The smell of fresh-baking cookies wafted into the room, alighting her senses for what felt like the first time in ages. Sandy opened her eyes and sat up, looking around at the room that, despite its familiarity, still seemed foreign to her. How much she had changed!

Arising from the sofa, Sandy strode across the living room and into the warm kitchen, where she had placed the cookies into the oven less than twenty minutes before. She wasn't sure why she had decided to bake them, but was dimly aware that it felt like the right thing to do at the time. As the aroma bombarded her senses anew, she was again overwhelmed with a feeling of complete disorientation, and yet it felt right.

For days, weeks, months, years, she had sought out solace from her own troubled mind. At long last, she had found her peace. And yet, the peace she felt inside was not met similarly by those close to her. Rather, a sense of discord developed, unmatched by anything she'd ever dreamed possible.

Sandy closed her eyes briefly before opening them again. She took a deep breath, inhaling deeply through her nose, as though hoping to smell the cookies that much more. The smell of chocolate enveloped her, warming her body and calming her spirits. Swirling thought became linear, blurred vision became clear, and she knew what she had to do.

As she pulled the large oven mitts over her hands and then pulled open the oven door, Sandy contemplated her choices: she could try to fix that which was broken, or else she cold start fresh, anew. Sandy lifted the pan from its rack and placed it on the stove. She let the warm, soft cookies warm her face as she stared down at them.

Sandy picked up a cookie, ignoring the fact that in its warm state, it was falling apart. Cupping one hand below the cookie to catch what fell off, she proceeded to eat the first of her freshly made chocolate chip cookies. "I may not know even where to begin, and even less where things will end," she thought, "but chocolate chip cookies is sure a good place to start." Humming to herself, and feeling better already, Sandy walked back into the living room. It was time to live again.