My dear Alyssa, I hope you are doing very well. I would, first of all, like to thank you for the lovely gift you gave me, even though you weren’t present at my party. Actually, you mustn’t be sad about it, because there was a bit of a mishap which I would like to tell you about, so you will not feel sad anymore about not being present at the party and being left out.

It all started when I was busy preparing the brownies, which I hoped would be a hit at the party. I hummed about while working and finally the time came to put them in the oven. Once they were placed in the oven, I extracted juice from the oranges and refrigerated it and went to the TV lounge as my favourite show “Let’s eat” was about to start. You might be knowing about it, the one which is about food challenges.

So, I was busy watching the show when I smelt something burning. I realised the fudge brownies were now in the oven for over an hour! I darted towards the kitchen and was just about to take out the brownies when I heard the doorbell. I was alone at home at that time because mum and dad had gone to buy the grocery. But this doorbell meant the guests had arrived. So I went to receive the guests without turning off the oven, as I thought I had already done so!

They settled in the drawing room when I again remembered those burnt brownies. So I got up and quickly went to take the brownies out from the oven. I was shocked to see the kitchen in a mess. I saw a lot of food items scattered across the floor and milk dripping. Then I got a glimpse of something running around on the floor — it was a rat!

The realisation of a rat running around made me scream my lungs out! Without caring about the brownies, I rushed out of the kitchen. Smoke was now everywhere, coming out of the burning brownies still in the oven. Of course, the innocent guests had no idea what was going on. They were horrified. They assumed there was a fire and started screaming and running here and there.

Just then mum and dad entered the house with groceries in their hands. They were shocked to see us all in a state of panic.

When they calmed us down, I told them everything … my guests were so sweet that they wanted leave immediately, as they didn’t want to bother us at such a terrible time. But mum and dad didn’t let them go.

Mum quickly went to the kitchen and first turned off the oven, took out the burnt brownies and threw it away. Then dad arrived and caught the rat, which was luckily a very small one.

Thank goodness the food mum had already prepared was in the fridge and not spoilt in anyway by the rat. With the help of our maid and myself, she quickly cleaned up the kitchen and got all the things ready for the party. The good thing was that the guests liked everything … after all they had no choice!

It was a day that I cannot forget. You might feel thankful you weren’t there.

Write me soon.

Your dearest friend, Juvairia.

Published in Dawn, Young World, March 4th, 2023