All copyrights reserved by Jenny Hsing-I Liu 1998(c)
Cherry cheesecake was her specialty. The complicated recipe was crammed in some drawer in the normally tidy kitchen as it was deeply imprinted in her tender and affectionate mind. Strangely, it was not made with sugar, but always with honey. Her son used to beg his mother everyday after school for the indulgence of the delicious dessert. It served as a treat for the whole family, actually, everyone but herself.
Her name spread over the well-organized neighborhood for her amazing ways of cooking. The fame did not stir her a bit or even made her pleased. Ladies from many families in the high society often called upon her to inquire on the arts of cooking. None had doubts of her skill or her generosity as well. Mendicants who occasionally wandered to her door experienced her undiscriminating charity and magnanimity with her palatable cherry cheesecake.
As the years faded past as wind, wrinkles had not taken over her pearl colored face, while streaks of silvery, gray ran through her once raven hair. Perhaps smiles were always an extravagance to her pretty, or rather, handsome face. Although she regularly gathered around the dining table with family with a feast ending with her unique cheesecake, it was then that her face was shaded with gloom and a cast of silence came over her. Loving her family with all her heart, she still seemed like a mystery to them. The locked dairy in her personal closet was a forbidden book for all but her bright, once shining, chestnut eye. She never wrote anything in it anymore, examined it cautiously every night as though it was a treasure map that was not for sharing.
Days came and passed, her eyesight failed her. The fame which she possessed lone ago dissolved as cherry cheesecakes became popular in the frozen area of the supermarket. Her family did not allow to cook anymore since she accidentally burned her slender hands. Mumbling sounds flowed out of her mouth. One could only make out that she was questioning the whereabouts of her parents. Not moving about further than from the bed to her rocking chair on the balcony, she soon passed away as she rocked her seat, wanting to know about where her parents were.
People of the good old days came to her simple funeral to pay their last respects to her. Her fatigued husband wondered if he really did know his lovely wife. Flipping through her closet, bringing out the book she would never be able to read again. On her rocking chair on the balcony, he set out to read.
It was a blazing summer day when she, a six year-old girl, and her loving parents were working on her mother's specialty, cherry cheesecake. They laughed as some ingredients splashed onto her father's new outfit. She giggled in delight when her mother smeared some on her face, too. Sugar was running out. Her father offered to take the mother to the grocery store some distance from their home. She agreed to be a nice girl and play with her dolls while they were gone. The recipe for the dessert was stuck inside her pockets as she ran off to carry out her promise.
Clouds blotted the sun away in the sky, thunder and lightening stormed into the afternoon. Shades of darkness draped down as it became more near the night. The expected parents did not return. Instead, as she stared at the unfinished cherry cheesecake, news arrived to inform her that her parents will never come back. As young as she was, she fought back her tears and finished the cherry cheesecake without sweetness, but with sorrow.