Page 14 of The Cake Fairies
Chapter Ten
ANNABELLE
Annabelle’s ears began to whirr, and the room morphed into a spinning top to rival the nearby waltzers. Had she interpreted that correctly? This puzzle of a woman thought she was going to somehow ship them off to the future – to bake cakes?
“It’s mainly because of these things,” Amber Magnolia said, bending down to retrieve a succession of objects from a large, tie-dyed drawstring bag behind her desk. “The computer.” She laid a dark, rectangular, and thoroughly modern-looking object before them. “That’s how this fiasco started. A little like a friend becoming a lover. It all began innocently enough, with a kiss – a mere peck on the cheek – next thing you know, you’re sharing a bed and shacked up for life… well, that’s the order things tend to go, in the new millennium, anyway.”
Never mind the computer. Polly’s expression was quite unlike anything Annabelle had ever seen before. And she guessed her own didn’t look a whole lot better either.
“Here,” said Amber Magnolia, passing the black contraption to them. Polly couldn’t stop her hands from shaking as she reached out to hold and examine the strange, otherworldly object. “It’s like a typewriter but infinitely more magical and infinitely lighter, too. From this, you have access to the World Wide Web.”
“The what?” said Polly, slowly opening the lid of the gadget, discovering the keyboard and running her fingers over its buttons.
“Do I really have to go into the intricacies of everything I’m going to show you this evening, when time is of the essence?Youhave somewhere else to be… andIjust happen to have a hot date with the owner of a certain coconut shy after dark.Let’s just say that somebody somewhere invents an ingenious way for people all over the world to connect with each other on a computer screen,” Amber Magnolia continued. “A gigantic library, rendering theEncyclopedia Britannicaobsolete. You can do just about anything on this marvel of a creation called the Internet. Need a cake recipe? Type it into a search engine and bingo…”
Polly tried to interrupt, but Annabelle nudged her. Everything was sailing over her head too, although she was thankful the web part didn’t appear to have anything to do with spiders, and she wanted to get to the crux of this meeting at some point tonight.
“…Want to hear the latest pop song? You can find that on the Internet, too.”
“Gosh. Technology does speed along.” Despite her fear, Annabelle found it riveting.
“It certainly does.” Amber Magnolia frowned; eyes full of regret. “Anyway, let’s put that to one side for a moment, and talk about this: the bane of community spirit and the death of the art of conversation: I present to you, the mobile phone.”
“Isn’t that one half of a walkie-talkie?” Annabelle eyed the slick rectangular gadget suspiciously.
“I only wish it were that innocent.” Amber Magnolia frowned again. “No, this, in effect, is a smaller version of the computer – actually, they’re better known as laptops,” she gestured back at the almost book-like black object which Polly was still cradling in her lap, fingers getting to grips with its keys. “The mobile phone used to be quite simple: a cordless telephone. Useful if you fancied taking a call in the garden; or were off on a long car journey and got a flat tyre, or to tell your loved ones you’d be home late from the office; handy to escape the infuriating queues of the phone box, too.”
Annabelle listened intently, wishing she had a proper notebook and pen so she could write all this down. She imagined it was times like this when shorthand was invaluable; an essential tool for office life that some of the luckier girls from her school had gone on to learn at the local college.
“The trouble is technology has catapulted itself so far forward that it’s made life too damned efficient, too convenient. Human beings aren’t ready for that, and in turn it’s made them lazy. We’re still intrinsically cavewomen – and men – after all. Our bodies prefer to wake with the sun, to sleep with the moon and stars. We need movement, air and light. And we need good quality human interaction to live peacefully, soundly and happily. But this garish gadget?” she held the mobile phone aloft now, turning its screen from side to side so it flashed enticingly like a diamond. “Well, it has a lot to answer for. Now that humankind has a more portable version of that, they’ve forgotten how to live in the real world.” Amber Magnolia pointed at the laptop which Polly had passed over to Annabelle. “This piece of kit is not only a phone, but a drug, dumbing people down with its information overload. They send messages to each other on it instead of writing letters, even when they’re in the very same building!”
“That does sound barmy.” Polly took the object from Amber Magnolia’s outstretched palm. “I guess it’s less hand-cramping though, saves on postage too.”
“Like I said, Polly, we’ve got too efficient. There are consequences to everything. We swap hand cramps for arthritis and myopia. We lose our village post offices, important hubs of the community, because nobody has a pen-pal anymore. People even pay their bills online!”
“Online?” said Annabelle.
“You’ll hear that bandied about a lot; it means via the computer or the mobile, thanks to the great big library in the ether called the Internet.”
“What do you mean, we’ll hear about it? Are you honestly saying you think you’re going to attempt to send us there?”
“Polly, let the lady finish, for Christ’s sake.”
Polly tutted, cocking her head at her cousin. Annabelle sighed, knowing a lecture was coming. “I might not be religious, but Annabelle,” she pressed the tiny cordless phone to her ear as if she were a successful and sophisticated modern-day woman, the trace of a triumphant smile crossing her lips. “You know I can’t bear it when you blaspheme. And another thing: this is my life. I rather think I should have a say in it.”
“It’s a wonder you’ve sold a single cake in your bakery,” Amber Magnolia sent up one of her giddy laughs. “Pleasedolet me explain, Polly, and quit this continuous habit of interrupting my flow, it’s awfully rude. I am, after all, only trying to help you – with far better intentions than one Kitty Withers, I might add. But your cousin’s quite right, Annabelle,” now the sage’s eyes were upon her. “You do produce some rather colourful language, I’ve noticed. Right, would another cup of tea help to ground us all?”
“‘Spose,” Annabelle retorted grumpily. How had any of this even happened? All they had been after was a seat. She briskly clicked her heels together. Maybe that would somehow transport her home? It’d worked for Dorothy and her red sparkly shoes, hadn’t it?
Amber Magnolia jumped up and began to flit to and fro in her ‘kitchen’ once again. “Would you look at this? A packet of Jammie Dodgers has appeared out of nowhere. We’ll crack these open for a little nourishment.”
“Of course, there are always exceptions to rules: you can also read books on those things.” Amber Magnolia nodded at the sleek gadgets once more. “A primitive child I may be, but literacy should always be encouraged, no matter how folk get their fill. Never try to prise a pair of eyes away from a Kindle when one of 2019s lost souls is mid-chapter and enraptured with their e-book.”
Annabelle’s mind boggled, but Polly was steamrolling on again. “Look, this is totally fascinating, but where exactly do the words ‘cake’ and ‘fairies’ come into it?”
“You’re doing it again, Polly,” said Amber Magnolia, matching Annabelle’s thoughts. “Besides, I’d have thought it was pretty obvious.” She flicked the switch on the kettle, which Annabelle noted was devoid of any form of electricity, cord, or socket. Yet by this point in the evening, nothing surprised her.
“She wants us to set up a bakery in the future, Polly,” said Annabelle. “Clearly they’ve all shut down because people are buying cakesonline?”
