Two Bags of Cake

Papaw and Mamaw's house was always a fun place to be. After church, all of the cousins, aunts and uncles would walk up the little gravel path that led to Papaw's house. All afternoon we girls would sing, play dress up in Mamaw's sewing material, and read stories while the adults talked. Sometimes Mom, Kara and I would drive over to visit on regular days - then I'd get to color and listen to Bible stories in the back bedroom.

Today was a Sunday, and Mamaw was making lunch with all of my aunts. I was on the porch, sitting on the big wooden swing, listening to the wind chimes as they tinkled in the breeze. The swing's iron chains squeaked and moaned dramatically. Looking at them skeptically, I just hoped they wouldn't break while I was sitting there.

Flowers grew on the lattice beside the swing and scented the air. Mamaw loved flowers and there were lots of different kinds growing around her house and yard. Some grew down in the flower bed, but they didn't smell nearly as good as the ones up here - in fact, those flowers smelled downright terrible. Mamaw said they were called "Mums".

My stomach rumbled. I crossed my arms over it and sighed; What was taking them so long to fix lunch? As if the thought were triggered by my aching belly, I remembered two little sandwich baggies that had been sitting on Mamaw's counter before church. When I had questioned her about them, she said they were full with pieces of torn-up Angel Food Cake. I had asked, rather politely, if I could please have some. She had answered in her typical, patient way that "No," I couldn't. They were for "feeding the whale" in Sunday School and were stale. "I don't care if they're stale, " I rejoined, hopefully, but she shook her head.

Feeding the whale was fun; that is if you had a good imagination. A trash can was placed underneath the picture of whatever Bible animal we were feeding that week and all the children would toss food into it. Normally we used old bread - but not today.

Now, as I sat on the swing, my stomach gnawing with hunger, I realized that she actually hadn't used any of the Angel Food Cake in class...so she must have forgotten about it...and since we hadn't used any, she wouldn't need it anymore...so I could now indulge in a snack.

As deft as the most professional spy, I slid off the swing and slipped through the screen door. Maneuvering through the crowd of relatives, I made my way to the counter, and (after checking to be sure no one was paying attention,) swiped the two bags out of sight. Nearly trembling with delight, I made my way back to the porch and seated myself on the swing.

Opening the first ziplock bag, I stuffed my hand into it's open mouth and grabbed a whole handful. Sweet, spongy and sticky.  I chewed with pure joy - one, hungry handful after another - until I was down to the last big layer in the second bag.

Oh, how strange.

I slumped against the back of the swing and let the rest of the half-empty bag sag, limp, on my lap. I felt terrible. My stomach was full and heavy and oh, my throat felt tight. Gingerly, I slid off the swing and, hoping it would make me feel better somehow, went inside to put the bag up on the counter again.

It didn't help.

I wasn't hungry anymore, and the thought of lunch was no longer pleasant, so I slipped back to my swing to lay still in agony.

I had plenty of time to reflect on my foolishness while I waited to go home. I had paid for my mistake in full, this time. Maybe, just maybe, I would not be so sneaky in the near future - especially after an adult told me not to do something.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the last time I would suffer the consequences of thoughtlessness - but I was one big stomach ache closer, that was for sure.