It was a whim to put 86 candles on the cake. I had ten more
that I put on for ten more years.
I had planned to make a cake for a while. It was a
hummingbird cake then Italian Cream Cake. A cook on the news described the
chocolate cake he liked. I thought of finely chopped nuts in chocolate icing.
It was a tough decision, Chocolate brownie cake or Coca cola cake.
I chose stout yellow candles. Not the normal skinny ones, I
wanted to watch them burn. Sip my coffee, look out the window. Think a deliberate thought about the different people who I had loved and blow a few out for each
one.
My father said you could live
too long. All your friends and loved ones die and you are left alone. I remember my cousin Agnes died of diphtheria
in 1938. My sister Hazel and I were so sad. My dad was putting cardboard in his
shoe and said, “It could have been worse; it could have been you.”
Slowly I lit all the candles. It was a beautiful sight. I
walked into the kitchen and smoke was pouring from the side of the oven doors. A
small square of margarine in the oven was burning. I turned the oven off and the
exhaust fan on. The smoke alarm went
off. I got the fire extinguisher, and
then I noticed the flame had gone out.
Throwing open the windows and doors in the back of the apartment to let the smoke escape. I think the neighbors will never know.
Bamm, bamm, bamm on the front door, fire men are on the
other side of the peephole. I look at my beautiful cake. Opening the door, I
hear myself saying, “It was just a small grease fire.”
Cake is better when you have someone to eat it with others. Next year, the cake will be at the firehouse.
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| By Francesca Cesa Bianchi, Milano (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0-it (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/it/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons |
Oh, so lonely... I hope the firemen enjoyed the cake!
ReplyDeleteLove the last line! I've enjoyed your cake stories these last few days;)
ReplyDeleteI like the last line, too. This is so lonely - the idea of all the friends dying before you is just sad.
ReplyDeleteThis is a sad but comforting tale Anne great job.
ReplyDeleteThat's one way of getting guests... well told
ReplyDeleteEating cake alone is sort of a waste, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteThis had a beautiful rhythm Funny and wise and unexpected. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteSad but brilliant, and that last line was great
ReplyDeleteThis is a great trick for getting some company, even if it is a little bit sad that she has no others to share the cake with. Great job with the prompt.
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking up!
I do admire a resourceful woman!
ReplyDeleteFriends and family dying off is sad, but funny story.
I really like the extra candles and how they stand in for those she has loved.
ReplyDeleteThis is truly lovely on so many levels. Your narrator is not an *unhappy* person, just lonely because of circumstance. There is a difference and you draw it so subtly. It made me smile.
ReplyDelete