The Cake

Tonight, Jessica Payseur of Eau Claire, Wisconsin serves us a big slice of mother love. Our dear protagonist would do anything, make any sacfrifice, to ensure that her daughter had all the best opportunities in life. Sweet, isn’t it? Sweet as a big, yummy cake…

It was Saturday when the cake arrived.  Lynn had not ordered a cake, but she had heard of Centrifuge Cakery and Cookies, and so accepted the white box with a smile when the delivery man held it out to her.  She nearly skipped back inside, so excited was she for this moment.  Today marked a new beginning, a reward for all her sacrifices, and this cake was all the proof she needed.  She took it to the kitchen counter and placed it lovingly on the slick granite surface.  Her daughter was returning.

She ran her hands gently over the box, across the symbol of the bakery, and smiled.  Two upended beakers poured their contents out across the lid until, upon mixing, an image of a cake appeared.  For years she had watched Claudia, waiting, writing her unsent letters every week, eagerly anticipating the scholarly updates mailed by the academy.

In Very Poor Taste

by Jess Harris

Missy was a particularly bad girl. She told terrifying stories to younger children just to frighten them and watch them cry. She lied frequently, especially to adults. She took pencils from her classmates’ desks, and only returned them after they were broken. She made up preposterous excuses for her tardiness in turning in her perpetually late assignments.

Missy’s only redeeming quality was in being pretty. She had large, brown eyes in her oval face with its delightfully pointy little chin. Her lips were pink, plump, pouty, and perfect. Everyone agreed that she was an awfully pretty girl.

One day, as she walked from school all alone (no one ever walked with her, which she believed was because they didn’t want to appear ugly in comparison) she stopped by a little pond. A girl from her class suggested they meet there when Missy asked to copy her math homework. As Missy was waiting, she decided to catch a frog and cut it up with the pen-knife she’d taken from the teacher’s desk.