Afternoon with Mary

Afternoon with Mary

As I ate my meal, I reminisced about this morning when I met little Mary Jane, a prep school kid.

Flashback

I had just closed the door and waved goodbye to my mom as I headed through the front lawn when I saw a little girl.

The little girl was dressed in her school uniform and had a cute hat on top of her curly hair, with a Pac-Man bag on her back. She was pacing in front of the iron gate, and all together she made an adorable picture.

Moving quickly, I headed out, calling her softly and asking her what she wanted. I watched as she stopped pacing and turned to face me; her blue eyes sparkled under the sunlight like precious stones.

She started speaking rapidly, and from her ramblings, I caught the idea that she was having a tea party that evening with her friends and wanted me to help her make a chocolate cake, since her mother was going to be at work.

Agreeing just to get her to stop rambling, I checked my schedule and found that I had nothing planned, so it would probably be an exciting afternoon with an equally excited chatterbox.

Walking her back to her house, I then left for the campus.

Flashback End.

My lunch was done, the dishes were washed and on the drying rack, and the kitchen was neat and sparkly, ready for the task ahead.

I went to wait for my little guest in the living area, a book in hand as I waited.

A ding-dong alerted me of a visitor, and the high-pitched sound of "open open hurry hurry it's me" gave it away that it was the guest I was waiting for.

Putting the book away, I opened the door to let her in. Her antics caused me to smile in amusement.

On the way to the kitchen, she told me about the dress she had prepared for the evening and the teddy she was going to take to the tea party.

Laughing to myself, I showed her the kitchen and grabbed a stool for her to stand on. We began thinking of the type of chocolate cake to bake.

Grabbing our aprons and chef's hats, we put them on and started on our baking quest. Knowing kids' short attention spans, I knew exactly what type of chocolate cake to make. I had seen so many videos of it all over social media, and finally, I got a chance to try it out. It was the 4-ingredient chocolate cake, quick and simple to make and equally delicious. Laying the ingredients on the counter, we started baking.

Taking out my brother's pack of chocolate cookies, I gave Mary the task of crushing the cookies with a rolling pin. She was actually having fun doing it.

Adding the powdered cookies to the batter, we poured it into the mold and put it in the oven to bake.

Returning to the counter, we cleaned up the mess when a soft "Ting" told us the cake was ready. Grabbing the mitts, I pulled it out of the oven and allowed it to cool on the rack.

The appetizing scent filled the kitchen, and I watched as Mary got a little hand fan and tried to cool the cake faster.

Grabbing the bottle of Nutella, I glazed the top of the cake with it. I thought it was done, but Mary wanted strawberries, so I let her add the strawberries as a topping.

The finished product was gorgeous, and I was sure she would enjoy it at the tea party. Putting the cake in the box, I walked her home and just in time to see her mom's car pull into the driveway.

Waving them goodbye, I returned home, wondering what I would tell my younger siblings. Hopefully, they wouldn't notice the half-empty Nutella bottle or the empty cookies pack, let's wait and see.