ANGEL CAKE
ANGEL CAKE
Raindrops splashed against the window, the rhythmic sweep, sweep of the wiper blades attempting to keep his vision of what was ahead clear. Music from some unknown radio station seemed mix with the blades beat and the steady purr of the engine creating an odd symphony of sound.
Again he craned to look ahead. Where the hell was he?
He had lost his route almost an hour ago, but he was sure he should have
found the town he was meant to be staying in by now.
A light ahead caught his attention and he slowed and found himself outside
a small and welcoming diner. He suddenly felt tired and hungry.
He extracated himself from the car and made a rush for the diner door, entering with
a squall of rain. He shook himself and looked around, it was small but
homely, and he at once felt better. He felt warm and welcomed
no flashing lights, no neon signs. A jukebox in the corner was playing
old songs from his youth. Without thinking the words formed in his mind
and his hand tapped the beat on the counter.
“Okay, okay” came a soft voice from the back of the kitchen from which a
wonderful smell now filled his senses. “I’m coming. No need to bang on
the counter so.”
He looked up as a figure appeared as if by magic, and her smile seemed
to fill the room.
“Now” said the voice that sent ripples down his spine, “what can I
get you?”
He could not answer for he was lost in a pair of blue, blue eyes that
sparkled like emeralds reflecting the lights of the diner.
“Oh,” said the vision behind the counter “coffee is it?”
Without thinking he sipped the freshly poured steaming cup she placed
before him. It tasted so good. Shaking himself he stammered out a “Th-th-thank
y-you”.
“You're welcome,” she said. “We don’t get many folk stopping here, so
any conversation is better than none at all”
She swayed to the music “I love this song,” she said. “Would you like
to dance?”
He did not remember her coming from behind the counter, or him standing up, but the next moment she was in his arms and the music filled his veins. The record seemed to last forever, or so he wished. She filled his arms, and his senses, her body molded onto his like they were two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Time seemed to stand still with her in his arms.
She pulled away as the jukebox music ended, not without first leaving a kiss on his lips that sent his heart leaping around his chest.
“You must be hungry” she said appearing behind the counter again and pouring him a fresh cup of coffee. “I can understand, traveling on a night like this must be no fun at all”
She disappeared back into the kitchen, returning with a wonderful looking cake. "Here," she said "I’ve just made some Angel Cake, would you like to try some?”
He tasted the cake. It was light as a feather and wonderfully sweet and it made him feel warm and revived, ready in fact to restart his journey.
reaching into his pocket he went to pay for his meal.With a smile, pushed his money back to him. “One more dance and we’ll call it all square” she said.
As they danced he held her as close as he could, each part of her touching him, and making him feel more alive than he had ever felt before. They moved as one with the music, and he knew as the song ended and they kissed, that he would return.
As he moved to the door, he looked back “I’ll be back in the morning” he said with a smile, “for another dance, and some more cake.”
The look she gave him brought sunshine to his heart and removed any thoughts of the rain he was just about to return to.
He started the car his mind in a whirl, his taste buds still full of the sweetness of her Angel Cake, and his lips with the softness of her kiss.
As he drove round the next bend in the road a police car blocked his path. An officer rain streaming from his face came over to his window. “You can’t go down this way, sir,” he said. “The rain has washed half the mountain onto the roadway, any poor soul traveling along this road tonight didn’t stand a chance.
“That was a close thing then” he replied “If I had not stopped at the diner around the corner, I would have been on that same stretch of road”
The officer gave him a quizzical look “What diner?” he asked
“The one back there” he replied. “Just back down the road. With this road blocked I’m going back there now for some more angel cake from an angel.”
The officer sniffed derisively. “Have you been drinking sir? There is not a diner for over forty miles in either direction.”
He turned the car round trying to understand what the policeman had said. He drove up and down the road but there was nothing where the diner had been, just darkness.
Had something happened to him that night? If he hadn’t have stopped
he’d have been on the road when it had been hit by the mountain slide.
He would never know, though the thought and the evening filled his
mind for the rest of his life.
No matter how hard he tried, all he could remember was the taste of Angel Cake, and a pair of blue, blue eyes.
Barry Eva 2000 
YOU ARE THE
