The Gingerbread House
UPLIFTING SHORT STORY BY CAMILLA KELLY
Mandy had never considered herself much of a baker, but she was willing to try for the youth club fundraiser!
Mandy appraised the gingerbread house she’d spent all afternoon making.
“Well,” she said after a moment, “that’s hideous.”
She’d thought it would be easy. Yet, none of the misshapen and bulging walls were being held up by the icing – instead, they leaned precariously against one another. Using the icing bag had been tricky, too, and the lattice windows she’d planned were just shapeless blobs – as if the house had been the victim of a raging fondant blizzard.
Maybe she’d been too ambitious. But she’d wanted to make an effort for the Bake Off they were having at the community centre where she worked.
It had been one of the kids’ fundraising ideas and Mandy knew it meant a lot to her. She’d had a soft spot for Eva since the girl started coming to the youth group six months ago. She was older than her years, and often took on the role of big sister to the younger children, even if her attitude to authority figures sometimes left a lot to be desired.
Plus, Mandy had always wanted a gingerbread house for Christmas.
She’d envisioned three storeys, attics and turrets and balconies… but she couldn’t even square the building.
“Please let it taste nice, at least,” she muttered, before sampling a little bit of porch, where no one would notice a corner missing.
It was… quite unusual. Bitter, almost. The problem was, she’d never had gingerbread before, so she didn’t know how it should taste. They’d let her know at work tomorrow, she was sure.
The house had been sitting in a box under Mandy’s desk all afternoon when Eva came running in.
“Did you do it?” she asked excitedly.
Mandy leaned back in her chair.
“You’re wearing your school uniform. Does that mean you’ve been there all day?”
Eva rolled her eyes.
“All day.”
“Good.” Mandy grinned and reached with both hands to pull out the box.
“Since you kept your end of the bargain…”
Eva clapped.
“Can I see it?”
Don’t get too excited. Baking isn’t my strong suit.
She held it away from Eva. “Let’s take it to the common room.”
There was bunting strung along the walls and a ballot box at the front of the common room, while numbered tables were spaced around. The kids who had come in for homework club and hadn’t heard about today’s fundraising event were bemused by the plates of baked goods being put out on the tables.
Miss Gavin was making sure the donation tins were prominently displayed.
“Oh, this one’s good,” Eva said, pointing out a three-storey gingerbread house complete with its own garden and a macaroon snowman.
“I bet that’s Alex’s,” Mandy said. Alex was one of those people who was good at everything. He’d told her he’d just intended to rustle something up in between supervising chess club and coaching the five-a-side team.
“I bet yours is better than anyone’s,” Eva said.
Mandy hadn’t expected anyone else to make a gingerbread house. Like Eva, she’d had a romantic idea about them – until she’d actually tried to make one.
She set hers on the table and unboxed it, dreading Eva’s disappointment. Eva was quiet until Mandy stood away.
“What matters is it’s ambitious,” Eva said. “I think everyone will see how much effort you put into it. I really think you’ve got a chance of winning.”
Mandy laughed.
“Bless you, Eva, but I think we should adjust our expectations.”
“It might look better if we even the roof up a bit,” she said. “Can I?”
“Go ahead.”
She snapped off a jutting piece of roof, trying to make the building more symmetrical.
“Yes,” Mandy said wryly. “That makes all the difference.”
Eva grinned, nibbling on the gingerbread. Mandy was just glad she wasn’t disappointed.
“It tastes good,” Eva said, although by this point Mandy was beginning to doubt Eva’s judgement. “I’m going to get everyone to vote for you.”
“No cheating!” Mandy called, as Eva danced into the growing crowd.
“Afternoon, Mandy,” Alex said, joining her. “Is this your entry?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“I like what you’ve done with the jelly sweets. Fantastic idea for roof tiles.”
“That’s kind of you to say,” she said.
Alex was looking rather smart in his festive Fair Isle jumper, in contrast to his usual Tuesday afternoon sports kit.
“It’s supposed to be my dream house,” Mandy went on, “but I suspect it would be condemned in real life. Yours is fantastic, though. The way you’ve made the windows…”
“Boiled sweets,” he explained.
It looks like the lights are on. It looks like a cosy place to come home to, like there’s someone inside waiting.
He smiled at her.
“Then it turned out better than I thought.”
“If it had a skylight in the roof, it would literally be my dream house,” Mandy said. “Can I ask you something?”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Is this what gingerbread is supposed to taste like?” She broke off a corner from the back of her house.
“Poor wall!” Alex protested.
“Ah, no one will notice.”
He popped the biscuit into his mouth. Mandy watched him closely for signs of disgust, but there didn’t seem to be any.
“It’s just like my mum used to make.”
