Cooking Disaster
"Here, use this duster to clean off any dust from the tables and chairs," Ann instructed a very disgruntled Matt who was standing beside her. He had been dragged out of the farmhouse before he could even grab some breakfast. He could have sworn he heard Andrew laughing at him behind the shut front door as Ann pulled him excitedly to the inn.
"How do I use it?" he asked, staring at the thin stick covered with brown chicken feathers in confusion. Ann stared at him as if he had gone crazy.
"You mean to say that you haven't cleaned a table or a chair with a duster before?" she asked, amazed. Matt shook his head sheepishly. Ann shook her head sadly. Fancy a person not even knowing how to use a duster! She sighed resignedly and decided to teach him how in the hopes of kindling a liking for cleaning. To her it was Heaven. Nothing could beat a big dirty room, lying there for her to clean to her heart's content. Except cooking, of course.
"Here, I'll show you," she mumbled. She plucked the duster out of Matt's hands and demonstrated the right way to dust an object. After ten minutes of drilling, Matt finally mastered the art of cleaning and assisted a happy Ann in cleaning the four rooms of the inn. Her mother, Lesley, cleaned the area downstairs, which was much larger in comparison to the rooms they had to clean. He could not understand why Ann loved cleaning. Cleaning is a girl's job, in his opinion.
After several hours of grueling dusting and sweeping the floors, Matt sat down tiredly on a chair. A very dusty Ann collapsed into another chair beside him. She wore a huge contented smile on her face.
"Isn't that refreshing?" she asked dreamily. "Want to do it again tomorrow?"
Matt was taken aback. Cleaning four giant-sized rooms again? Wait. Did I say taken aback? I mean flabbergasted. Ann chuckled halfheartedly at his expression.
"I guess not. Do you want to go down or do you want to clean some more?" she asked hopefully. Right on cue, Matt's stomach released a loud rumble. He turned red. Ann laughed loudly.
"Let' go down. You can have a bite there."
Matt couldn't agree more as he hastened downstairs to eat.
"Dad! Can you cook up something for Matt? He's hungry," Ann called to her father who was at the counter. Doug gave her a thumbs-up and went into the kitchen to prepare a dish for the famished boy.
….
Matt's mouth watered when he saw the food prepared for him. There were several sandwiches on a plate as well as a slice of delicious looking Cheese Fondue. A glass of water was placed beside the plates. Ann invited him to eat as she tucked into her own food: two pieces of Cheese Fondue and a glass of orange juice.
"Do you like it?" Doug asked pleasantly. Matt nodded as he munched the delicious food happily. The scrumptious sandwiches were generously filled with tomatoes and lettuce while a piece of cheese layered each of the inner side of the bread. As for the Cheese Fondue, the cheese seemed to explode in his mouth and enhance the taste of cheese. He was practically in Food Heaven. Doug chuckled as he watched Matt devour the food with wolf-like hunger.
"Of course he likes it Dad! Your cooking is the best in Mineral Town! You just want to be praised don't you?" Ann pointed out. Doug glared at his daughter but kept silent. Matt took a glance at the whole situation and continued cleaning his plate.
Silence ensued as both children ate their fill of food. Doug walked off to serve customers who have entered the inn. As Matt was chewing the last morsel of food, Ann thought up a bright idea.
"Hey Matt, do you want to cook?" she asked innocently. Matt was startled at this sudden question and began to choke. Ann was distressed. She rushed to Matt side and hurriedly began to pat his back. It passed after a few moments. Matt was left gasping for air and he hurriedly gulped down a mouthful of water. Ann looked relieved that the choking part was over and done with.
"So do you want to cook?" Ann repeated her question. Matt was uncertain. What if they demolished the kitchen? Still, Ann didn't have any doubts about that.
"All right," he said reluctantly, giving way under Ann's pleading look. Ann cheered happily and ran off to find Doug.
"Ann, don't run on the slippery floor! I just mopped it!" Lesley called. Too late. Ann had stepped on a slippery part on the floor and fell down with a nasty BUMP! Matt stared for a moment before rushing to her side to help her up. Her mother got there first.
"Really, Ann! I have just warned you about the slippery floor, and there you go skipping on it! Of course you'll fall!" Lesley said exasperatedly. Ann looked down to her shoes.
"Sorry Mom." She muttered sullenly. Lesley's expression softened.
"I'm not scolding you on purpose. You know that I care for you, don't you? You're my little girl," Lesley said warmly as she hugged Ann. Ann hugged her back.
"Mom?" Ann asked, pulling out of the hug. Lesley seemed somewhat disappointed but allowed her to move away. "Can Matt and I use the kitchen? We want to cook."
Lesley was concerned, remembering the last time Ann had tried to cook. Her daughter had tried to bake some cookies. It had looked all right until Lesley tasted it. It was very spicy! Under her orders, Ann had shown her the ingredients she had used. To her dismay, Ann had put pepper into the mixture instead of salt!
Ann could guess what was going through her mother's mind. Images of the disastrous cookies flashed across her mind. "Don't worry Mom, I won't add pepper again."
Still Lesley was doubtful. What would she screw up this time? "All right. You can use the kitchen but clean up after you're don okay?" she sighed, frowning. Ann cheered and hugged her mother.
