The Oven

The Oven

“I can’t read this.” Jane said.

“What is it?” asked her father.

“Its a letter from Gramma.”

“Gramma Shaw? I know her handwriting can be a little messy…”

“No, it’s not her handwriting, I’m used to that. It’s what she’s saying.”

“Huh?”

“Listen to this part… ‘I put a cake in the oven today but found out it was broken.’

“OK, so what’s the problem?”

“How can you break a cake?”

“I think she meant the oven was broken…”

“How can you break the microwave?”

“Well, you could break the microwave, but I think she meant the stove.”

“How can you make a cake on the stove?”

“Not on the stove, in the stove, in the oven of the stove.”

“What the heck is the oven of the stove?”

“It’s the part of the stove that bakes stuff.”

“Dad, we bake stuff in the microwave.”

“Yes, the ‘Microwave oven’ that’s its name.”

“No, not on the stove, IN the stove.”

“There isn’t any way to program in cake.”

“You don’t program it, you just turn on the oven.”

“You keep saying that, but when you turn on the stove it’s just the stove.”

“No, you open the door, like this…” Dad opened the door on the stove.” Jane laughed.

“What are you laughing about?”

“You're going to cook something in the stove closet?”

“What?” Then Dad looked into the oven, and it was full of pots and pans. “What is this?”

Mom walked in. “I needed the room, it’s not like we ever use it…”

“What about Thanksgiving!?”

“I though once a year we would just take the stuff out.”

“Oh, good idea.”

“Why were you looking in there?”

“Jane was reading a letter from my mother.”

“…and you wonder why I get confused…” Mom said, walking back out the door.