I got caught. Again. Sometimes I just wonder how people rob banks without other people noticing.  I have seen a thief stealing money from a bank before, in the evening, using a huge purse that was as big as my full grown golden retriever. The officer must have been sloppy on his job. The thief just took that purse and walked calmly out the bank door. I started to run after her, but she disappeared like magic. Unfortunately, I could not imitate her sudden disappearance. I don’t have any magical powers.
     Brightness is certainly the reason why I got caught. Just because I was too scared to bake cookies in complete darkness. If I were like the lucky thief, I would certainly be able to get away with it. I was extremely hungry that night. I felt dizzy as if I were about to faint. Cookies! I thought of cookies. Even though my sister got a severe burn in our kitchen when she baked cookies at my age, I was still brave enough to take the challenge of baking cookies at midnight. You might think, “What a coward! It’s just baking cookies. Nothing will happen if your parents find out. It’s not like you are going to get executed or anything.” Well, it is kind of a big deal. Despite my parents’ divorce a thousand years ago, this episode brought them together to criticize me and mutually agree on a five-day grounding punishment. I wasn’t even allowed to go to my after-school tutor! What a terrible punishment! Not that I loved the after-school program, but it is honestly better than living in Wonderland which was the mad house I had to go to every night. And I don’t want to be the idiotic Alice, jumping into a rabbit hole, getting herself stuck in a dream.
     Mom stopped, and started to emphasize every single word, “AIR CONDITIONING WILL BE STOPPED AT ONCE. EVERYTHING IN YOUR ROOM WILL BECOME YOUR YOUNGER SISTER’S PROPERTY.”
     I started to think. No air conditioning means that I’m going to suffer inside this stuffy room, with that super big, useless window flowing hot air inside out. And everything under my little sister’s control? That means my pink piggy bank, my vampire halloween costume, my dear old sketch book that I have kept all my life, and all my previous precious yearbooks would be destroyed. In other words, my old happy memories would perish. My brain shut itself off helplessly.
      “Mommy! Daddy! That is so…” I held onto their arms, like I used to when they were still together. I was just about to express myself, but my parents cut me off.
     “No, no, no, no whining.”
     I turned on the lights in the hallway as I made my way to the kitchen. I did not even bother to take off my slippers and tip-toe there, because I knew my mom and sister Lauren were deep asleep. I quickly pulled out the cookie dough box from the freezer, tore it open, and placed the chocolate-chip cookies on the tray. Right when I was about to bake them, I heard a roaring of a toilet flush, like a starving tiger looking for its prey.
     “Oh, my goodness,” I squeaked.
      I quickly threw the cookies back in the opened cookie box and shoved them back into the crowded freezer. I heard the clomp of my mom’s boots and immediately hid inside a closet near the kitchen and shut my eyes tight.
      “Ca-le-o Fish-er!” My mom yelled at the invisible me.
      “My Christ Jesus, the only God existing in history. Please help your poor daughter today. I know I am not a devoted Christian, I don’t pray everyday. But I really need your help. I promise that I am actually going to pray and sing praise songs for you everyday. I understand that you are busy, but please just help me…” After I quickly mumbled out my desperate plea to God, I stepped out of the closet, and walked out with my head down, over to my mom.
     “I am so sorry, mom.” I said quietly.
     Now even the fuzzy sounds made by the refrigerator running in the background were like silent screams.
     “Caleo!” My mom sounded just like the Queen of Hearts.
     Oh no! I am definitely going to get in trouble. I thought with pain.
     “I’m sorry for sneaking out of my room at midnight to bake cookies.” I became a little more confident, ready to accept the punishment. I hoped she would be merciful, if I tell the truth before she has a chance to list out my mistakes. God will be with me. I thought to myself.
     “What? You touched the oven?”
     “Oops.” I covered up half of my face with my long sleeves, and really wanted to dig a rabbit hole.
     “Hey. It is okay.” My mom seemed to have calmed down. “I was just worried about you. I don’t want you to have your hands covered with gloves all the time like your sister. You know? But you are already 16 now, so you can bake whatever you want.”
     Parents are not sinister,  they are plainly trying their hardest to protect their children. Although I got caught, it was worth it to earn my right to bake cookies. At midnight. I laugh at my foolish thoughts I had beforehand. I will never ever have to be Alice, and my mom will never demand my head.