Well, well, well. I'm back. Although... if you are a member of Deviantart, then you know that this story has been up there on my account for a while. This was inspired by the bag of Milano Cookies I was eating. Enjoy!
-Serendipity Kat
Milano Cookies
Smooth. Rich. Creamy. They smelled divine and tasted so. They spelled elegance. At least to a certain Maureen Johnson.
The gorgeous brunette sat on the counter, her long, shapely legs dangling off the edge, black, leather high heels clicking against the cement base. Beside her was a half-opened white package of Milano Cookies, French Vanilla flavor, no less. Her slender hand reached out and disappeared inside the bag, only to emerge with a thin tan cookie held delicately in her petite hands which were topped off with fire-engine red nails. She brought her hand up to her mouth and immediately her full red lips opened and in went the delectable slice of perfection.
She sighed in appreciation with her eyes closed as the cookie woke up her taste buds. She opened her emerald eyes and allowed her gaze to wander around the dingy kitchen as she reached for a wine glass filled with a dark red liquid.
There were 3 windows and all but one had been broken and all were covered in what used to be mustard-yellow curtains. The sink was piled high with dishes that hadn't seen soapy water for about a week, or longer if Roger was too busy to wash them. She snorted in disgust as she sipped at the cheap wine. The counter she was sitting on was stained from who knows how many snuffed out cigarettes and coffee spills. There were also nicks where neither of them bothered to find a cutting board. Her eyes wandered to the carpet covered floor, patches of colors she couldn't place were scattered everywhere, making it almost a mosaic of pink, green, yellow, tan, brown, and black.
She took another bite of the cookie, and looked around again, and reached for a second one. The once dirty sink was now clean and the dishes done. Hmm… she thought. Maybe Roger been home… her thoughts drifted off as she looked at the windows, now clean letting in sunlight that gave off a soft glow on the stain-free light pink carpet. Had the carpet cleaners come? Her lips curved into a smile. She remembered when she had insisted on pink. Roger had put up a fuss, but since he wasn't going to be cooking, he shouldn't have a say in what the kitchen looked like. It made her feel good… to be standing on pink carpet, sipping wine.
She swallowed a mouthful of the wine, which had come from the Merlot bottle she didn't remember buying. She shrugged it off as a faulty memory and continued her snacking as the second cookie disappeared past her lips. When she opened her eyes again, the counter she was sitting on was now smooth, polished marble and the base cedar. She gazed down at her body. She was clothed in a red satin cocktail dress that reached mid-thigh with a 3-inch slit on the right. Her legs are encased in tan nylons, and ended with her feet in 5-inch shiny black stilettos. Oddly enough, they were the same ones she vaguely remembered wearing earlier. As she shook her head to clear her wine-fogged mind, her brunette curls bobbed seductively against her face on one side seeing as they were pulled back on the other.
"Hey honey." Came a smooth voice.
She looked up from the floor and smiled as she saw her husband, Roger come into the room. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately.
"Maureen! What are you doing?" Roger demanded suddenly.
She looked up at him, startled to see anger in his eyes. She blinked several times and quickly glanced around the room. It was a mess. On the stove a pot containing that night's dinner was starting to steam frantically, a short blonde-haired boy was holding something over the sink while the water was on full blast. The counter she had just been sitting on was covered in flour and a 5 year-old girl who looked up, grinning eagerly with 2 front teeth missing.
"Mommy! Mommy! Ook wha I mae!" she shrieked, holding up what looked to be a dilapidated gingerbread man.
"Hey mom! I'm putting Fred in the sink, k? That way he has enough water!" called the boy standing in front of the sink.
She looked in front of her at Roger, who was holding another girl, the flour-covered girl's twin sister. There was several blue marks adorning his cheeks due to the pen in the child's hand. "Mommy! I made Daddy blue!" she screamed as she held what looked to be a marker with no cap on in one hand and a sticky lollipop in the other.
"Maureen! The pot boiling over!" he cried, frustrated, as he raced back into the living room with the kid and came back empty-handed. He rushed over to the counter and picked up the squealing child and as he walked past Maureen, he smiled wearily and said, "I'm gonna give the twins a bath, k?"
Maureen, still a bit dazed, nodded and suddenly her gaze locked on her son. "Darren! No frogs in the sink." She hurried over to the almost over-flowing sink and shut the water off.
"But Mooooommmm," he whined. "Fred'll die!"
Maureen pushed her hair out of the way and sighed. She then went to the cupboard and withdrew a glass jar. "Here, fill this with water and put him in there." the boy's whines started to subside. "Look, we'll punch holes in the top and he can live there. How's that?" she knelt down and looked into his eyes. "Now go. Go on, outside. Fred can live on the fire escape. GO!" she pointed sternly as the boy marched away. She then sighed and looked around, her gaze falling on the counter and the half-opened package of cookies and the almost-empty wine glass. She made her way over to them and slowly rolled them up the package and dumped the rest of the cheap wine down the drain. Darn it! she though. No more cookies before dinner. But what could she say, they were Milanos; the best cookies ever. They were like a dream come true…. She shook her head and hurriedly put them up in the highest cupboard. She'd have to wait for another fantasy….