Twinkie
by Valerie Biles
My mother retrieved the ice cream cake from its frozen imprisonment and a cold mist escaped through the icing in waves that chilled me with excitement. The candle’s scintillating flame danced with my wish for a tiny plump kitten with a cream-colored belly and a spongy tan coat.
My beautiful cake tasted like air. I thought only of my kitten and where she could be hiding. Over by the gifts sat a basket large enough to contain a small cat pulling at a red bow around its neck. I squealed and snatched her from her woven imprisonment. This animal was a Trojan horse; surprises were within her.