Later that evening as I layed in bed, I considered those three strikes that would surely haunt me through the coming weeks. I had unwittingly bestowed a gift that truly made him estatic (though to this day his excitement regarding spinach baffles me). I had employeed him, giving him a job that would take the better part of a week spent on my property, and although it was his father's skill and expertise I had purchased I understood that it would be an undertaking that would require more manpower than Dale alone could provide. The last strike was the most foolish I think, for I had accepted Luke's insistent invitation out of exasperation. I could always cancel it, I thought, but my nagging conscience warned me that my guilt over breaking even such a small commitment would be worse than the hour or two spent chatting over coffee or tea.

Besides, if nothing else is said of me at least I am known for keeping my word.

I wondered briefly at his sudden interest, for he had barely made more than small talk with me before the harvest festival. He had always seemed a bit eccentric from my vantage point, but those oddities were never directed towards me. Even so, he was excessively optimistic and was rarely seen without a smile on his face. If others grumbled about his easily exitable nature or made him the brunt of their jokes it was ways good natured, with not even the faintest trace of animosity. I may have not been friends with Luke, but in a town this size it's impossible not to know that he was well loved.

And now the entire town would know of his newest endeavor: me.

I groaned and rolled over, stuffing my face into my pillow and willing myself to fall asleep. After another hour or so of dwelling on the day's events I finally did.

The next day passed in blissful silence, the piling snow keeping me either huddled indoors or out in the barn which was just as warm. I explained what had befallen me to the sleepy eyed calf who seemed more interested in the fragrant hay than my dilemma. Still, she was good company and I threw an extra bundle of fodder in the trough as thanks.

The quiet and relaxing season i had hoped for ended with the snowfall, for the morning brought blinding sunshine over the mirror of freshly fallen snow, and a gift wrapped package sitting neatly on the newly swept doorstep. I eyed it warily, and nudged it with a bare toe. Well, at least it didn't bite me. I scooped up the little box, shivering as a cold breath of wind flew inside before I could close the door. There was no tag, but I would have wagered quite a bit that I knew who it was from. I hazily recalled some sort of lovers event in the winter and checked my calendar to confirm my suspicions. Ah, the Thanksgiving Festival. It was customary here to bestow gifts of cakes, chocolates or sweets upon your beloved during this festival but I had never actively participated in it. Nor had I ever received a gift from those who did. It warmed my heart a little bit, despite my insistence that I could really care less about such things. I grabbed a fork from the kitchen niche and untied the purple ribbon, eager to have my breakfast consist of nothing but cake. Inside was a miniature version of a spinach cake, a tart sized cake with decorative green piping lining the edges. I couldn't say it was my favorite, but as it looked very pretty I decided it should probably taste the same. At least so I thought until I tried to pry off a piece with my fork and found it hard as a rock. I set down the fork with a pout and tested the cake with my fingers. To my disbelief I found that it had been intricately carved of wood and painted to look incredibly realistic. I lifted the carving out of the opened box to examine it closer. There was a note underneath which I opened with haste, deciphering the scrawling handwriting as best I could.

This is what I think it said:

Akari,

Don't eat this, it's made of wood.

(a word here was scribbled out, but I'm thinking it was 'Love')

Sincerely,

Luke

I stared at both the note and the cake and found myself grinning at them. So that's what he must have been working on over the weekend when I went to visit Dale. I wondered how long it had taken him to complete it, and if he had painted it himself or requested help. For some reason I had some difficulty imagining Luke with a paintbrush in his hand. Then again, I had difficulty imagining him carving something so delicate when the only tool I've seen him use was his axe. I decided the best place for the little cakelet was on my nightstand next to my diary, the note tucked underneath it as it had been in the box. Not that I was likely to forget that the dessert wasn't edible but still, it didn't seem right to throw the note away.