“But could she cook?” Mandy asked, frustrated.
Her own parents had been dysfunctional in lots of ways, including in the kitchen. It was perhaps part of why she identified with Eva.
Alex laughed, but was distracted by the need to swipe at a child’s hand creeping up from under the table. The boy had been trying to sneak the jelly sweets off the back of the roof. It looked like he’d already succeeded a few times.
“I see you, Milo!” Alex called, chasing him off.
As the room filled up with guests, Eva returned to Mandy.
“I’ve been around the whole room,” she said. “There’s some stiff competition. I’m still voting for you, though.”
“Isn’t it great everyone’s made such an effort?” Mandy asked.
We might raise enough to have the windows fixed in the staff room. It was a really good idea to have a Bake Off, Eva. Well done.
She squeezed Eva’s arm, while Eva stood awkwardly, not used to praise.
“You need to fix that hole,” Eva said, pointing to the roof of the gingerbread house.
“That was Milo! He’s pinching all my tiles.”
“Here, you can patch it up with this blob of icing.”
Before Mandy could stop her, Eva had snapped off the icing that was holding the roof to the side elevation.
“Oops. Bit too much.” She grinned, and popped the surplus icing – with an attached bit of biscuit – into her mouth.
“Eva!”
“It’s nice. I like it.”
“Can I try some?” Miss Gavin asked, having inspected every other entry and now arriving at their table. “To be honest, I’ve never had gingerbread before.”
“Here,” Mandy said, glad to know she wasn’t the only one. “Have a bit of the gable end.”
“Is that what that was meant to be?” Miss Gavin mused.
“Alex has got a balcony on his,” Eva’s friend Cleo said. “Can I try a bit, too?”
“Take part of the chimney,” Eva told her. “It’ll look better without it.”
“It’s not bad,” Miss Gavin said, chewing the gingerbread thoughtfully. “It’s a lot nicer than I was expecting.”
“Thanks!” Mandy beamed, thrilled.
“Last chance to cast your votes, everyone,” Miss Gavin called. “I’m about to start counting.”
With a start, Mandy realised she’d forgotten to participate.
Everyone was encouraged to vote, even the competitors, since nearly everyone had brought something. It wasn’t a difficult decision – she dropped a vote for Alex into the ballot box.
There really was something special about what he’d made. It was the kind of house you saw in feel-good TV dramas or aspirational property shows.
“It’s the kind of house you’d feel safe in, isn’t it?” Eva asked, at Mandy’s elbow. Her tone was just as wistful as Mandy’s thoughts.
“Yes.” Mandy thought of how the community centre had become the kind of safe, homely place for her she hadn’t known growing up, and how Eva spent almost as many hours here as she did. But still, it wasn’t really a home.
“That’s exactly it.”
Time to announce the winner! Bakers, to your tables, please!
Mandy went to stand beside her entry. In her absence, it had collapsed. She suspected Milo had been liberating the icing and the last of the jelly sweets. He grinned, enjoying the gingerbread so much that Mandy didn’t have the heart to mind.
“It’s going to be difficult to win with a non-existent entry,” Eva observed. “But you might have a chance.”
Mandy had never thought she would win. But she had really wanted to give Eva the gingerbread house to take home with her. It was the reason she’d made it.
Still, when Miss Gavin announced the amount of money that had been raised, Eva looked delighted enough that she probably wouldn’t mind about not having the gingerbread house. And if Mandy was concerned that Eva would be disappointed about Mandy not winning, she’d underestimated her.
Eva cheered more loudly than anyone when Alex was declared the winner.
Then she threw her arms around Mandy for a brief, uncharacteristic hug.
“Well done, Mandy,” she said.
“Well done, you,” Mandy replied.
Eva squirmed under the praise and was about to hurry off, but paused when Alex came towards them, carrying his gingerbread house on a sturdy platter.
“I thought you might like to have this,” he said, offering it to Eva.
“Thanks!” Eva was astonished. She took it reverently. Then she paused. “I bet it won’t taste as good as Mandy’s, though.”
“I’m sure,” Alex said. “I always felt Mandy was more about substance than show.” He bent closer to Mandy. “I voted for you,” he said.
“I voted for you,” Mandy said.
She watched Eva carefully balancing the platter as she moved proudly through the room.
“That was a kind thing to do,” she said.
I could never eat it by myself. I enjoyed making it, though. I thought I might make another one – similar, but with a skylight. What do you think?
Mandy started to blush under his hopeful attention. She wasn’t surprised by his kindness; she’d always known he was a good person. It was one of the things she liked so much about him.
“Sounds like my dream home,” she said.
“Well, then. That one will be for you.”
A house of her own.
