And that was the last day I baked for Lillibeth.You might be wondering who Lillibeth is ;well she was my neighbour’s nine year old daughter.The house opposite to us had no inhabitants for a long time.Then this young couple with a perky girl showed up.The day they came to visit us she told me smiling I am Lillibeth George,but you can call me Lilly.The girl was dressed up in a maroon checked pinafore with a schiffli peter pan collar, something that obviously I would have chosen for my daughter alas if I had one.Her hair was braided in two sides and then rolled up and tied with a lace ribbon,I cannot explain how cute the little creature looked!

 

“What is your dog’s name Mrs Wiley?” George asked.

 

“Oh he is Ryan,Wiley loves golden retrievers,they are fun,naughty and so much lovable.And I should say Ryan pretty much rules the house”.

 

They left home after tea and butter cookies.It filled my heart when Lilly was munching on them.I suddenly had an affection for that kid.I wish if she had visited me often.I felt an urge to bake her favourite pastries,nothing delights me more than a kid having what I had baked.I still have recipe book in the cupboard that I had collected while carrying for the first time.But my uterus was never productive like my oven.All those recipes turns into sinful pastries and cookies and later covered in parchment,kept in colourful boxes ends up in my relative’s and acquaintance’s houses.Extra boxes in Christmas!!People had asked me why don’t you bake and sell,we love your brownies or they had gone like your chocolate cake is the best that we ever had.But they will never know what I wanted.

 

 On their way back George asked Daisy

 

“Who on earth will name their dog Ryan?”

 

“It is not like that George,they don’t have kids”

 

“So you suggest that the dog is like a child to them?,hmm reasonable.”

 

But Lilly was happy about the dog .She had always wanted a playmate.But she hated cats.What an irony .Lilly had urged ,quarrelled and cried for pretty long time to get a pet.Even though Daisy had a slight change of mind George was so sure that doggy hairs or kitty hairs are not gonna be in his chesterfield.Finally knowing that papa is not gonna let her have one she ought to find one herself.And in the days that followed the cats in the neighbourhood was well fed.Lilly saved her milk and fish fingers from the table and fed that to the cats.Cats came and went by.And finally Lilly decided it is time to pick one and take it to her bedroom.She had already made a mat and written in crayons nearby ,that read ‘welcome kitty’.But Lilly desperately came crying back to her mother with scratches here and there.That day she decided to part away with cats,those scoundrels drank her milk,ate her fish and showed no affection.

 

 The next day after school Lilly showed up.”Mrs Wiley can I play with Ryan”

 

“Yes dear, he too seems pretty excited that he got a new friend.Aren't you hungry sweety ,what do you wanna eat?Do you want muffins or do you want chocolate chip cookies ,oh I can make mulberry pie ,our mulberry tree is well in her spring.”

 

“Will you make blueberry pie?,my mother never bakes says she is too busy.But I wanna eat blueberry pie.I like when my mouth turns all purple from the pie”

 

“oh it is not the season for blueberries Lilly,but do you wanna bake with me ,will make mulberry muffins,you can get your mouth purple with that too”

 

I don’t know to explain how lit up her face after hearing that.We went to backyard.Picked handful of mulberries.They looked so lively as if each glans like fruitlet had a life of its own.Ryan also came along.He too had a purple tongue after the evening.I made a cake butter .Lilly was so keen watching everything.I poured the batter in muffin mould and then it was her turn to add mulberry syrup that we had just made.She took a spoonful and added in the first muffin batter.And did the rest ,there was charm in the way she did that,so careful that not even a drop was spared to end up in the kitchen counter.I kept that in the oven.And what I saw next filled eyes more than heart.The little girl was on her knees in front of the oven glassdoor.I saw myself there,it transcended me to my childhood.While my mother used to bake pastries cousin Georgie and I would sit like that.So patient and mindful.To see the batter rise was blissful.Slowly raising gaining its shape ,and then deflating a little in the end filling the room with that buttery goodness.And my mamma would say in our ears ‘that croissant has like a thousand layers’ and we would giggle hearing that.I don’t know whether they had a thousand layers or not but they were just perfect from delicate tenderness to brittle flakiness.

 

“They are exploding Mrs Wiley,come and see”

 

I was back from thoughts and saw the glowy mulberry syrup oozing out of the swollen muffins.

 

“I think they are done Lilly”

 

I took them out, we had them with tea.Well that was an evening well spend.The days that followed Lilly became an daily visiter.She had so much to talk about.That fat friend who ate her egg roll,that pretty girl in her class with Disney princess bag,kid from another grade who smiled at her in the corridor ,Mr Oliander who took piano classes ,his pokey moustache and big glasses this is a very long list ,I used to feel as if I am acquainted with them all.

 

 

 

  One evening she came and told

 

“Mrs Wiley,somebody in our school’s lane, died.”

 

“How did you know?”

 

“Well apparently there were many cars and no flowers or decorations in the house,so my friend 

 

Issac told somebody might have died.It was like that only when his grandpa died”

 

I thought how different was the kids world.They revolve around a different nucleus ,their intimidations and intuitions are so innocent .And she left early that Ryan don’t even noticed her.He was pissed off that his favourite stuffed toy a monkey whom I named Poppy lost his one leg after I kept it in the dryer.

 

 Next day people from Wiley’s office visited us.There were few cars in the front yard.I could see from the window Lilly coming to the house.As I see her face turned red,tears started rolling from that pink cheeks I was frightened having no clue what happened.She came running sobbing asking for Ryan.

 

The poor thing thought that something might have happened in the house, as remembering what Issac had said.She had seen Ryan lying the porch end with his snout touching the wall not even waking up seeing her.I didn’t knew what to say she herself saw Ryan in the backyard with a new ’Poppy’.Her cheeks were still pink from all the crying I took her up and kissed in the forehead.

 

   It was almost the end of school year .Lilly came and complained to me about Mrs Morrison who was their faculty in charge of games and arts.Well she used to complain about Mr James who took Maths .Apparently he will pinch her if she missed an entry in the multiplication table that she was supposed to learn by heart.And then about Mary her bench partner who will complain to the teacher if she didn’t finish her lunch.Well my Lilly had so many problems to deal with.Today’s matter in question was about the word ‘melancholy’.Apparently all kids has to pick their favourite word and make a speech on that in the summer camp.

 

“My favourite word is melancholy,but Mrs Morrison told me to choose another word saying it meant sad.But I loved the way it sounded,m-e-l-a-n-c-h-o-l-y….”

 

  I don’t remember how it ended with Mrs Morrison.She had left for the camp.I felt so miserable without her.And knowing that she will be back tomorrow I went to pick blueberries .I had them all fresh .I just poked one to see that purple colour Lilly had loved.Made the dough.Made a pie crust.For me the difficult part in making a pie was braiding the dough to cover the crust.But I guess I made this one perfect.I couldn’t wait to see Lilly’s face while I show her this.My pie was in the oven.The crust was browning ,getting crispier without Lilly on her knees to watch.The air in the house was elevated with the fine blueberry goodness!! From the window I could see cars coming to Lilly’s house,and in the end a little coffin.A kid drowned in the river near the camp site.I saw her face for one last time,it was all purple.