photo by Baher Khairy via Unsplash
For fifteen consecutive years, the village’s finest amateur bakers – Maureen and Diane – battled it out in the church fete’s Victoria sponge competition. Some years Maureen’s rise was poor and Diane took the crown – other years Diane experimented with the all-in-one method or brown flour … with disastrous results.
This summer Maureen’s sponge was a triumph – light, golden, the filling sweet and creamy, better than sex, her husband Neil had said, though he’d earned a stern look across the hostess trolley for that. On the morning of the fete, Maureen went to find Diane’s effort, hoping to see singed crusts and gluey jam. But … Diane’s name tag was missing from the judging table.
It was as a confused Maureen was leaving the cake tent that Diane swished in, bringing a cloud of sweetly scented air with her, a plate of macaroon sandwiches balanced on her manicured fingers, the garish pinks, yellows and lilacs like an act of violence in the cool beige tent. Before Maureen could speak, she noticed a young man – tall, dark, square-jawed – as he bent to whisper in Diane’s ear, a soft, secret word that made her giggle like a school girl caught behind the bike sheds.
Maureen won the Victoria sponge competition this year, though she feels somehow she lost the war.
Written for Sonya at Only 100 Words’ Three Line Tales. See the pic and join the fun here. Apologies for going over the three lines so very badly.
Ah, the origins of the GBBO. Poor Maureen 😀
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She won the cake but lost in love 🙂
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The bitter ashes of defeat in war, even though you won the battle … A tale where the moral doesn’t need to be explicit at all. 🙂
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Serves her right for being so petty minded. Though not sure what it says about Diane – that women need younger men and lots of cake? Not much od a moral there 🙂
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Great story Lynn. Dianne is clearly making love, not war 🙂
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Yes, lucky Diane! Let’s hope Maureen can too 🙂
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Ah yes, sometimes you don’t know what you’re competing about until you lose. I’m not sure why the presence of the handsome young man required Diane to change baked goods, but hey, even I would bake cookies for a handsome young man whispering sweet nothings in my ear — sign me up!
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Ha! I think my idea was that with the new blood came new ideas and new goals. Diane is no longer bothered about competing against her old foe. She has other things to occupy her time. And handsome young men and cake? Yep, sounds okay doesn’t it? 🙂
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Good point – if I had a handsome young man and delicious baked goods, I wouldn’t bother to waste my time competing with an old frenemy. 🙂
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Yep – good cake and handsome men win over petty squabbles – hands down 🙂
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Way to go Diane 🙂
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I think she’s having the time of her life 🙂
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