Rosie wanted to try something new. She wanted to bake. “Mummy!” she called out. “Is it okay if I make a cake? I learned how by watching a program on the television.” “Sure, why not!” said Mummy. “As long as you tidy up the kitchen!”
Rosie excitedly put on her apron and opened the pantry. She pulled out a bowl and said, “Let’s see… a tower of flour, a pound of butter, a mound of sugar, a splash of vinegar, a pinch of soda, a spoonful of baking powder, and let’s see, some cocoa powder!"
She mixed all the ingredients together, grabbed a pan and poured out the batter, threw the cake into the roaring hot oven, and watched as the cake rose high, higher, and higher...
Joe, her little brother, came zooming into the kitchen. “Yummy, it smells so good! Can we eat it now?” “Just wait a little while,” said Rosie patiently. “As soon as Daddy comes home, we will all have it together.” But poor Joe had to wait until after dinner.
The family gathered around as Rosie served the cake. “Mmmm…this is the best cake ever!” cried Joe. “You’ve made a very tasty cake,” said Mummy and Daddy. “Thank you,” Rosie beamed. She felt very proud. “You know what, Rosie,” said Mummy. ” "Why don’t you bake a cake for Shaili's birthday! She would love it."
That night, Rosie could hardly sleep. She couldn’t wait to make another cake. ‘I will top it with lots of icing, candies, and sugar plums,’ she thought to herself. ‘I will be the best cake maker in town!’
The day before the party, Rosie was very excited to make the cake for Shaili. She grabbed a bowl, threw in all her ingredients, a tower of flour, a pound of butter, a mound of sugar, but wait…They were all out of cocoa powder! “Surely, we can do without it,” said Rosie
“I guess I can make a plain cake.” She put the cake into the oven and watched and waited. “Will you do a taste test, Joe?” Rosie asked gingerly, as she took the hot cake out of the oven. Joe tried a small piece, but didn’t say anything. Rosie grabbed a piece to try it out. “YUCK!”
Joe giggled. He handed her the mixing bowl. “It’s okay, you can try again.” “Yeah,” said Rosie dejectedly. She slowly and sluggishly threw in a tower of flour, a pound of butter, a mound of sugar, a splash of vinegar, a pinch of soda, a spoonful of baking powder, And some melted chocolate
“Well, Joe, here goes,” said Rosie. She placed the pan into the oven. Just then…the oven stopped. The electricity went out! “No…!” cried Rosie. She slumped on to the floor. “This is silly! I don’t want to bake anymore!” She threw off her apron and stomped off to her room..
She was floating in clouds made of sugar and saw giant towers made of flour, big blocks of butter, heaps of baking powder, a flowing chocolate river.
She sat in silence and said thoughtfully, "There are so many circumstances involved just to make a small cake. If there’s even a single circumstance that’s missing, work simply cannot get done. The materials, the place, the time, the intent to do the work, all of these things have to be present."
With this new insight, she felt at peace and at ease. She groggily stood up and made her way to the kitchen & prepared a cake. Everybody loved the cake & Shaili got a wonderful surprise on her birthday! Rosie smiled to herself as she knew it could only happen with all the right circumstantial evidences!
