The Angry Cupcake

Otis' father, Frederick, had been the owner of a very popular diner in the nearby town of Renid-Ecalp. His wife, Isabelina, had been Miss Muffinette 3 years in a row. All of the muffinettes in the towns near Niffum-Nap had looked up to her as a role model. All but one.
Casandra was a vain muffinette, who wanted all the glory for herself! Three times she had been a finalist in the Miss Muffinette pageant and three times she had lost to Isabelina. Nothing could stop her from achieving her goal - not even the deadliest of deeds. So over many years she devised a wicked plan that would leave Isabelina heartbroken.
Isabelina and Frederick had a baby muffin, named Otis. He was an adorable little blob of batter, still forming his true shape. He was the joy of their life, and Casandra knew this. She was going to take him away. But not to a land far, far away - they would expect that. No, she was going to take him just far enough that they would never think to look there.
She knew of a small cottage that had been passed down in her family through many generations. It was just on the edge of Niffum-Nap and in good condition despite the fact that nobody had live there for many years. It would be the perfect place to hide the young muffin. With her plan all in place, Casandra had to find a chance to perform her most deadliest of deeds.
It was Otis' first birthday and everybody in Niffum-Nap was invited! His parents were just so excited. Casandra knew this would be the perfect time. So when she got to the party she acted like she was happy for Isabelina and Frederick while she really had her eyes on Otis. She lured him outside with blueberries until he got to the gate. Then she snatched him up and whisked him away to his new home for the next few years.
The cottage was nice and cozy, but it didn't feel right to Otis. And why weren't his parents there? He missed his mom and dad. Ever since that night, he always had dreams about them. He didn't understand anything. All he could remember was blueberries, and then a room that smelled like pumpkin bread. Sometimes Casandra came to visit, but she never talked much. Otis was 4-years-old now. Almost a full-grown muffin! But he was confused. And where were his parents? He cried. And he thought. He began to realize that he needed to be strong. He needed to prove to his parents - wherever they were - that he was strong. He wasn't just going to give up! He stopped crying, got up, and set himself to work. Not knowing when, or if, he would be allowed to leave the cottage, he decided to straighten it up and make it feel more like home. He grabbed a mop and a broom and began his work! Within hours the cottage was spotless and felt more like a real home should, to Otis. Pleased with himself, he sat down on the newly washed La-Z-Boy and fell asleep.

Years passed as Otis grew to like his new home. He still missed his parents, of course, but he realized that he would probably never see them again, and chose not to dwell on it. Otis wasn't your ordinary muffin - he was made of different stuff than most were. In fact, a very small piece of garlic had been added to his batter when he was born, giving him the ability to think clearly even in the worst of times. It might not smell very nice, but it had its benefits.
Casandra had stopped coming to visit a couple months ago, and Otis was happier because of it. He didn't know exactly why, but he had this feeling that she had something to do with his being forced to stay in this home-away-from-home. He had never bothered asking her because he knew she wouldn't tell him. Then one day Otis went down to the marketplace to pick-up his groceries. He heard from someone at the fruit stand that there was a new guy in town that didn't seem to be up to any good. This made Otis curious, but he didn't let it bother him because he lived on the edge of town - far enough that nobody bothers him. So he bought his food and went back home. He was just at the door when he realized someone was there waiting. At first he thought maybe Casandra had come back again, but then he realized that it wasn't a muffinette. In fact, it wasn't a muffin at all. It was a cupcake (vanilla) with extra sprinkles. And a very angry cupcake at that! It looked like it was ready to start a fight with Otis, although Otis hoped that wasn't the case. He was too scared to talk to the cupcake. But the cupcake spared him the trouble and introduced itself.
"Hello," said the cupcake. "My name is Inigo."
"Hi, my name is Otis."
"I've been watching you, Otis," said Inigo.
"Ooh really? Am I interesting?"
"No, not really."
"Oh." Otis frowned and went to go inside but Inigo was still in his way. "I do need to get into my house..."
"So go inside."
"But you're in my way."
"No I'm not."
"Yes you are."
"No I'm not."
"Yes you are..."
"No, I'm not."

