Dessert Disaster

One morning, I woke up to the dim light shining low on my hot pink curtains. Time for a new summer, I thought. I went to open my porch window. I was happy summer had arrived, so there was no doubt about it. I had plans. My mom and dad weren’t the type of parents who stay at home all summer. They worked at their office all day, so my dad brought me to my friend Sofia’s house.

Sofia waved to me. “Hi, Audrey! C’mon! I have something to show you! C’mon!” Sofia yanked me in. My friends, Leora, Chase, and Alexandra were there. Sofia sat us all down. She held something in a yellow wrapper.

“So, what is it?” I asked, eagerly.

“Yeah, tell us!” Alexandra squealed.

Sofia opened the package. It was a delicate, triple-chocolate fudge cake with a pound of the finest, darkest spoon of vanilla that seemed to make everyone’s mouth agape. Sofia’s cake had a golden shade of too-sweet sugar that could water anyone’s lips constantly. I gasped in awe.

A feeling came over Leora. She grew so envious that her mood seemed to darken. Why should Sofia get that precious cake? Leora kept staring at the cake. She wanted to take the rest. She wanted to go and steal the chocolate cake so she could eat it. However, the multiple times Leora tried to take it, when she had to be thinking up plans to snatch it, run, and hide, her friends kept holding her back. So, Leora could only think of one thing. She planned to trick her friends, especially Sofia, and lie with a good excuse, to finish up her plan once and for all. But how?

Meanwhile, I was giggling with Sofia and laughing at Alexandra’s jokes.

“That’s a funny dance, Alexandra. Show us some more!” I told her sweetly. Alexandra hooted and did some more moves.

I called out, ”Oh. Leora, what are you doing? I hope you’re over that cake because — ha, Alexandra… It’s fun. C’mon. Show us some disco dance moves!” I blubbered in laughter.

Leora shook her head, plastering a fake and sweet expression on her face. I shrugged and turned away. Leora was just about to snatch the cake when — ”Leora!!!”

Oh no. Sofia was glaring at her, crazy mad. ”Grrr… What were you thinking?! You had to think that you should steal the cake?! It’s mine. And I wasn’t about to even think my BFF would steal it,” Sophia shouted. “Stop it. Okay?”

“I’ll stop.” Leora said. But guess what? She had her fingers crossed! Sofia turned away.

I saw the others glare at Leora constantly for what she had done. I frowned. That plan was mean. Why did she want to do that? This was like the “Cake Crime.” OMG, I could see the headlines now: “Girl Robbed a Special Cake,” “Girl Arrested in Jail.” “Brrr…”

I glared back at Leora. This was terrible. Sofia would probably not be friends with Leora anymore! Oh no! I had to fix it.

Apparently, I was right! Sofia refused to be BFF’S anymore with Leora. So Leora started to hesitate about her plan. She didn’t want Sofia to not be her friend! Oh no. No. She had to get her BFF back.

This wasn’t worth it, Leora thought.

Leora went over to Sofia, and she apologized, “Sorry for stealing your cake, Sofia. I don’t know what got into me.” Sofia just glared at her. Leora explained, ”I shouldn’t have tried to trick you into letting me steal it.”

“Are you kidding me?! You weren’t even thinking about me, or the other people who do wish they had the cake, did you? Also, why would you stoop that low? You’ve lost the specialty that made me even want to become your BFF in the first place!” Sofia growled.

“But I really, really loved it. And the way it looked, the cake was so sweet and scrumptious… and truly bewitching.” Leora mumbled.

“Stop it! I’m not your friend, okay?” Sofia argued, now furious. Leora stomped away.

***

THE VERY NEXT DAY…

Sofia yawned heavily. Ever since Leora had gone home, she’d been having nightmares! She even unfriended Leora on Facebook.

Cake eater, she thought. Cake stealer. How could she? How? The cake was from the finest bakery, for goodness sake! Golden’s Bakery, a bakery that only the wealthiest people can afford. $123 for a lick of homemade, rich, caramel ice cream, $673 for the greatest taste of pecan pie, $231 for a sip of a pink, apricot, and delicate strawberry smoothie! A cake was $879!!!

