The Next Chapter Room

Tag: The Cake Series

  • The Cake

    The Cake

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    by

    Harper Leigh
    in

    The cake had been going well. They had laughed while mixing it, flour dusting the bench, music playing low. It felt easy. Comfortable. The kind of moment that suggests there might be more of these ahead. Then, as Mara slid the cake across the bench, it tipped. The cake cracked and sagged to one side.…

  • After the Cake.

    After the Cake.

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    by

    Harper Leigh
    in

    For a while, Mara thought about the cake more than she expected to.Not the moment it cracked, but what happened after. How quickly it was lifted.How decisively it was thrown away.How little room there had been to pause. She understood it now. Jon hadn’t meant to hurt her.He simply didn’t know how to stay with…

  • The Cup Cakes.

    The Cup Cakes.

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    by

    Harper Leigh
    in

    Mara made cupcakes the next afternoon. Not because she needed sugar, or comfort, or distraction.She made them because she wanted to stay with the memory long enough to understand it, without replaying it. She moved slowly. Measured the flour. Cracked the eggs carefully. Let the kitchen be quiet. As they baked, she sat at the…