"Thanks Mom, you're the best! Matt, come on, let's go!" she squealed excitedly, pulling Matt along. He had to follow otherwise risk breaking his arm if he tried to pull away.
"I hope there will be no disasters this time," Lesley sighed as soon as the two children were out of sight.
….
"Matt, can you pass me the baking powder?" Ann mumbled as she read the huge cookbook in front of her. Matt was baffled. He had never seen baking powder before. Still, he could read. He reached out for the one spelled 'Baking Powder' that stood on a shelf.
Unfortunately, the box of baking powder to too high for the small boy to reach. He tried in vain to get a hold on the box. Standing on tiptoe, he managed to touch the bottom of the box. He pushed it a little, hoping to get it closer to the edge. The box wobbled dangerously but regained steadiness. Matt continued prodding it. This time he had got too far. The box now wobbled precariously on the edge of the shelf. Without warning, it fell.
Whoosh.
The entire contents of the box came down softly on Matt, resembling snow. Soon he was covered in white baking powder.
"Ah-choo!" he sneezed. More powder got into his nose and he sneezed even louder. Finally, Ann looked up from the huge book.
"What's taking you so long, Matt? Don't you know what baking powder -" she started but halted when she saw a snow-white Matt standing dismally beside a fallen box of baking powder, sneezing all the while. Ann stared at him for a moment before breaking into hilarious laughter.
"Ha ha ha ha! Matt! Why are you white?" she giggled, her entire body shaking from laughter. Matt scowled and held up the empty box of baking powder. Ann's face fell.
"Oh. So I guess no more baking cakes or cookies," she said sadly. "We could have done baked potatoes, but sweet potatoes only grow in Autumn."
"I'm sorry," Matt blurted out. He hadn't meant to spill the baking powder. He just wasn't tall enough.
"It's okay. Just let me find a recipe that doesn't require baking powder."
So Matt stood aside, trying to brush off the white powder clinging onto his clothes, his hair and his body while Ann flipped page after page of the book in search of the recipe.
"Ah, here it is! Why don't we make corn flakes?" Ann suggested brightly. Matt shrugged; at least he won't be covered in white again. Ann squealed and gave him a quick hug, covering her front in white as well.
"Oops." Ann said, checking her overalls, which were covered in baking powder on the front. "Whatever. We need a rolling pin, an oven and some corn. I would use a knife, but I'm afraid to handle one just yet." She admitted.
Matt nodded and went to the refrigerator to get some corn while Ann got the oven ready. The rolling pin lay ready beside her. Just then, Matt reappeared carrying an armful of corn from the refrigerator.
"Now we can begin," Ann said happily.
….
"What happened?" Lesley cried in distress as she ran into the kitchen. A puff of black smoke greeted her at the door. With a cry, she threw a wet cloth over the burning oven. Ann stood a distance away from the burning oven, too shocked to react.
Lesley continued beating the oven with the cloth. Soon the fire died down. Lesley looked sadly at the piece of charred cloth; that had been her favourite. Now it was spoilt.
"Look what you have done!" she shouted to her daughter, who was cowering at a corner of the kitchen. Ann whimpered.
"I-I sor-ry. W-We just t-tries to m-make some c-corn flakes, b-but it -" Ann stammered. Lesley sighed unhappily.
"Clean the mess up. I'm going to order a new oven. And then no touching the new oven for you, Ann."
Ann cried out in dismay but was silenced by Matt who handed her a cloth. Lesley took one last look at the destroyed kitchen and walked out sadly.
"I didn't mean to," Ann whispered. Several shining droplets of tears found their way down her face. Matt patted her back awkwardly, not knowing what to do. To his utmost surprise, Ann turned around and pulled him into a hug.
"We should be cleaning now," he muttered but let her hang on anyway. After a few moments, Ann moved away from him, still sobbing lightly.
"We should clean up this mess. You clean the floor and I'll clear the table," she said distractedly. Matt nodded and proceeded to get a broom and a dustpan. Ann halfheartedly began to clear away the rolling pin but left out the blackened remains of the oven.
It took the two an entire hour to clean up the mess they made. Matt was exhausted by the time they finished. So was Ann, although she was more dismal not being able to use the new oven.
"I guess I should go home now," Matt said tiredly. Ann nodded and showed him out of the inn. She said goodbye dispiritedly and walked slowly back into the inn. Matt walked home too, rather slowly. His feet ached from standing all day long and his arms hurt from cleaning first the rooms then the kitchen.
….
Matt collapsed thankfully into a chair by the table. "I'm so tired, Uncle Andrew!" he lamented. Andrew chuckled. He had heard about today's disastrous happenings at the inn through the talkative parrot, Manna.
"So get into the bathroom and bathe to get the stickiness off then you can go to bed," he said comfortingly. Matt smiled tiredly and followed the farmer's instructions. In no time at all he was in bed, eating a biscuit as a late snack.
"Goodnight Uncle Andrew," he yawned and dozed off to sleep almost immediately. "Today had been as interesting as yesterday," he mumbled. Andrew heard him and grinned to himself.
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Hello! I feel that this chapter isn't up to my expectations…it's worse than I thought. I'll try to make my future chapters better than this, okay? Bye….
I would like to thank anominus, Tiger-Cub684 and Ksim3000 for reviewing. It means a lot to me.