The Parade Saffi Built — By the frosting avenue window, Saffi pressed paper flags into warm crumbs and tapped a spoon on her mixing bowl: ting, ting, ting. Read the full story →
By the frosting avenue window, Saffi pressed paper flags into warm crumbs and tapped a spoon on her mixing bowl: ting, ting, ting. She had invented March-a-Wish, a game where every cupcake earned a step by carrying something she had made herself—a candle, a tiny flag, a star on a stick. The icing smelled like sugar snow, and her fingers were sticky with pride. “One step for each brave sprinkle!” she whispered.
The cupcakes waddled forward in a bright, quiet line, leaving little dot-steps through the confetti. Balloons bobbed above them, tugging softly at their strings, while the clouds seemed to pause and watch. Saffi lifted the banner she had cut from scrap paper, expecting it to say who reached the finish first.
But the letters shimmered and changed. They were not counting steps at all; they were saving the wishes the cupcakes carried for someone yet to arrive. Saffi smiled, because her game had made room for a surprise. When the birthday child came around the bend, every handmade flag fluttered at once—ting, ting, ting, like the spoon on her mixing bowl.
