Have Some Cake
Christmas: Austin, TX > San Antonio, TX
Austin, Texas, USA
In a musty attic, Sam Ehlinger is knelt beside a bookshelf. Dust particles dance around him through the sleek rays of sunshine protruding from the small window up above.
He pulls out a bag from the lowest shelf and rummages through it. “Geez, Christmas is the most funnest, yet stressful time of the year!” He tosses the bag behind him. “I don’t know what to give my friends ‘n family! All I know is that they deserve the best!”
He then halts as his eyes light up. He closes his eyes and draws in a deep breath, forming a warm smile on his face. “Mmmm! Mama’s makin’ her BBQ and it smells delicious as usual!” He flicks his eyes open with a gasp. “I know! All of my friends ‘n family LOVE BBQ! So I should get ‘em some!”
His excitement then fades; his head dips. “Aw, but how? I don’t make BBQ. And I wanna give ‘em the best.”
Sam returns to his searching: He pulls out a box from the lowest shelf with his eyes gazed ahead. He halts his movements.
Tucked against the wall of the shelf is a slip of yellowing paper with its edges torn and jagged. With curiosity, he pulls it out and holds its up to his eyes. The sun shining behind him makes the paper glow, revealing faded cursive in ink:
To find the most wondrous BBQ,
In the whole Lone Star state,
You ought to march to your own beat.
Sam’s eyes light up. He gasps. “Perfect!” He holds the paper up. “This says it can get me the best BBQ!”
He brings the paper back to his face and leans closer to it with squinted eyes. “Gotta march to my own beat…” He then peers up in deep thought. He perks up. “I know who can help!”
The back door of the expansive ranch house bursts open. Sam, now with a white cowboy hat, rushes out into the brisk winter afternoon.
Yards in front of the back door is a white vinyl cattle fence that holds a white and burnt orange-spotted longhorn contently chewing hay.
“Elly!” Sam yells at the cattle animal from afar. “Elly!” He skids to a halt beside her and holds onto the top of the fence. “Get ready, we’re goin’ on an adventure!”
Elly continues chewing.
Sam then unlocks and swings the gate open beside him and slips into the fenced area. He grabs a blanket and saddle from their spots and brings them up to her.
He begins placing the two items on top of her back. “We’re gonna find the best BBQ in Texas!”
After securing the blanket and the two-seated saddle, Sam climbs onto of his longhorn and sits on her. He grabs the reins in his two hands and gazes ahead.
Staring back at him is the scenery of his house in the middle of the vast plains.
“All we just gotta do is…” Sam’s voice fades as a blank look comes upon his face. He then transfers the reins into his one hand and pulls out the yellow paper with the other and gazes at it.
“Right! ‘March to our own beat!’” Then with a flick of the reins, the longhorn lumbers past the fence.
Sam and his longhorn, Elly, wander throughout the deserts outside of Austin. The dusty grounds swirl around them as the radiant sun pierce through the pure blue skies. Little mountain ranges of dirt jut up here and there. Green, shaggy bushes sprinkle the powdery grounds. A tumbleweed rolls past them.
Despite the arid environment, the air is brisk, yet dry. The pebbles crack under Elly’s hooves. The fresh scent of cactus and dirt fill the air. And there is not another soul in sight.
A deep blue river stretches through the heart of a metropolitan city. To its left, umbrellas of all colors dot its side with people sitting underneath them, enjoying their meals. Countless bulbs of light hang above them and line the buildings beside them.
On the other side are two concrete bridges, since the river is in the shape of a “T,” with a staircase leading to the nearest bridge. Thin trees with its leaves green pop out from all around the two sides of the river.
Trotting on the bridge above the river and the umbrellas is Elly with Sam.
Sam gazes around the bustling scenery with inquisitiveness. “Wait a minute…” He gazes to his left. “I know this place…” He turns to his right, spotting the river below. “...it’s the Riverwalk in San Antonio!” He gazes ahead in bewilderment. “The best BBQ is in San Antonio?”
“Sam Ehlinger?” an unfamiliar voice with a slightly different accent calls out behind him.
Sam slows down his longhorn and guides her with his reins to turn around.
Leaning against the wall of the bridge is an unfamiliar brunette man wearing a pair of sunglasses.
Sam gives him a warm smile. “Hey!” Confusion clouds his face. “Uh, do I, uh, know ya?”
“If you watch hockey,” the man replies.
His face drops. “Uh, no, I don’t…” He screws up face. “Don’t you have to play that on ice?”
“You’ll be surprised to find some over here.” The man straightens up and steps over to him. “I’m Tanner Kaspick—” He whips off his sunglasses, revealing his blue eyes. “—forward of the San Antonio Rampage.” He then holds out his hand.
Sam tips his hat with his warm smile. “Pleasure to meet ya! I’m Sam Ehlinger—!”
“—quarterback of the Texas Longhorns!” Tanner finishes off before pulling his hand away. “I watch your games every Saturday whenever I don’t have a game, which is rarely, but yeah, you’re good.”
