The Slice Of Cake That Was Calling Her Name

Grace was a woman who enjoyed many different flavored foods. One thing that Grace could never walk away from was a perfect good warm slice of chocolate cake. The world would feel much better if they all just had a piece of its delicious chocolate cake in Grace's mind. Years of traveling about here and there, she had tried a great deal of many different foods. She would write about all the varieties of foods that she had tried. There was always a list of her favorites and those that she did not consider to be as desirable. She listed the not so fond items because there may be others who did like them. Grace was coming up on the last few trips before her trip home. There was a place that a great many people had bragged about where the woman who made some pretty fantastic food also made the most deliciously moist cake in the world. Grace decided that she wanted to try this cake for herself.

The rumors said that the woman lived in a place she had never heard of before. It was not listed on any map that anyone could find. One woman said that when they first arrived at the woman's house, they walked through a field of tall grass and mixed wildflowers. After, going inside the woman's home to try her cake. She looked out the window to see it looked like they were floating in the air. After trying her cake, the couple said it was like everything just fit together. The traveler said that all the stress there had been before just melted away in a frosted puddle of melting icing. The rest of the cake was said to swim around at the end of the tasting. The traveler's husband said that when they had left the woman's home to head back home, everything seemed different on the outside. He said that he glanced back to see the woman disappearing along with her house as she was waving goodbye to them. He described it as a dream passing by in an air floating stream. It was not until the couple reached the first village that they realized that they had been inside the house for over twenty years. Grace stared at them with unbelieving eyes at first. The story pulled at Grace like nothing else in life to see for herself.

Grace received the word that a person had to be lost to find the place. Grace headed toward the jungle that so many had named the last stop in the world. It was said to carry the name because many who went into this area never returned. Those who did step inside and came out always ended up right back inside. Grace reached the tip of the jungle. It was here that she bumped into the couple who told her about the place. The man who said the woman disappeared as she waved to them gave her a friendly wave. The woman's name was Ellen Sun, and her husband's name was Julian Sun. Ellen said that Grace had inspired them to join her. They wanted to come back for a while but never had time. They had brought another couple with them. They were a very young couple, and their names were Jessica and Eric Storm. They started to head inside when Grace realized that none of the others had brought any provisions. Grace received confused stars as though they were in a trance full of confusion.

They all made their way back to the store to stock up on needed items. Ellen had pointed at a jeep and said that a road even led to the woman's home. After packing everything needed, including extra gas, they drove back. They went along that road until they reached a fork in the path. The choice was right and left at the subsequent division. The journey continued for hours, reaching several forks in the road. They stopped to have a meal and fill the gas tank. After finishing, they continued down the road until they saw a long stream. The weather was so hot that they all decided to soak in the water. While they were heading back to the vehicle, Jessica noticed another group of people doing the same thing as them on the other side of the stream. It took her a second after she pointed out to everyone else that the people across the stream were them. They were wearing different clothes, but they were them. They all stood there staring across to the other side of the water until the group of people on the other side that was them disappeared.

A few minutes had passed when they shook off what they had seen and decided to continue forward. They all gathered in after reaching the vehicle, and Julian was driving this time. The road never seemed to end and just continued on and on. A few more hours passed when they came to an area with a picnic set out on the grass. A sign said for them to enjoy their meal. At first, they were hesitant, but then they set up camp for the night. It was getting late, and they had all grown exhausted. The tents were all set up with their sleeping bags. They had brought some battery-operated fans because of the heat to help. They all crawled inside their tents to sleep for the night.

Grace woke in the morning to find that she was sleeping in a bed inside a house. She climbed up out of bed feeling more refreshed than she had ever felt. Downstairs there was the sound of laughter floating up to her room. She quickly cleaned up and changed after finding that someone had neatly put all of her clothes away. Following the laughter down the upstairs hallway to the stairs that led downstairs, she came to the kitchen. Ellen and Julian introduced her to Mary Jo, who was the woman that they had met all those years ago. Grace could not believe this was the same woman because she looked like she was only in her mid-twenties at the most. Mary Jo smiled at her and offered her a seat. Mary Jo told Grace that she looked young from a secret family recipe. Mary Jo explained how her father and brother had found them all passed out by the vehicle and brought them to her. They had dreamed everything else up was the story that Mary Jo was saying.

Grace looked out the kitchen window to see what Ellen had meant. It looked like they were floating in the sky up above the world. They all walked out on the porch to see that they were not floating in the air. Looking around, taking in the scenery surrounding them, was so stunning that there were no words that could honestly describe what she was seeing. The flowers moved about as though they were living beings walking around. Mary Jo smiled at her and then offered her a cup of tea. Grace accepted the tea and gulped it down before realizing she had done it. The day passed with everyone sitting out on the porch and roaming around, enjoying the incredible scenery. Suppertime came, and they all headed inside. After eating Mary Jo's meal, Grace decided that Mary Jo was a much better cook than anyone else she had ever met. After dinner, Mary Jo brought out a giant chocolate cake with white and blue icing on top that spelled out welcome.

Mary Jo set the cake down on the table and went to get the plates and silverware. Grace stared at the cake and then noticed the word on the cake changed to hello Grace. The word changed again to two words saying try me. Mary Jo came back with the dishes and placed them on the table. One plate at a time, she cut a large slice of chocolate cake and then handed it out to eat of them. Grace looked back to where the cake was to notice that the cake was still there. The one word became three words saying enjoy the magic. Grace shook her head, confused at what was happening. She had eaten the cake that sat on her plate without realizing it. The room began to run like being on the inside of a painting. Everything faded away to Grace waking up in the bed again and looking around. She quickly climbed out of bed, got dressed then headed downstairs. Grace discovered that everyone was gone except her. She found a note sitting on the table that said, come back when you are ready to go home. Grace did not understand what had happened at all. The vehicle sat outside, full of gas and supplies prepared for her to leave.

Twenty years had passed by when Grace finally understood what the note meant. She found a group of other people who were ready to go home too. They had gathered what they needed and made the trip to meet Mary Jo. Mary Jo welcomed Grace with open arms to lead her inside to meet all the others before her. Grace happily stepped inside her home to begin life in another place on the outside of time.