Otis sighed. "Can you please just go away and leave me alone?"
Inigo though about this for a minute. "Nope."
"WHY!? Why must you do this to me?!"
"Do what?" Inigo grinned.
"THAT! That's what!"
"But I didn't do anything."
"Exactly!"
"You are an interesting little muffin."
"Go away! Leave me alone!"
Inigo sighed. "Fine. Have it your way."
So Inigo left and Otis went inside the cottage, where he found his La-Z-Boy and fell asleep. He had bad dreams while he slept, about angry cupcakes with extra sprinkles. When he woke-up he was glad to be back in the real world where there were no angry cupcakes. Or, so he had hoped. He looked at the door and there stood Inigo, the angry cupcake from the day before. He looked even angrier! Otis wondered why, but at the same time he was very scared. How had Inigo gotten inside?
"Hello Otis."
"How... how did you get inside?"
"I opened the door."
"But it was locked..."
"No it wasn't."
Otis was confused. He was sure he had locked the door yesterday - he always did. But maybe he was so scared that he forgot. Either way, there was a cupcake in his cottage that hadn't been there when he went to sleep. "Ok fine, it wasn't locked. But I still want to know why you're here. I thought you said I was boring."
"You are. You're very, very boring."
"Then why do you keep coming back?!"
Inigo shrugged.
"No, I want a real answer! Why won't you just leave me alone?"
"Why won't you just let me stay?"
"I... That's a very good question. I really don't know."

"Exactly."
"So, um, do you want to stay?"
"No."
"Then why did you ask?"
"Because it made you ask the right question."
"That makes no sense."
"Of course it does."
"You confuse me."
"Indeed. Tell me about yourself, Otis. Maybe you're not quite as boring as you seem."
"Um. There's not a lot to tell."
"Oh don't be shy, go on."
"I guess... Well, my dad's name was Frederick and he was-"
"Wait, his name was Frederick? As in the owner of Frederick & Isabelina's Diner?"
"Yep, that was my dad."
"That is.. odd. Um, continue."
"Ok... So my dad was Frederick and my mom was Isabelina and they owned a diner in Renid-Ecalp. My mom was Miss Muffinette 3 years in a row - I think that's pretty neat. When I was one-year-old I was kidnapped, or something, and I ended up here in this cottage. I've been living here ever since."
"And you have no idea how you got here?"
"Nope."
"Ok, well I take back what I said earlier about you being boring - you are kind of interesting."
"Yay!"
"Although, I am curious about your dad."
"Uh-huh."
"You said he was Frederick, the same Frederick that owned the diner. The problem is, my dad was also Frederick.. the same Frederick."
"But you're a cupcake."
"My mom was a German Chocolate Cake. When a muffin and a cake have a baby it often turns out to be a cupcake."
"Oh. So are you trying to say that we're .. brothers?"

"Half-brothers."
"That's so weird. Why wouldn't our dad have told us about it?"
"Because our moms wouldn't be very happy about it."
"Oh."
"And I don't know if I am either."
"Hey, I thought you said I was interesting!"
"I did, but I never said I liked you."
Otis frowned. "So you don't like me?"
"I never said I didn't like you either."
"Oh come on, stop doing that. Do you like me or not?"
"I'm not sure."
"Well can you make up your mind, this is new to me but I'd like to know whether we can be friends or not."
"I suppose I could learn to like you. Maybe. Given time."
Otis sighed. "I guess that's good enough."
"Let's hope so."
"Hey, I have an idea!"
"What's that?"
"We should get to know each other more, now that we're brothers and all."
"I suppose."
So Otis and Inigo spent the rest of the day talking about each other and learning more about what their dad was like. They found one another fascinating and in the end were glad that they were brothers. Inigo decided to live with Otis in his cottage and they had a very happy life - although they never did find out what happened to Otis' parents.