Maybe Emily would have been able to hear the growl of her stomach better if the movie her parents were watching wasn’t turned up to nearly max volume. She could feel it, the rumble in her abdomen, and she knew the perfect cure. Emily tip toed into the kitchen, using her hands to navigate around the island counter. The scent of brown sugar and chocolate were still faint, and she licked her lips.
It was the middle of the night, and pitch black, but that didn't matter. Perhaps even it was to her advantage, because she wasn't even tempted to turn on the light which would alert her parents in the other room. Squeaks from the floorboards would have been a concern, except the movie her parents were watching was an action packed movie full of gunshots and explosions.
Emily felt the smooth cold stainless steel of the fridge and she reached her hand up, stretching over her head. The metal cookie tin had braille on the side, so she felt for the tiny little dots. Once feeling them brush against her finger tips, Emily pushed herself to the balls of her feet so she could use her fingers to inch the tin closer to her so she could have a better grip of it from underneath.
While the simulated gunfire got more intense, she grit her teeth and flicked the back of the tin. It shot off the top of the fridge and glanced off the side of her head before it crashed to the ground with a hollow echo.
Emily turned on her heels starting to bolt before she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder. "So we caught the cookie thief eh?" Her father's deep voice was breathy, barely holding back a chuckle.
"Emily." Her mother scolded. "I told you the cookies are for church tomorrow."
"But the-"
"Seriously. You are in high school. What part of ‘no cookies tonight’ didn't you understand? The 'no' part?"
"But how can I be the thief if the cookies aren't in the tin!"
"It was the decoy tin." Her father said with a squeeze to her shoulder.
"You are grounded. And no cookies for you at church tomorrow. You can have a leftover cookie."
"But there are never any cookies left!" Emily protested.
"Well you should have thought of that before trying to sneak some." Her mother sniffed. "No get to bed."
"Okay." Emily's shoulders slumped and she trudged back through the kitchen and up the carpeted stairs. Her midnight snack plan was just a big ole bust.
Word count: 428
