``Saint Agnes Eve,'' her mother said. ``You make a cake without saying a word and then go to bed without a word and put the cake under your pillow and you will dream of your one true love.''
``Can I eat the cake?''
``Not that I ever heard. You wouldn't want to eat it after it was under your pillow would you?''
``I'd put it in a plastic bag, and it would just be a slice. The rest I could eat.''
``You're supposed to be thinking of who your love will be. Not eating. Its called a dumb cake.''
``Is there a recipe?''
``Any cake will do so far as I know.''
She called a couple of friends. ``I'm making a dumb cake. You bake it in silence and go to bed without saying a word and put the cake under your pillow and sleep and you dream of your one true love. Want to come over? Janice is coming.''
There were three of them. Janice, Marcy and herself. They used a Western Family yellow cake mix and pink frosting and they kept their silence except for a few snorts and repressed giggles. While the cake was baking they watched Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Janice started to say something but managed to choke it off without uttering a whole word.
When the cake was cool and frosted they sliced it carefully and it looked so good that her mother took a picture of the three of them standing around it, smiling hopefully.
Her mother took the first slice. ``No silence for me,'' she said.
``I've had all the one true loves a person can take in a lifetime. There's a poem about a girl who did this. A boy hid in her bedroom and woke her up in the middle of the night so he could be her one true love.'' The three girls rolled their eyes at each other and each thought sadly that they knew no boy who would do such a thing for any of them.
They took the cake into the living room and continued watching the video. The cake was good. They each had a slice. Then another. Then they realized there were only two slices left.
``Oh well,'' said Janice.
The spell was broken. At least for Janice. But not yet for her. She longed to grab one of the remaining slices and race up the stairs to bed with the cake jammed sweet and sticky under her pillow. Longed to dream of her one true love.
``Oh well -'' said her other friend Marcia.
``Oh well -'' she said.
She could start over. Bake another cake. But that would make her look silly wouldn't it? Make her look desperate.
Not worth the trouble.