Amidst The Dissonance

Saturday

A sweet scent began to linger in the air, wafting its way through the dimly lit room. The shutters on the high windows were opened only slightly, blocking out the majority of the morning sunlight. A chorus of bird chirping began to rise and fall slowly, occasionally filling the silence of the quiet neighborhood with something other than the wind hitting the trees. For once, instead of rain gently pattering against the glass window panes...there was sunlight. For once, it was a nice day outside to start off the beginning of the weekend.

She finally awoke to the sound of the birds chorus outside growing slightly louder. As her eyes fluttered open, she immediately took in the sweet scent that had made its way to the room she was in. Her ears took hold of the chorus of birds outside, and she smiled slightly as she recognized the familiar tune. She sat up slowly and rubbed her eyes, glancing around the room. Her curiosity of the sweet smell temporarily faded as she realized where she was. She had fallen asleep in the living room again.

"Godammit..." she sighed. "I fell asleep during my break again."

Despite how annoyed she sounded, this occurrence had happened a few times already. The stress of schoolwork combined with the endless hours of playing the piano often tired her out. Normally, she would sacrifice long periods of her sleeping hours to piano, but after an incident where she passed out during Chemistry, her mother ordered her to either play only ninety minutes a day, or take thirty minute breaks in between her piano sessions. Since she refused to shorten her piano time below two hours, she immediately took the latter option. However, it seemed that eventually she'd have to go with the former, as it was currently the fifth time she had fallen asleep during one of her breaks.

As she continued to pout and stare at the grand piano in front of her, her nose took notice of the sweet scent again. Having somewhat pulled herself out of her groggy sleep, she now recognized the scent as one of her favorite breakfast dishes. She pushed aside the thought of piano briefly and made her way to the kitchen, stumbling slightly as her groggy vision slowly faltered. Once she entered the kitchen, she heard the familiar sweet voice call out to her.

"Look who's finally up."

She was too ecstatic about the breakfast to even roll her eyes. "Good morning, Mom! Are we having what I think we're having?"

Her mother nodded as she flipped a pancake on its uncooked side. "Yes, Kaede. We're having what you think you're having."

Kaede tilted her head to the side slightly as she continued to enjoy the intoxicating cinnamon scent. "Mmmm...any reason why? Or were you just in a good mood?"

Her mother let out a slight chuckle and shook her head. "I was going through the supplies in the cupboard today and I noticed that the pancake mix was to expire in about two weeks. I figured that if I use the rest of it now, it wouldn't go to waste."

Kaede nodded rapidly and wiped away some of the drool running down her bottom lip. "I see, very thoughtful of you."

"Sorry that it's not because of any special event." Her mother smiled sympathetically. "But at least now you have another item to add to your grocery shopping list."

Kaede raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Her mother lifted up the cooked pancake with her spatula and placed it on top of an already growing stack. "The next time you go shopping, you'll be able to pick out your favorite of this! I remember last time I picked this out, you were telling me this wasn't the right brand of mix..."

Kaede huffed slightly. "Mom, I'm over that! It didn't matter once I actually tasted how good they were!"

"Ahaha, I'm just teasing, Kaede."