Oblivion (Short Story)

March 2

A not-so-usual Thursday was the peak of Janna's week. Though seemed impossible, she woke up an hour earlier than her mom, Lissa, and her alarm clock. She even greeted herself good morning, which is pretty peculiar in normal days. She spent her free time watching baking tutorials on Youtube and searching for pastry basics. Then she saw that morning a perfect moment to try out her new found interest which she hoped to turn as an expertise.

She prepared the materials and some scrapbook papers. She didn't know what to use as cupcake liners so she thought off something on-hand. Fortunately, scrapbook papers were available, but unfortunately, she's not aware if that material was non-toxic or not. 

Only clangs of whisk and spoon were the only sounds you can hear in the whole house. Well, some sniffing and coughing too but just occasional. She pulled her hair up for a bun and flattened her turquoise apron. She even placed her phone on the top of the overhead cabinet for the recipe guide. As you can see, some baking goals were really driving her to continue.

"Oh my, what in the world are you doing in my kitchen?" Lissa said, almost choking on every word because of hilarity. Janna's not the type of girl who spends time mixing and tossing salads, and the scene of her whisking the cake batter took Lissa to another level of amusement. She's rarely be seen in the kitchen holding other kitchen utensils than fork or spoon. Seeing her holding a bowl and a whisk made her mom go crazy.

"Uhm, just trying to bake?" she tried to pull off a statement but she seemed to doubt what she was really doing there.

The view was not very pleasant. Some batter was splashed into her apron and hair. Some chocolate ganache was drizzled on the counter top. The empty boxes of laid on the side, spilling the leftovers. Maybe trying a new hobby wasn't really safe in Janna's case. Janna plus the kitchen? Better think of other pair.

"I thought you're cooking a grenade. Let me help you," Lissa offered her a hand. Janna didn't even noticed the slight insult. For an hour and half, they finished 3 pans of cupcakes. She wondered what came up with her to do the baking. But Janna kept silent as she's too focused on piping the sugar icing. Six red velvet cupcakes were packed inside a plastic ware and she clapped her hands like she's too proud of what she's done.

"Mom, I'll just take this to the Meadows. Especially for Jack," she emphasized the name 'Jack' to stop her mom from asking any further questions.

"Only for Jack?" her mom said with a slight tease in her voice. Janna definitely knew where the conversation was heading to.

"Yeah, Jack. Maybe some for Mrs. Meadows...," she slowly said, "And maybe some for James too. I gotta go!" and she stuck her tongue out, waved good bye and ran out of the house. She didn't know what came to her to make cupcakes she doesn't usually do but she just shrugged of the idea. After their trip to Ice Kingdom and their heart-to-heart conversation last time, she felt more comfortable with him than ever.