The younger children squealed when Marisol brought out the cake.
“It’s a lamb!” cried Anna.
“It’s just shaped like one,” said Marisol, setting it on the table. “I used a mold. The eyes are gumdrops, and the fleece is made of coconut.”
“What’s inside?” asked Luiz, the only boy at the party. “Guts?”
Marisol smiled. So like his father, brash. She wished he was here.
“No, Luiz. It’s cake. Tres Leches, your favorite.”
She cut it and served the slices on festive plates, stood back and watched them eat.
Her sister Carmen squeezed her arm. “We’ll hear from him soon.”
A great little slice of life.
Nice, intriguing vignette. (Oh, and thanks for supplying the photo prompt!)
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
You’re welcome. Glad you liked it.
I like it that the story isn’t really about the cake at all
I went through a few different titles before settling on this one. It seemed to fit. Thanks for reading,
Querido Josh,
A deeper story baked to perfection. The icing on the proverbial cake.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Thanks Rochelle. I was thinking that maybe the father is in one of those cages our wonderful government builds in the border states.
Brash like his father. I kind of like boys who are brash. And I like that this story is about his dad, who I’m guessing is deployed somewhere far away. Good one.
Thanks!
Wonderfully told, Josh. Like Neil said, has nothing to do with the cake at all and you wove this beautifully.
Thanks, Dale.
I was so excited by the thought of three milk cake that I almost missed the point of the story! A tasty tale indeed. Thanks so much for the photo.
My story – ‘A stab in the dark’
Me too. It’s a favorite.
The cake sounds wonderful, I just hope he will get in touch, otherwise life won’t be as sweet. Well done.
Very timely piece. I love how you show how Luiz is just like his father then Take his father out of the picture ~ hopefully just for awhile. Nicely woven. (Thanks for the picture!)
Daddy is missing out. Hope he’s okay. That last line spoke volumes.
Nicely done and very well thought out! :)
A story within a story, that one!
:)
You’ve constructed that story beautifully, Josh, telling us just enough for us to see the bare bones of the backstory, while imagining the detail for ourselves. Word-craft raised to the level of art, I think.
Thanks Penny!
Nice birthday party. Marisol made a lot of hardworking to bake the cake. It is only fair that Luiz’s father also showed up.
Thanks for this picture that has led to so many good stories, J. Hardy. I liked this story. My mother had a lamb mold. So many families are split apart these days. —- Suzanne
Thanks for reading!
I love it, so much said with so few words, this is why I love this little club!
Thanks! Hard to tell a full story in so few words. It’s a worthwhile challenge.
I could really feel the emptiness from the dad being MIA
And clever idea to pivot from a lamb-shaped cake being served on festive plates
I must resurrect the recipe for tres leches cake! Nice story with a sad undertone.
Where is the dad? Who knows? But apparently he will be returning soon. Kinda stays with you.
Is it wrong that I started googling for recipes for tres leches cake straight away? The story itself was baked to perfection.
Sad footnote to a happy day. Makes me imagine that Luiz’s father has left to find work (perhaps Northward, if this is in Mexico) or perhaps been deported South from the US. The fact that Luiz never calls Marisol “mom” makes me think she is caring for him while his dad is away. All supposition of course. But with such a rich snippet, i can see this story being expanded.
Thanks for the close reading. I agree. Could go any of those ways.
Great slice of life where the kids are innocently unaware of the worries the adults have
Beautiful story. I half expected the cake to be stuffed with gummy bugs, worms, etc just to make the kid happy. Wouldn’t that have been a hoot! Laughing just picturing the look on his face!
Love this. So subtly drawn and such a poignant ending.
It’s an iceberg kinda story. Has great depth. And therein lies the details. Very well crafted, Hardy
Such sense of loss weaved into the this sweet little tale.
Thanks for the photo prompt.
What is inside the cake? guts. that says it all.
https://ideasolsi65.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-dark-horse.html
Sweet story.
Thanks for the photo.