

Lily and Ben were playing in the kitchen. They wanted to make a cake for Mommy. They found a big bowl, some flour, some eggs, and some butter. They also saw a jar of sugar on the shelf.
"Let's put some sugar in the cake," Lily said. "It will make it sweet and yummy."
"Okay," Ben said. "But how much?"
Lily shrugged. "A lot," she said. She climbed on a chair and reached for the jar. She opened it and poured some sugar into the bowl.
"Is that enough?" Ben asked.
"No, more," Lily said. She poured more sugar into the bowl. The jar was almost empty.
"Stop, Lily, that's too much!" Ben said. "Mommy will be mad."
But Lily did not listen. She poured the rest of the sugar into the bowl. She smiled and said, "Now it will be brilliant!"
She got down from the chair and picked up a big spoon. She started to stir the mixture in the bowl. Ben watched her with a worried look.
Suddenly, they heard a loud noise. It was Mommy. She came into the kitchen and saw the mess. She saw the empty jar, the sugar everywhere, and the sticky bowl.
"What are you doing?" Mommy asked. She was very angry.
"We're making a cake for you, Mommy," Lily said. She held up the spoon and showed her the mixture.
Mommy looked at the mixture. It was not a cake. It was a gooey mess. It was too sweet and too sticky. It was not brilliant. It was awful.
Mommy sighed. She took the bowl and the spoon from Lily. She threw them in the trash. She said, "You can't make a cake like this. You wasted all the sugar. You made a big mess. You have to clean it up. And you have to say sorry."
Lily and Ben felt sad. They did not want to make Mommy angry. They did not want to waste the sugar. They did not want to clean the mess. They wanted to make a cake for Mommy. But they did not know how.
They said sorry to Mommy. They helped her clean the kitchen. They did not play with the sugar anymore. They learned their lesson. But they still wished they could make a cake for Mommy. Maybe next time, they would ask her for help.
