The Great Cupcake Stand-off: A Tale of Two Sisters

The last lonely cupcake stood solemnly in the middle of the table.

My sister sat at one end of the table and I sat at the other.

“Well, I don’t want it,” Missy said. Missy didn’t like cupcakes. Too many carbs, too many calories. All she ate were fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and the occasional whole grain—the diet of a typical woodland creature. Her hair was a mousy shade of brown. She sat across from me as poised and delicate as a butterfly resting on the edge of a flower petal.

I felt like a great lumbering bear snuffling through the dirt looking for her next meal. I tried not to let on how much I wanted the cupcake. I drummed my fingers on the table and attempted to look casual. The secondhand of the clock ticked around its predetermined route on the clock face. A bead of sweat formed along my hairline and threatened to cascade down my forehead. I could almost feel the sugary pink frosting dissolve on my tongue. Strawberry? No—raspberry.

I reached across the table and ate the entire cupcake in two gigantic bites. I didn’t even enjoy it. Missy and her perfect table manners! I could feel her disapproval looming stormily from across the table.

“You ate that fast,” Missy said.

“You didn’t eat it at all!” I retorted. I could tell my comment made Missy think. It made me think, too. I wondered how two sisters, born and raised in the same household, could view an innocuous little cupcake from such different perspectives. Missy and I were on opposite sides of the table–literally and figuratively.

Who won the great cupcake standoff?

I can tell you that I certainly didn’t win–but I don’t think Missy won, either.

Photo: Mia Cambriello on Unsplash