“Marley, the frosting!” Called Twyla, getting the golden brown three tier cake from the steaming oven. Marley quickly scrambled to the counter where the homemade frosting lay and raced it over to Twyla. Twyla sighed a sigh of relief and carefully spread the frosting out. Then she used a stencil and added beautiful flowery designs and swirls. After that, Marley put on the fondant flowers and honeycombs, along with some bees.

“There’s is so good.” Jerry whispered to Clay. Clay was busily working on his three tier cake, “not as good as ours.” He brushed the flour remains off of his apron and begin to use food coloring to paint on beautiful designs. His curly hair bounced as he moved from every side of the counter, checking out his beautiful dessert. He couldn’t help but notice Twyla, her tan skin, her blue eyes, her chocolatey brown hair, and the way she always beamed with joy when baking.

“Time is up, bakers!” Mr. Williams exclaimed, looking into the camera. “Please bring your cakes to the judges when I call your name.” It was the semi finals, so they wouldn’t have to wait too long, there was only four teams left.

“First up, Clay and Jerry!” Clay swallowed the lump in his throat and along with Mr. Williams and Jerry, he carried the cake up to the judges. Jerry carefully cut each judge a piece and layed it onto their plate. “We made a hazelnut cake with yellow buttercream icing and food coloring paint designs.” Clay said. The judges nodded approvingly and each took a bite. “Delicious! The buttercream really gives it extra flavor, and it looks amazing.” Said Ms. Ferrel. Mr. Henson took a s slow bite, “very delicious, a little dry though, and I would suggest that next time you add a little more water to help with the dryness.” The other two judges say their opinions, and Clay and Jerry walk away with pride.

“Last, but not least, Twyla and Marley!” Mr. Williams announced. Twyla and Marley together carried their cake up to the judges and while Marley cut the cake, Twyla explained the dish. “We made a dark chocolate cake with French buttercream frosting, fondant flowers, honeycombs, and bees, and flowery stencil designs on the frosting.” The judges all took bites of their cake, and this time Mrs. York spoke first, “absolutely fabulous! It has great texture and the cake is very nice and moist. The fondant really makes it stand out, too.” Mr. Tucker spoke now, “I do believe this is your best cake of the season, you have come very far from the first round.” Marley and Twyla beamed with pride and walked away after Mr. Henson and Ms. Ferrel gave their critiques.

After the show…

“Great job, Clay!” Twyla exclaimed, high-fiving him. “You do so good, too!” Clay said. “I’ll miss John and Eliza though,” Jerry pouted. Marley put her arm around Jerry, “it is okay, Jerry, at least they made it this far!” Jerry smiled and then said, “I am so excited that tomorrow is the finals!” Twyla and Marley agreed, “yeah! We could win that money.” Jerry shook his head, “oh, I don’t care about winning! I just want to go home and pet my cat!” Everyone began to laugh, and then Clay disappeared behind the corner.

“Clay?” Twyla called out when she noticed he was gone. “Twyla, I think I-I…” he mumbled from the darkness. “You what?” Twyla called out again, searching for the source of his voice. “I think I love you! But it is so hard because I want to win, but because I love you, I want you to win too.” Tears flowed from Twyla’s eyes, and when she finally found Clay, she hugged him.

The Final Episode.

“Things are getting hot in here as Twyla, Clay, and Wyatt go head to head!” Mr. Williams exclaims excitedly, slightly shaking the camera. Twyla and Marley race to their stations and so do the rest. “Your challenge for the finals is to recreate the first dessert you ever made, but instead of just making a, let’s say, a batch of cookies, make a cake shaped like a cook and decor on top!” Marley and Twyla shake their heads. “Are you thinking what I am thinking?” Twyla asked. Marley squeals, “giant cupcake!” Twyla looked at Marley dumbly, “no, the first dessert we made with momma is ice cream!” “Oh… right! So we are gonna make a ice cream cake?” Marley questions and Twyla nods excitedly.

Clay looked at his cake with disgust. “It just isn’t good enough!” He exclaims, utterly frustrated. Jerry pats his shoulder, “it is okay, Clay, we can fix it in time—-“ “alright bakers! Ten minutes left! I repeat! Only ten minutes left!” Sweat runs down Clay’s face as he silently swears under his breath. He steps away to look at it, “okay, the fondant looks pretty good for the fake macaron base.” He mumbles.

“Bakers! Please bring your cakes to the judges… this time, instead of you explaining it to them, they will just try it and see what they think.” Mr. Williams announces. They contestants all look at each other in shock and walk away, fear welling in their stomachs.

—————————

“Okay, here we are! The judges are about to announce the winners and the three finalist teams are all eager to know who will claim the 100,000 prize!” Mr. Williams does a tiny happy dance as the camera zooms around the room, landing on the judges. Mrs. Ferrel clears her throat, “the winner of America’s Great Cake Bake is… Wyatt and his wife!” Wyatt and Mrs. Johnson squeal with delight as they receive the trophy. The credits begin to roll as they walk out, but suddenly the camera spins around.

“I’m glad I got to compete in this with you.” Clay says, smiling at Twyla. Twyla blushes and kisses him on his pink cheek: “me too.”

Almost 1,000 words!