Andrew Vance
14 Sep 2020, 12:33
Give That Man a Cookie
"Stacyyy!" Andrew hollered excitedly as he speeded down the hallway, skidding over to his sister's bedroom. "Open up, open up, open up!" He thumped like a jackrabbit on the door.
"Whaaat?" Stacy's voice trailed in questioning, pretending to sound irritated as she swung the door open.
"I got a letter and I think it's for you!" Andrew jabbered, blurring the string of words together.
"What?" Stacy's gaze fell on the weathered parchment and envelope clutched in Andrew's hands, which he immediately held up for Stacy to see as soon as she appeared at the doorway. Recognizing the handwritten ink font and Hogwarts insignia, Stacy's eyes widened in surprise, taken aback by Andrew's announcement.
"I got a letter from school!" Andrew repeated, eager to share the news with his little brother as well. "Kyle, where are you?" He hollered up at the stairwell that led to Kyle's bedroom loft.
Moments later, the trio were huddled around the letter, gathered in Andrew's bedroom where the messenger owl waited patiently by the windowsill.
"It's from Gargott Dunaid." Andrew rehashed the contents while his siblings took a gander at the letter for themselves. "He's the Grounds Keeper. Keeper of Keys and Grounds," he corrected himself. Why did that title have to be so long? But more pressingly, why did Gargott choose him to participate in a baking competition?
Andrew had a hunch.
"I don't think it's a mistake," he told his siblings, eyeing Stacy in particular. "You send me cookies and cupcakes all the time. And I share them with a bunch of people; tell them about you and all that homemade goodness." He shrugged innocently. "I wouldn't be surprised if Mr. Dunaid's heard about them."
"Yeah, you should do it!" Kyle beamed at Stacy. "You can be the winner of a wizard baking competition!"
"Exactly." Stacy shot Kyle a warning glance in reminder. "I'm not a wizard. Er, witch." Her smile deflated, crestfallen.
A moment of silence was shared amongst the three, lasting for but a heartbeat, but within that pause came flooding back all the sorrowful and joyous memories stemming from that fateful Letter, and the haunting question: Why him? Alone, it often pained Andrew to wonder. Why did he have to be the only one born with magic? Surely his siblings would have made far better candidates than him? Imagine, Kyle in Ravenclaw, Stacy in Gryffindor… It would have been the perfect arrangement, had the siblings been born with magic together. While the three of them had already come to terms with reality, and found peace in resuming a sense of normalcy over the past two years, Andrew still felt heartache in having to leave his family behind. Ever sympathetic to the yearning of his siblings who could never hope to accompany him to Hogwarts, Andrew aimed to share as much of his school experiences with them as he could.
Which is why he wanted to give his sister a chance to participate in this little contest, to help her feel better, by giving her a sense of involvement in his school activities.
"It's for students only," Stacy asserted, referring back to the letter. "Won't I be disqualified? -Or, you disqualified?" She looked at Andrew with concern. Naturally, being the eldest, Stacy had to be the voice of reason, even if deep down she was truly grateful for the offer and wanted nothing more than to leap at the opportunity to impress a wizard with her Muggle baking skills.
"Aw, who cares." Andrew waved it off. "I say, you bake something. And if I get in trouble for it, whatever. Bet your stuff will taste way better than anything magic can cook up."
"Nothing compares to a labor of love,” Kyle nodded in humored agreement.
Contemplating, Stacy walked over to the open window, reaching over to pet the owl, who accepted the affection.
"Well, this owl isn't going anywhere by itself.” Stacy smiled. “Guess we have to send it back with something.” She looked to her brothers with enthusiasm. “All right, let’s bake!”
Down in the kitchen, Stacy would whip up the classic, her main specialty: Chocolate chip cookies. A healthy amount of walnuts and oats were added to the batter, giving them chew and bulk, rather than a thin flat cookie. A balance of white and brown sugar, salt dashed in with loaded semi-sweet chocolate chips, made for a perfect blend of indulgence without feeling guilty afterward (not that Gargott would have any shame to worry about that).
Even his mother had gotten involved when she came home from work. In light of her Filipino heritage and hospitality, Mrs. Vance made a batch of ube cheese pandesal, merely concerned with feeding the poor hungry Gargott than the actual contest.
After the selection process, choosing the finest specimens for Gargott to judge (and gorging themselves on the “defective” ones), they placed the goods in two separate boxes and wrapped the whole thing in paper and twine. Andrew attached a little note to the package, explaining the Vances’ collaborative effort (Andrew and Kyle had had their hand in cracking a few eggs and shaping the dough). Regardless if only solo entries (made by students of Hogwarts) would qualify for the contest, Andrew didn’t worry about the prize. Sibling-bonding quality time was reward enough. At least Gargott would still have something half decent to munch on.
Watching the owl disappear over his neighbors’ roof, precious package en route to Hogwarts in the late afternoon sun, Andrew would then reach for the pouch of Floo powder concealed under his bed, and approach his siblings.
