MADE WITH LOVE

Ashli Giles

For four weeks, I had a whole chocolate cake in my fridge. It was lathered with a messy vanilla buttercream across its surface, and tiny chocolate-filled M&Ms of various colours were scattered on the top. A home-made job by Mum.
        But today, I went to have a slice for my lunch and I found a spot of mould. It was easily missable, about the size of the nail on my smallest toe. But I found it.
        Initially I considered grabbing the closest butter knife and slicing it apart from the rest of the cake. It was what I had started to do, but upon revealing the sponge on the inside, more green spots were evident. Some verged on the size of my biggest toenail. 
        It would have to be thrown out, and that was for the best. I didn’t want a fungus-ridden lump of buttercream and sponge to be infecting my fridge. I had other foods in there, like jazz apples and little vanilla yoghurt pots. 
        However, as I went to find a pair of gloves under the sink, I thought of the moment Mum brought the cake out with two pink candles pierced in the centre, aflame. She had flicked the lights off and walked towards me, her tongue sticking out in that way she does when she’s focused. The wax from the cheap candles had begun to melt onto the cake.
        ‘Just a slight waxy flavouring,’ Mum laughed.
        With only her voice singing for me, I blew out the candles.
        She never came back to split the rest of the cake like she said she would. I waited, and waited, only for her flame to be blown out yesterday.
        Instead of gloves, I found a large Tupperware box with the corresponding lid and scooped the cake inside. It crumbled easily through the gaps of my fingers. 
        Once I put the lid on, I rummaged through the freezer and found the perfect space in the bottom drawer. And before shutting it away, I drew a tiny heart on the top with a permanent black marker.