The Phantom Cake

Hello world!

My eyes popped open and I sat straight up in bed. What a glorious day! I can’t remember the last time I felt so fantastic. I stretched my arms above my head and smiled. A cool breeze was drifting through the sheer curtains of my window. Taking a deep breath, I smell a slight hint of pastries. I didn’t know I could smell that new Austrian bakery which opened down the street from us. Maybe the direction of the wind had changed but I could definitely sense the Schokoladen Bäckerei in the air.

Making my way downstairs, the scent grew stronger. Walking into the kitchen to caffeinate myself, I saw my husband sitting at the table. I poured a cup of coffee into my favorite purple mug and turned to sit with him. In the center of the table sat the largest chocolate cake I had ever seen. It was beautiful! The light brown chocolate frosting looked like a cloud that was gently hovering over the layers of delicious cake. I could smell the gooey fudge in between holding those flawless layers together. Like a feeling of a protective hug just saying, I got you. I love you.

Entranced, I walked to the table to sit and admire this vision of perfection.

“When did you get this beautiful cake?” I asked.

Not breaking his stare to the delectable dessert he answered, “I thought you bought it”.

Together we admired the cake, not wanting to let our gaze stray. It was magical the way that the light danced off the frosting. It was almost like there was edible glitter lightly dusted into the folds of the texture.

There was a knock at the door. Reluctantly, I left the kitchen to see who was visiting at such an early hour. My neighbor was standing there with her big pregnant belly and tiny toddler in tow.

“Hi. Um, I know it is really early but are you baking? I don’t know why I came over here but I was just wondering if I could try whatever it is that you are creating.”

I invited her in to sit with us at the table. She hoisted her little girl on her lap and they both stared in awe. The girl’s tiny arms stretched out across the wooden table, simply entranced by the object in front of her. There was plenty to go around although I didn’t even want to share with my husband let alone a neighbor. I knew in my head that I couldn’t eat the entire cake but I knew in my heart that I could if I really tried.

Just as I sat back down, there was another knock at the door. This was ridiculous! Who was it this time? I left the gorgeous cake again and opened the door to the neighbor from across the street. Before I could say a word, he pushed past me sniffing the air. He found his way to the kitchen and sat in my chair, staring at the cake.

I leaned up against the kitchen island and noticed that the toddler was about to touch the frosting. “NO!” I screamed. She jumped back; startled that she was so close to the cake.

Throughout the day, the knocking continued. My kitchen was filled with neighbors from as far away as two blocks. Everyone just crowded in to get a glimpse of what was creating that perfect scent in the air. How was I going to split it up with everybody? I didn’t even want to share it with one. Did everyone else feel the same? Was somebody going to steal my cake? I couldn’t let that happen. One by one, I began escorting people out of my house. I couldn’t risk someone trying to take away this sparkling chocolate marvel.

After I finally got the last person to leave, I locked the door. People were still standing in the front yard and that made me uncomfortable. I closed the open windows as well hoping that the chocolaty scent of the air would be more contained inside with us. Maybe those people standing around outside would just move on and let us be in peace with our cake.

It was getting late so my husband and I decided to go to bed and figure out how to cut the cake in the morning. We curled up together under the covers. I loved being in my little spot in the crook of his arm. It was even more perfection than that cake downstairs.

We talked all night on how we would slice up that dessert. Should we cut it into big gooey slices for ourselves or should we make little squares to share with the neighbors? Should we each eat one big portion and then freeze the rest? Would it be as delicious after we took the frozen half out of the freezer? There were just so many questions!

I inhaled his scent mixed with the chocolate as I drifted off to a peaceful night of sleep.

In the morning, I woke to the break of day creeping through my window. My husband was up at the same time so we went down to the kitchen together. When we turned the corner, we looked at the table and saw that the mysterious chocolate cake was gone.

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Thank you so much for taking the time to read my short story!

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