"Marshmallow Cake"

Good Morning, and welcome to Sensational Stories Saturday, a place for writing and sharing stories in honor of and inspired by this girl. I'll do my best to keep them 250wc :) All stories are my own, authored by me, and not authorized for distribution without my permission. All stories are fictionalized accounts based on my own best experiences from childhood. Sometimes you don't realize they are "best experiences" until you are a grown-up. If you would like to share a story, please do so by either leaving one in the comments or leave a comment and let us know where your link is.

Marshmallow Cake

The blue velvet couch sits next to the woodstove, and together, they swallow her in one soft, crackling gulp. They sip the pain in her ears and chew the knives within her throat. Deeply furrowed brows and praying hands come to check on her throughout the smoky days and hissing nights of winter.

Her mom takes her to the hospital to breathe soapy steam from a large machine. The machine is rhythmic and makes her sleepy. She is not breathing quite right, and someone gets up in the middle of the snap-popping night to drape a blanket across her body.

She forgot it was her 11^th birthday, but her dad did not. He made her a birthday cake with marshmallow cream frosting and pink candles. This was the first (and only) time she had ever seen her dad bake something, so she knew mom must have been sick, too. She had never seen anyone frost a cake with marshmallow cream. Dads must be really smart. She feels loved, suffocated by its sticky marshmallow sweetness. Be still.

She becomes the moss on the fire-logs and the spiders who scramble to escape their fiery end, at the very last, misty moment. Eventually, she becomes the fire.