Secret Ingredient

It was Christmas morning! I have been waiting for this Christmas since about 10 days, no I think 15, no 2 weeks, oh, right 1 month!! Finally the very, very important day has arrived, Christmas! Why am I so excited? Well, this Christmas was not just any old Christmas. This holiday was very important to me because every Christmas we make cookies for everyone! It was a tradition in our family, and now as the youngest daughter it was my responsibility to bake those! So that explains why I'm looking at every single cookbook that's in my house and not getting dressed. I have to make the world's best cookie that has ever be- wait, what was this. A secret recipe on how to make cookies by my grand mother!! This is a dream come true!! Wait what? I opened the paper and there were 2 words on the paper. SECRET INGREDIENT. Now how was I supposed to bake the world's most best cookies ever. If I ask grandma then she'll know that I'm copying her recipe instead of making my own. By that point of time I was exhausted. I didn't have a choice but to make my boring and old cookies. This was a recipe that almost everyone knew. I decided to get dressed while the cookies baked. As I took the last batch of cookies from the oven my first guest knocked on the door. Slowly everyone started to tickle in my grandma, my 3 uncles, my 6 cousins altogether, my 5 aunties, even Uncle George showed up. This was a surprise since he almost never showed up to any events and finally it was the moment of truth where everyone decided to start tasting the cookies I made. At first they took a small bite not knowing how it tastes. Then they took a bigger bite. Then bigger, then bigger, and at last the whole cookie was eaten. My grandma came to the kitchen to congratulate me on baking such delicious cookies. Then I decided it was time I asked her what the secret ingredient was. I explained to her that I found her recipe and that I wanted to know what the secret ingredient was. I was expecting grandma to be surprised that I found her recipe, but instead she gagged and spit the cookie piece that was in her mouth. Then she said "Oh, brother". I didn't know what was going on. Then grandma told me a legend. A very creepy one. 150 decades ago an old sage wrote on that same exact paper! So it wasn't grandma who wrote the recipe! He decided to put a curse on whoever finds the paper. The curse was that they should be humiliated for life!! But he also had a solution that grandma knew! It turns out that grandma's ancestors told her about undoing the curse. They should complete 3 tasks.

1. They have to answer the riddle that was on the paper. Grandma and I tried to do the 1st task but we couldn't find the riddle anywhere on the paper. All it said was secret ingredient. Then I figured it out. In olden days they used milk and their fingers to write a secret message on paper. I rushed into the laundry room and brought the iron. The milk on the paper will show if it get's ironed. I ironed the paper and sure enough I saw the secret riddle!! It said how much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood, and I got the answer immediately! Someone had asked me this before! The answer was none. A woodchuck couldn't chuck wood at all, and I got it correct! Here was the next task!

2. Get skin that a snake has already shed.

I went into the woods! I had to do this alone! No one ever goes into the woods, and if they do they are never found again! I hear weird noises. Suddenly I see a snake! I look behind it and sure enough there was snake skin that the snake already shed. I picked up the skin and quickly rushed out of the woods before anything could happen, and finally I was on task 3! 3. Help a person in need.

I guess this was pretty easy, but no one in my party needed help. Suddenly I heard a help scream, but the voice sounded awfully familiar. Then I recognized it was grandma!! She had fire on her clothes!! I quickly grabbed a bucket of water and threw it at her! Then another and another until finally I put the fire out! Just then I remembered I had just helped grandma which means I was done! I undid the curse!! It turns out that grandma was just wondering if I could do all these tasks. So while I went into the woods and did some dangerous tasks she stood on our front porch watching me get scared. So the legend wasn't even true! I was really mad at grandma, but no one can stay mad at their grandma for more than 5 minutes. Plus I was too relieved to be mad on grandma! Then I asked grandma what the secret ingredient really was. When she told me the secret ingredient I was actually very very surprised and in shock. I know you want to know what the secret ingredient was. Wait for it, wait for it. She revealed her actual secret ingredient. It was LOVE only LOVE. She said the taste didn't matter as long as I made the cookies with love and affection. Then I understood the importance of baking cookies on Christmas. To discover true love. I wish you all MERRY CHRISTMAS! I can't wait till next Christmas to make more mischief AND bake cookies for my family again! Also note to self never ever ask grandma about recipes, books, or anything. She'll just make up everything and throw me of the track to a wild goose race.

By: Laasya.D