Sam shoots him a grin. “Why, thanks!”
Tanner peers at the innocent face of the longhorn. “And who’s this?” He pats the cattle animal’s side.
“Ah, this is Elly, my longhorn!” Sam beams with pride while rubbing her head with one hand.
Tanner gazes up at him. “She’s a beaut.”
Sam chuckles and blushes. “Haha, yes indeed!” He then grabs onto his reins with both hands and leans forward, gaining his composure. “Say, you know San Antonio?”
Tanner continues petting the longhorn. “I’ve been here for four months, so yeah.”
“Listen, I come from Austin lookin’ for the BEST BBQ to give to my friends and family.” He uses one hand to pull out the yellow paper and hold it out to the hockey player. “This here says that in order to do so, I have to march to my own beat. I’ve been doing that for a couple of hours and I can’t seem to find any good places!”
Tanner halts his petting to take the paper. He scrutinizes it. “Hmmm...maybe just follow it more? It might take the whole day.” He hands it back to him.
Sam grabs it. “Yeah, you must be right.” He slips it into his coat’s pocket. “Do you know any BBQ places here that’s the best in Texas?”
“I can’t say.” Tanner shrugs. “The only places I’ve been to in Texas is here and Cedar Park.”
Sam wrinkles his nose in confusion. “Why Cedar Park?”
“Texas Stars.”
The quarterback holds his expression.
“Another hockey team.”
Sam’s expression doesn’t change. “I am surprised by how much ice can be found here.” He then relaxes. “Well—” He pats Elly’s side. “—wanna help me find the best BBQ in Texas?”
Tanner shrugs. “Sure. I’ve just been standing here for the past two hours, pondering about the world’s existence.” He then rounds the cattle animal and climbs onto the second seat behind Sam. “Let’s go find some good BBQ.”
Sam flicks his the reins and exclaims, “Giddy up!”
Elly cumbersomely turns around and continues plodding down the bridge.
The desert scene reappears again. The dust from the ground swirls around the longhorn with her two passengers. They pass by a mountain range.
“Hey…” Sam points to its jutting rocks. “I remember that mountain…”
The peak disappears behind them. A line of bushes pops up by their path.
Sam holds his index finger out to them. “I remember those bushes…”
He then gazes ahead to see a tumbleweed rolling across their path. “I remember that tumbleweed!” He gazes around his familiar surroundings in haste. “We’re retracin’ our steps!”
“Welp, I guess you are marching to your own beat,” Tanner remarks from behind him.
“But I went down this path before to FIND the best BBQ!” Sam gazes ahead of him at the vast desert. “And now I’m retracin’ it, but I don’t HAVE the best BBQ!”
“Maybe it was back there?” Tanner juts thumb behind his shoulder.
“We would’ve gotten it if the best BBQ was there!”
With a groan, Sam tugs on his reins, signaling his longhorn to halt. He then pulls out the yellow paper with both hands and gazes at it.
“I’m doin’ everything it’s sayin’!” He holds it up and shakes it. “Why isn’t it not workin’?”
Tanner leans to his right to take a peek at it. “Lemme look at it.”
With an annoyed look, Sam holds it out to him from over his shoulder. The hockey player takes it and scrutinizes its text.
His eyes then widen with realization. “I get it…!”
Sam peers behind his shoulder. “Where is it? “
“‘March to your own beat.’ The only beat we have ourselves is…” Tanner transfers the paper to one hand and places his free hand over his chest. “...from our heart. This letter here is saying to march to the beat of our own heart—” He holds the paper in the air. “—to follow our own heart! To find the best BBQ in Texas, we’ve got to follow our own heart!” He holds the paper back to him. “It’s gotta come from you!”
Gawking, Sam takes the paper. “What?” He gazes at its curly, faded text.
“The best BBQ for your friends and family isn’t from a stranger! It’s from you!” he hears Tanner exclaim passionately from behind him. “YOU make your own BBQ!”
“But-but I’ve never made BBQ…!” the quarterback remarks.
“Well, what do you need?”
“Uhhh…” He adjusts his hat as he peers up in deep thought “...I know my mama uses butter...honey...water, of course...Worcestershire sauce—”
“See?” Tanner holds his hand out toward him with a grin. “You got it! Make the BBQ yourself for your friends and family with love!”
Sam looks back at the paper. “Huh. Okay.” He gazes out, a confident smile growing on his face. “Yeah, my friends ‘n family would love that! I never tried makin’ it myself, but I ought to!”
He slips the paper back into his coat and grabs onto the reins before flicking them. Elly continues her clomping through the desert. At the horizon, the small city of Austin appears.
“Thanks for helpin’ me out, Tanner!” Sam exclaims. “I’m sure to give you some of my BBQ!”
“You’re welcome.” Tanner then pauses before mentioning, “Um, can you take me back to San Antonio now? I got a game tonight.”
The End.
