The recipe called for a quarter cup of spiced rum. She drank the rest of the rum while the cake baked. After it had cooled, she frosted the layers and put it on the table next to his birthday card. Then she lit the candles.
He would have been nine.
Marc Simon’s short fiction has appeared in several literary magazines. Five of his one-act plays have been winners in various new works contests. His debut novel, The Leap Year Boy was published in December, 2012. In a former life Marc was a comedian in a sketch comedy group. Marc lives in Naples, Florida. View his work at marcsimonwriter.com.
A deeply affecting story that swerves from tragi-comic into full-blown tragedy with a very sure touch.
Wonderfully written and so heart-wrenching.
I went from feeling upset that she was going to ruin someone’s birthday to that kicked-in-the-gut sadness when that last line hit me. Well done, Marc.
Heartbreaking. Well written.
I’ll go cry now…