Monday, February 07, 2005

cake

there is a delectable chunk of chocolate cake sitting in my fridge. it arrived barely two days ago, a gorgeous piece of fudge with the most beautiful aroma surrounding it in all its freshly-baked glory.

the cake was delicately wrapped in plastic wrap, the kind you grab off the shelf at any friendly neighbourhood supermarket, but the translucent film looked anything but ordinary as it lay there, enveloping the absolutely inviting piece of cake. in fact, it looked proud, as if it were honoured to be the chosen adornment for that block of chocolate delight.

i have to admit, it wasn't love at first sight. having had to forgo such luxuries for the past two years due to *ahem* financial difficulties, it was alien for me to be drawn to something i saw as unnecessary, even threatening.

chocolate cake? no way, my head screamed, it would wreck your already ruined figure. nuh-uh, my heart protested, it's probably full of health-damaging oil. i looked suspiciously at the cake, my nose taking in one more whiff of the chocolate-y smell emanating from it.

and i grabbed a knife. by the handle, of course. the first thing i did was cut a slice for my already-salivating father. he grinned in pleasure at my mum and i as we watched the entire piece disappear. i then cautiously let the knife slip into the cake once more to produce a piece for myself. a small one, i told my already disapproving head, as i lifted the offending slice of cake into my mouth...

there is a reason why chocolate is seen as both boon and bane. on one hand, it triggers the release of serotonin, a feel-good chemical in your brain, causing happiness and a lift of emotions. on the other, it can become a kind of a "high" that many people, especially women since the female of the species has less serotonin than our male counterparts, become addicted to chocolate and carbohydrates in general.

for me, that kick i got out of the very first touch of the cake on my tongue was ecstacy. the way the chocolate coating melted in my mouth; covering every inch of my palate, tingling every taste bud, made me crave for more.

it was the sheer joy of being able to enjoy something so simple, so addictive that has driven me to wolf down almost half the loaf in the past two days. staying up for vital football matches hardly helped either, as the cake became my company during the time i spent in the wee hours watching unattractive men sweat, chasing a ball on a field that costs more to maintain than for me to pay for university.

cake. who knew that one slice of that brown solid mass of emulsion would cause me to have an abnormal obsession with it? even as i type, i am thinking about the remaining half, sitting cold on the top shelf of my fridge, still wrapped in the red plastic bag it arrived in. the memory of my latest encounter with it is still fresh in my mind, inticing me to head downstairs and reach for another slice.

cake. oh goodness...cake!

lishun at 9:40 PM

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