As a child you’re helping your grandparent bake. When you’re sent to the pantry to fetch an ingredient, you discover something odd.

Posted in Mystery on Oct 13, 2023

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✍️ 41 stories

“Never Too Old . . . For?” by Barbara Nosek

Submitted to Contest #220

{Some reference to drugs}She took a closer look. “Oh no! Oh no, no, no!”***Whenever his beloved grandmother suggested a baking day for the two of them, 10-year-old Jeremy could hardly wait till it was time. He couldn’t think of a better way to spend a Saturday morning.And he knew his Grammie enjoyed these times together as much as he did. And he also knew they had everything to do with his plans to be a pastry chef when he grew up. When he shared this dream with her she even offered to pay his way through culinary school, though his mom sort...

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“'Come Back!' Cried the Little Old Woman” by Sarah Duffey

Submitted to Contest #220

About fifteen Novembers ago, my mom told me during the long ride to grandma's, “People grieve in different ways.” Gray haze veiled the road and icy rain, dinged on the windshield like BB pellets.“Grieve?”Later that afternoon, I danced a metal cookie cutter around the kitchen table while my grandma dumped a heap of brown sugar into a mixing bowl. It looked a little like a sandcastle.“Run, run, as fast as you can, you can’t catch me I’m the Gingerbread Man!” I sang between pursed lips like a ventriloquist.“Remember to keep a good eye on them o...

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“Sugar” by Brilee Theriot

Submitted to Contest #220

"Ezra, darling! Please grab me the sugar from the pantry! It should be on the bottom shelf!" I heard my Grammy call from the kitchen. She was baking her famous cakes that were always a hit at gatherings. "Okay, Grammy!" I call back walking into the pantry and flicking on the light. As the light flickered on, I gazed at the 5 different shelves stuffed with all the baking necessities you could ever need. There was a shelf for flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and other substances alike. The next shelf was filled with cookie cutters, baking ti...

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“Baking with Grandmommy” by Kristi Montgomery

Submitted to Contest #220

Cinnamon and nutmeg permeate the air. As soon as I get out of the car I know Grandmommy already has the pumpkin pies in the oven. She always starts with them because they take the longest to bake and the longest to cool. I love that smell! Baking day is my favorite day. The first Saturday in November we meet at Grandmommy’s to bake all the fall goodies for the upcoming family gatherings. Some of them will be frozen for Thanksgiving and maybe Christmas, but some of them we get to eat today. The list of goodies is long. We’ve been working on...

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“A Thread of Hope” by Heather Rose

Submitted to Contest #220

A THREAD OF HOPE American Civil War - Adamsville, Tennessee April 1862 I sat on the wooden boards of the dusty attic floor gazing down in stupefaction at the open journal on my lap. Above me the fading light from the small window lit up a stream of dust motes but I breathed them in without noticing. The inside cover had the name Charlotte Miller, my Grandma’s name, written in faded black ink, the flowing cursive letters sloping strongly to the right. I had wandered up here hours ago having nothing else better to do while the Doctor was ten...

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““Through the Mists of Time”” by Nada Kesic

Submitted to Contest #220

“Through Floating Mists of Time”It’s Saturday afternoon. Bake a cake Saturday. It was a tradition that began when I was about 4 years old with my Mum but now it’s with Grandma who came to live with us after Grandpa died. We’ve made pancakes, florentines, cup cakes with pink icing and hundreds and thousand sprinkled on top. Lamingtons with raspberry jam and lots of cream. My all time favourite. Today it’s Grandma’s famous chocolate cake. She’s won so many awards for her cakes and jams, shiny silver ones, big and small that line the kitch...

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“Breaking Bread with the Past” by Liz Lallak

Submitted to Contest #220

---(SENSITIVE subject matter about the Holocaust) The foul odor is overwhelming and inescapable, and it is one of my earliest memories. The smell is indescribable, and it clings to my clothes and permeates the walls like an evil spirit guarding its territory. The putrid smell comes from the strange ingredients my grandmother Astrid uses in her family's secret bread recipe, which she keeps in a high cupboard out of reach. She sifts the fine powder from an old mason jar and grinds the harder bits down the garbage disposal to produc...

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“The trip” by Kina Niboroh

Submitted to Contest #220

“Why can’t I go? Is it because it is too expensive? I don’t understand why Mother is so against it! She says I should concentrate on my studies instead! But I am already a good student and I keep telling her this language trip to Germany can only be beneficial for my future. Please Grandma, be on my side for once! After all, she is your daughter, you must know a way to make her change her mind? All my friends are going, I have to go too.” Feeling somewhat sorry for myself, I was now calmly perched on a stool by the rustic table in Gr...

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“Caretakers” by Jon Kaplan

Submitted to Contest #220

I didn’t know it at the time, but Grandma Stevens was getting me ready to take on a new role. I’m still not sure why it was me and not one of my siblings, her other grandchildren or her own children. I suppose that, in time, I may learn why. After all, there are many things that haven’t yet been revealed to me. I’m learning to be okay with that. But I’m getting ahead of myself. I loved going to my grandparents house. It was a magical place, especially when we were all little kids. I probably started going when I was a baby, but I started h...

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“Never Too Sweet” by Samayra Slade

Submitted to Contest #220

Gran taught me all I know about baking. She was the best baker in the world, as far as my family was concerned. As far as I was concerned. I found myself in the kitchen with Gran most weekends, learning all the secrets and tricks to making the ideal peach cobbler. I enjoyed baking, but I think it was only because it was a reason to spend the day with Gran. I enjoyed telling her about my day and watching her face light up as she told me of her own youth, before she met my grandfather. This day was such a day, and she was going to teach me how...

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“Happy Birthday Chris” by Alison Lian

Submitted to Contest #220

“Grandma look! I just cracked open an egg! Aren’t I the best?” “Yes, you are sweetheart. Now let’s get the little pieces of eggshell out…” Grabbing the opened eggshell, Chris’ grandma wrapped her arms around her darling grandson and held his hand as she showed him how to remove the tiny bits of fallen eggshells. Seeing the most heartwarming moment shared between his wife and his grandson, Chris’ grandpa couldn’t help himself and walked towards them, giving them a tight squeeze from the back and giving them kisses on their heads. The thre...

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As a child you’re helping your grandparent bake. When you’re sent to the pantry to fetch an ingredient, you discover something odd.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 41 stories

“Never Too Old . . . For?” by Barbara Nosek

“'Come Back!' Cried the Little Old Woman” by Sarah Duffey

“Sugar” by Brilee Theriot

“Baking with Grandmommy” by Kristi Montgomery

“A Thread of Hope” by Heather Rose

““Through the Mists of Time”” by Nada Kesic

“Breaking Bread with the Past” by Liz Lallak

“The trip” by Kina Niboroh

“Caretakers” by Jon Kaplan

“Never Too Sweet” by Samayra Slade

“Happy Birthday Chris” by Alison Lian

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with a character walking through a desert landscape, when they stumble across something unexpected. “That shouldn’t be there,” they muse.

You arrive at a destination you promised an old friend you’d visit after they passed, only to find them there too.

Begin your story with a protagonist taking shelter under a bridge during a thunderstorm. An animal scurries past which shouldn’t exist. Against their better judgment, they decide to follow it out.

You’re awakened from your nap by someone asking, “Are you hungry?”. You fell asleep somewhere else entirely.

Contest #220

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

253

Contest entries

129

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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