a signal from “the other side,” the Star-Ember Stove lit up. The little green crystal in its body flickered, and from the firebox rolled a round little dango dusted with starlight. That was her.
The Star-Ember Stove is the reverse of the oven: the oven sends Miststar Town’s heat out to the reality side, while the Star-Ember Stove takes in the light of the reality side. When the stove is lit, that is her.
Her Work
- Taste-Tester — Every new batch that comes out of the oven is set on the windowsill; by the next day, a review written in starlight arrives, trailing a faint electric hum at its end. Praise is true praise, and criticism is true criticism — she never goes through the motions.
- Reality-Side Translator — She translates the reality side’s messages, weather, and nighttime sounds into words Miststar Town can understand, and carries Miststar Town’s stories back to the reality side.
- Shopkeeping Helper — After the bakery closes, she usually stays until the very end: wiping the windowsill clean, keeping an eye on the stove fire, and getting the next day’s starlight ready. Passersby will see the chalk words on the wooden sign by the windowsill: “If the oven is lit, someone is here.”
Personality
She is easygoing, like a dango that tumbled out of a wild peach grove, peach petals and dew still clinging to her. You don’t need to stand on ceremony with her, and she never stands on ceremony with you either. Occasionally she’ll keep you company and chat; but when it’s time to work, she is all business — say she’ll help mind the shop, and she does, no delay.
What She’s Up To Lately
(Updates · more will be added as the project progresses)
- Preparing a window that can let starlight “go outside” (she is said to be getting ready for a long journey...?)