I left the house to begin the morning's chores, which today unfortunately included a fair amount of shoveling snow. The tasks themselves were repetitive enough to leave my mind free, so I went about figuring out how to thank him for the gift while simultaenously discourgaging his attention. By the afternoon I had nothing to show for it, my mind blanking every single time as soon as I imagined myself saying 'Thank you' to him.

I did the next best thing, being completely oblivious on how to handle this situation myself. I went to Kathy. Or at least tried to. By the time I had freshened up enough to be presentable and made it to the Sundae Inn Kathy was already engaged in conversation with Owen. I winked at her as I passed by their table on my way to the bar, not wanting to interrupt. I swear I saw her stick her tongue out at me when Owen was distracted by a coin he discovered under the table. Then again it could have been just disc of metal, which probably held the same value for him. Selena had a few costumes that such 'coins' would have adorned, but I digress.

I set my rucksack down on the stool beside me and I ordered a cocktail from Hayden and paid for it (I don't always take advantage of the fact that I'm friends with his daughter and his cook), figuring I'd wait around until either of them deigned to notice me. I didn't have to wait long. Chase ran out of the kitchen, Mai hot on his trail brandishing a plate of cake and a fork with what looked like icing dribbling off the prongs.

"Just try it" Mai wailed, her pigtails bouncing as she chased him around one of the empty tables weilding her fork. She made a very comical villain, though I will say Chase's fear of her cooking was justified. I noticed with amusement that Kathy was forcing herself to ignore the charade, continuing her conversation with Owen as if there wasn't a half-mad girl at the table next to them.

This went on for a good ten seconds before Chase finally got fed up and slammed both his hands down.

"Maya, stop. We both know that... that thing is going nowhere near my mouth!" He glowered at her from the safety of the opposite side of the table. She pouted a bit, but lowered the fork slightly. "I do have standards... " he concluded, his posture straightening as he brushed flecks of icing from his shirt. Maya dropped the plate haphazardly on the table as if he had insulted more than just her cooking. A moment's hesitation before tears filled her eyes and she fled upstairs, slamming her bedroom door so hard it rattled the entire establishment. While it was an interesting spectacle I was more curious about the cake, which started oozing off the plate in globs of pink. I didn't want to know what it was supposed to be. Chase sighed, running a hand through his shaggy copper hair, meticulously groomed to look as if it hadn't been groomed at all. I caught his eye and quirked a brow, shrugging at the exchange. Hayden gave a sympathetic smile and poured another cocktail. He may have been a man of few words but he was astute and knew Chase's moods just as well as I.

"What'd you do this time?" I asked "Besides the cake, of course"

He shook his head as he knocked my rucksack off the barstool to make room for himself. I grumbled and picked it up, placing it on the empty stool that was on the other side of me.

"I hate this festival... sometimes.. " he said quietly.

"Cheer up!" I said, patting him on the back "at least you didn't eat that" and nodded towards the table where the cake still proceeded to ooze. He followed my gaze and snorted a bit, for that dessert really did seem to have a mind of it's own as it crawled across the surface of the table.

The evening was waning and most of the customers had come and gone, save for Kathy who always stayed to the bitter end of the evening, even when she was working. Most of the night had been spent making wagers on which part of the cake would fall off the table first. It started with Chase and I, but our conversation was overheard and Kathy and Owen made bets of their own. Eventually even Colleen came out and wagered a slice of apple pie that the glob that looked like it had once been a strawberry would be the first to go. It was. Had Mai not been as overly dramatic as she was I might have felt guilty, but we all knew that in the morning she would forget about the whole thing and harrass Chase like usual. All in all it was a good evening, except that I had completely forgotten about my reason for coming here in the first place. I had brought the little wooden cake with me, safe in it's box in my rucksack, but I never found the right opportunity to show it to my closest confidentes, nor did I find the opportunity to get their advice on what to do with it.

Maybe tomorrow I'd ask...

It's been a while but I really wanted to continue this story! I hope you like it ^_^