Patience
Heshan was going to spend two weeks of his school vacation at his grandmother’s house. He was very happy about this. Heshan’s Granny took orders to make cakes. Her cakes were very tasty. Therefore she got lots of orders. So there was always something yummy at her place, for Heshan to eat.
Heshan loved to stay near her and watch her make tasty goodies. Sometimes, he’d take a few cashew-nuts or raisins from the chopped ingredients and chew. Sometimes he’d scraped off the leftover icing from the bowl. But whenever she made a cake for an order, Granny made sure to bake a little extra for Heshan too.
So on the first day at Granny’s house, Heshan got up to the wonderful smell of a baking cake. The sweet smell filled the house. While having his breakfast, he asked Granny what she was making today. “Oh, there’s a big order today,” she replied, “I have to make a lot of cupcakes.”
Heshan looked at the oven and saw through the glass, rows of cupcakes being baked. They were turning into a golden brown. By the time he finished his breakfast, Granny took out two trays of baked cupcakes. Then she put in another two trays of paper cases filled with cake batter.
“Are you going to put icing on these now?” asked Heshan, looking at the trays of steaming cupcakes. “They have to cool down first,” answered Granny, while mixing cake batter in a big bowl. “I love to watch you decorate them,” said Heshan. It was indeed lovely to watch Granny covering the cupcakes using
such beautiful colours.
“Will you start decorating them as soon as they cool down?” asked Heshan, unable to take his eyes off the sweet smelling cupcakes. “Oh no that would be too much work,” replied his Granny and said, “You’ll have to wait till I finish baking them all and till all of them cool down”. “But you’re still mixing batter,” said Heshan, sounding disappointed, “by the time you finish baking, it will be around afternoon.” “Yes. We’ll decorate them later and they will be collected in the evening!”
Heshan kept his chin on the table, not taking his eyes off the cupcakes. This was disappointing. He was expecting to taste one at least with his morning tea. Now it looked like he’d have to wait till evening. “Don’t look so glum,” smiled Granny, “you’ll get your share in the evening.”
Heshan knew Granny always made a few extra, especially for him. Once they were made, he was allowed to taste his share whenever he pleased. But waiting till afternoon to taste these seemed like a punishment. Especially when they looked so yummy and smelled so nice. But he knew he had to listen to her, no matter how badly he wanted them.
Heshan was not interested to go out and play. He just walked up and down passing the kitchen, staring at the cupcakes on the table. It felt as if the cupcakes were waiting for him to come and eat them. The temptation was too much to bear. Heshan watched Granny take out the other two trays of cupcakes out of the oven, with the help of a potholder. Then she put in batter filled cupcake cases again. “This would take forever,” thought Heshan sighing out loud.
Heshan watched Granny arranging the cupcakes to cool. Then she turned towards Heshan and said, “I need to go out to buy some icing sugar and food-colouring. Would you like to come to the store with me?” “No” said Heshan shaking his head, not taking his eyes off the cupcakes. “Stay inside. I won’t take long,” said Granny and Heshan nodded.
When Granny left home, Heshan went back to the kitchen. “She wouldn’t miss it if I ate just one,” he thought, knowing there were a few extra baked for him anyway. He knew his Granny was right and it would be better if he waited till she put icing on them. They always tasted better with the icing swirls on them. But the temptation was too much to resist.
Heshan took one cupcake, which was too hot to even touch and hurriedly took a big bite off it. But he immediately spat it out because it felt like his tongue was on fire. It burned his tongue and that was not a nice feeling. He huffed and puffed and tried to grab the water jug which was next to the baking trays. But his hand accidently touched the baking tray, which was hotter than the cupcake. Heshan howled in pain and held his hand to the tap.
A few minutes later Granny came home. As she entered the kitchen, she saw the teary-eyed boy. Then she noticed the half-eaten cupcake on the table and knew what has happened. But when she saw the blister on Heshan’s hand, she came running towards him. Luckily for Heshan, his hand wasn’t badly burned.
Heshan’s grandmother applied some ointment on his hand and gave him a hug. He felt better although his hand pained and his mouth felt sore. He meekly apologized to her for what he did. But his grandmother didn’t feel angry because he was in pain. Heshan knew he had learnt a good lesson. Not just for disobeying Granny’s advice but also for not having patience and self-control. Heshan felt very happy in the evening, when he was given beautifully decorated cupcakes covered in sweet icing. He knew the wait would have been worth it, because he would have been able to enjoy the cupcakes more. Heshan now knew the value of patience.