Sofia hadn’t even even saved up all her allowance to purchase it! She had to combine all her family’s money and cherished treasure to buy it! Yes! It was that expensive!

“Leora will be sorry when she sees what she missed!” Sofia muttered.

And so, tension rose up between Sofia and Leora as they argued. Sofia’s heart raced. She was trembling. She’d never lost a friend. Not one. She thought miserably, I need help. She sighed. Who can help anyway?

“I can.”

“Huh? Who are you?” Sofia asked.

“I am the Narrator. I help tell all the stories.”

“I can talk to Narrators?!” Sofia asked.

“I guess you can.”

“I don’t get it. Why me?” Sofia asked.

“For one reason: you really need help, and when someone needs help, I have to make my voice visible to people.”

“Oh. Can you help me? I really want Leora to do something with that apology because I know Leora crossed her fingers when she said she wouldn’t do that again. So I didn’t believe her, then she got mad, and I felt worse, and then, I decided to be nice to her even if she’s not my friend,” Sofia blurted out.

I nodded, clearly wise and understanding. “I know. I can’t help at every moment because that’s illegal in the rules of a Narrator, but I suppose I can tell you that Leora may be mad at you only because she wants you to be her bestie again. So, do you want to be her friend again?”

Sofia squeezed her eyes tight, holding back tears. “Not quite. I don’t know what to do. Because she wanted to stab me in the back and steal my cake, I’m not going to be.” Sophia opened her eyes slightly now. “And now I feel horrendous,” Sofia sobbed.

I became invisible. “Sofia, but Leora is just the same way! Think about how sad she’ll be that you don’t want to be her bestie anymore.” Sofia’s eyes darted over to the window.

She sighed and shook her head. “I am not her friend, still. But thanks for your help, Narrator.”

I faded away. Sofia sobbed. Would this be any worse? Could Sofia ever reunite with Leora?

***

Meanwhile, Leora was fuming mad. She tried to say sorry, but how dare Sofia turn her back on her! She cried herself to sleep.

In her dream, a calm voice actually entered and said, “You can’t turn your back on Sofia. She’s your friend. Get her back.”

Leora awoke with a start. Who would dare interfere with her friend issues?

I felt really bad for Sofia and Leora. That storytelling magic is the most powerful magic for a Narrator to achieve. If only I could do it. Okay, here it goes: “The ice cream truck comes toward 22nd Avenue. Just as I said, an ice cream truck comes toward 22nd Avenue. I did it! Now, to save the day.”

I transported myself to Sofia’s room and flew to the top of the writing desk. I whispered, “Sofia and Leora are friends again.” The room whizzed and whirled.

“Did I do it?” I asked, eagerly.

“Okay everyone.” Sofia sat them all down.

“Well, what is it?” Leora asked.

“Yeah, tell us!” Alexandra squealed.

Wait a minute. This is the day Sofia showed her cake. Oh no! I whizzed them back to the past! The beginning of the story has been copied!

I gulped. I was so in trouble. Sofia was going to be sooo angry at me if she found out. I panicked. If anything changes now, then the “future” is going to be altered! Hey, wait a minute. I can still keep them as BFFs! All I have to do is keep them from fighting! Yes!

I watched as Leora began to get envious with pride. I flickered away to the cake and inhaled. Time to do this.

Okay. Sofia and Leora are BFFs permanently. Leora’s mood lightened. I’m doing it! Sofia and Leora then joined Audrey and Alexandra who were laughing again. Looks okay so far… Leora kept on laughing and talking to Sofia. Yes! I fixed the past! I did it!!! The cake isn’t going to be stolen, and everything is fine once again.

It was a great day for Leora and Sofia, as they played in the setting sun. They kept on laughing with Audrey and Alexandra. The leaves were now turning a light shade of orange, and people were smiling delightedly. The sun was shining, and the wind was blowing gently. I was so proud of saving the story, I decided to enjoy it too.

THE END