“So… Who wants to go to Florean’s?”
"Whaaat?" Stacy's voice trailed in questioning, pretending to sound irritated as she swung the door open.
"I got a letter and I think it's for you!" Andrew jabbered, blurring the string of words together.
"What?" Stacy's gaze fell on the weathered parchment and envelope clutched in Andrew's hands, which he immediately held up for Stacy to see as soon as she appeared at the doorway. Recognizing the handwritten ink font and Hogwarts insignia, Stacy's eyes widened in surprise, taken aback by Andrew's announcement.
"I got a letter from school!" Andrew repeated, eager to share the news with his little brother as well. "Kyle, where are you?" He hollered up at the stairwell that led to Kyle's bedroom loft.
Moments later, the trio were huddled around the letter, gathered in Andrew's bedroom where the messenger owl waited patiently by the windowsill.
"It's from Gargott Dunaid." Andrew rehashed the contents while his siblings took a gander at the letter for themselves. "He's the Grounds Keeper. Keeper of Keys and Grounds," he corrected himself. Why did that title have to be so long? But more pressingly, why did Gargott choose him to participate in a baking competition?
Andrew had a hunch.
"I don't think it's a mistake," he told his siblings, eyeing Stacy in particular. "You send me cookies and cupcakes all the time. And I share them with a bunch of people; tell them about you and all that homemade goodness." He shrugged innocently. "I wouldn't be surprised if Mr. Dunaid's heard about them."
"Yeah, you should do it!" Kyle beamed at Stacy. "You can be the winner of a wizard baking competition!"
"Exactly." Stacy shot Kyle a warning glance in reminder. "I'm not a wizard. Er, witch." Her smile deflated, crestfallen.
A moment of silence was shared amongst the three, lasting for but a heartbeat, but within that pause came flooding back all the sorrowful and joyous memories stemming from that fateful Letter, and the haunting question: Why him? Alone, it often pained Andrew to wonder. Why did he have to be the only one born with magic? Surely his siblings would have made far better candidates than him? Imagine, Kyle in Ravenclaw, Stacy in Gryffindor… It would have been the perfect arrangement, had the siblings been born with magic together. While the three of them had already come to terms with reality, and found peace in resuming a sense of normalcy over the past two years, Andrew still felt heartache in having to leave his family behind. Ever sympathetic to the yearning of his siblings who could never hope to accompany him to Hogwarts, Andrew aimed to share as much of his school experiences with them as he could.
Which is why he wanted to give his sister a chance to participate in this little contest, to help her feel better, by giving her a sense of involvement in his school activities.
"It's for students only," Stacy asserted, referring back to the letter. "Won't I be disqualified? -Or, you disqualified?" She looked at Andrew with concern. Naturally, being the eldest, Stacy had to be the voice of reason, even if deep down she was truly grateful for the offer and wanted nothing more than to leap at the opportunity to impress a wizard with her Muggle baking skills.
"Aw, who cares." Andrew waved it off. "I say, you bake something. And if I get in trouble for it, whatever. Bet your stuff will taste way better than anything magic can cook up."
"Nothing compares to a labor of love,” Kyle nodded in humored agreement.
Contemplating, Stacy walked over to the open window, reaching over to pet the owl, who accepted the affection.
"Well, this owl isn't going anywhere by itself.” Stacy smiled. “Guess we have to send it back with something.” She looked to her brothers with enthusiasm. “All right, let’s bake!”
Down in the kitchen, Stacy would whip up the classic, her main specialty: Chocolate chip cookies. A healthy amount of walnuts and oats were added to the batter, giving them chew and bulk, rather than a thin flat cookie. A balance of white and brown sugar, salt dashed in with loaded semi-sweet chocolate chips, made for a perfect blend of indulgence without feeling guilty afterward (not that Gargott would have any shame to worry about that).
Even his mother had gotten involved when she came home from work. In light of her Filipino heritage and hospitality, Mrs. Vance made a batch of ube cheese pandesal, merely concerned with feeding the poor hungry Gargott than the actual contest.
After the selection process, choosing the finest specimens for Gargott to judge (and gorging themselves on the “defective” ones), they placed the goods in two separate boxes and wrapped the whole thing in paper and twine. Andrew attached a little note to the package, explaining the Vances’ collaborative effort (Andrew and Kyle had had their hand in cracking a few eggs and shaping the dough). Regardless if only solo entries (made by students of Hogwarts) would qualify for the contest, Andrew didn’t worry about the prize. Sibling-bonding quality time was reward enough. At least Gargott would still have something half decent to munch on.
Watching the owl disappear over his neighbors’ roof, precious package en route to Hogwarts in the late afternoon sun, Andrew would then reach for the pouch of Floo powder concealed under his bed, and approach his siblings.
“So… Who wants to go to Florean’s?”
Word Count: 938/800
Errand complete