Gingerbread

In today's story, Gingerbread, Penny comes home in time for the family's annual gingerbread contest

Today's prompt was inspired by Sweet Gingerbread Man, a song by Sammy Davis Jr. that always makes me smile. 

More about Susan Quilty

Susan Quilty mainly writes novels, including two standalone novels and her YA series: The Psychic Traveler Society.  Susan's short stories for Freely Written are created during quick writing breaks and shared as a way to let go of perfection and encourage writing for fun.

Website:  SusanQuilty.com
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Transcript

Below is the transcript for Season 1, Episode 153 of Freely Written, a podcast by author Susan Quilty:

Welcome to Freely Written, where a simple prompt leads to a little unplanned fiction.  

[Light piano music]

Hi, friends! I’m Susan Quilty, and today’s prompt is Gingerbread

Today’s prompt is holiday-inspired. Or maybe I should say Sammy Davis Jr. inspired… If you haven’t heard Sweet Gingerbread Man by Sammy Davis Jr., go listen! It may not be the most Christmas-y of holiday songs, but it’s delightful and never fails to make me smile. 

As we’re now into December, this will be my last story of 2025, but I will be back with more Freely Written in January. During our holiday break, here’s your friendly reminder that books make excellent gifts. Yes, this is a pitch to go beyond this podcast, as I would love for you to read and share my novels. 

My first novel, The Insistence of Memory, brings a twist of mystery and speculative fiction with a story about a machine that can record memories and play them back in someone else’s mind. If you like psychological drama, To the Left of Death takes you on a teacher’s journey through art and intrigue after she witnesses a senseless murder.  

I’ve also written a Young Adult adventure trilogy called The Psychic Traveler Society. These books follow Amanda Jones, an average teenager who has an unusual ability to visit a daydream house where special doors transport her to different worlds. Amanda must balance her new, secret life as a psychic traveler with her desire to be a normal high school student. 

Finally, I have a genre-blending, choose-your-story style book called Audrey and Esther Geekify Greenville. Each brief chapter gives you a choice of where to go next. Depending on your choices, you may find sci-fi, fantasy, or rom-com tropes. This is a silly book that you can read over and over, finding new stories with 22 possible endings. 

If any of these books sound appealing, I would truly appreciate your support this holiday season. Learn more at SusanQuilty.com. 

Now back to today’s story, which was written with my usual Freely Written process, where I sit down with the prompt and write whatever comes to mind, with no planning and very little editing. 

And… here we go:

Gingerbread

The Fitzpatrick Annual Gingerbread Contest was well underway when Penny arrived at her parents’ house. It used to be called the gingerbread house contest, but her family had upped their game over the years, moving beyond houses to elaborate displays of gingerbread castles, gingerbread playgrounds, gingerbread forests, and even a gingerbread Ferris wheel.

When Penny was young, she loved watching her aunts and uncles, older cousins, parents, and grandparents all working to outdo themselves (and each other) with sculptures made of gingerbread, icing, gumdrops, candy canes, and chocolate.

She and her sisters would make an entry together. Ginny, the oldest, would take charge of the planning and general direction. Sheila, two years younger, would do most of the work. While Penny, four years younger than Sheila, would help by adding an occasional candy accent, when she wasn’t sneaking around the room to spy on the other creations. 

Spying was not allowed during the afternoon of gingerbread crafting. Groups were chosen in advance, and they’d each stake out a shielded place to work. Screens divided the kitchen and living room into private areas, where everyone could still hear the same holiday music and call out jokes or stories, while keeping their creations secret until the unveiling. 

Though spying wasn’t allowed, it was a sneaky part of the game. As hosts, Penny’s parents had the excuse of bringing around drinks or snacks. Her grandparents would peer around a screen, claiming they didn’t hear what someone said. Others made up reasons to peek while on their way to the bathroom or to get something from their car. 

Being the youngest of them all, there were several years when Penny had the easiest time running in and out of each area. No one expected a three-, or four-, or five-year-old to stay outside of the screens. She would spy for her sisters, reporting on the competition, and no one really minded, knowing the girls—being the youngest of the extended family—were unlikely to win the top bragging rights. 

As they grew up, the girls became tougher competitors and worse teammates. Ginny and Sheila argued over who was in charge and who was doing more work. Penny tried to mediate, then stayed out of it, then lost interest. 

After Ginny, then Sheila, went off to college, their visits home became complicated. Penny’s excitement at seeing them would often fade into a confusing sense that something had changed. There was a distance that seemed to grow as her sisters went off and started lives with friends Penny would never meet and live in apartments she would never see. 

Now that Penny had gone to college and was coming home, she wasn’t looking forward to the great gingerbread battle. She had been looking forward to it, hoping her time away had somehow put her back on even footing with her sisters, but their text group had devolved into arguments over gingerbread designs. The chat had gotten heated, with both Ginny and Sheila threatening to bail on their sister group and join up with competing cousins. Penny had muted, then bailed on the chat.

It was easy to find excuses to stay at school a few extra days, despite her mother’s pleading, but Penny couldn’t put it off forever. She promised to be home for the gingerbread contest and big family dinner. But she took her time driving, knowing she’d miss the start of the crafting. She hadn’t committed to a group, thinking she could find a last-minute place to join or just sit it out this year.

When Penny got out of her car—which she’d parked far down a street lined with relatives’ cars—she left her bags in the backseat and looked at her house. Her parents’ house, as she had begun to think of it. She felt more at home in her dorm and was already dreaming about an off-campus apartment. Still, the sight of the house in the lightly falling snow brought a bittersweet sense of nostalgia. 

On a whim, she left her bags and walked around the house to the wooded backyard. Her feet left boot prints in the pristine snow, and her breath came out in foggy puffs. 

There was a trail in the woods that led to their old treehouse. Penny climbed the ladder and switched on the battery-powered lights, pleased to find that they still held a charge. She settled into a giant weather-resistant poof chair and closed her eyes, picturing her aunts, uncles, and cousins all icing together fantastic gingerbread concoctions while her mom fretted over her arrival and her dad suggested patience. 

Penny was sure only a few moments had passed, but when she opened her eyes, the sky was growing dark. She pressed her hand against her pillowy chair and found it was suddenly gritty and firm… and smelled like sugar. The scent of sugar was all around. Penny noticed icing holding the treehouse’s gingerbread walls together and candy canes lining the ceiling like rafters. A licorice swirl had replaced the woven throw rug, and cut chocolate bars had taken the place of window sills. 

Penny blinked her eyes in wonder, then picked up a marshmallow throw pillow and took a bite of its sugary sweetness. She was about to nibble on the gumdrop chair when the gingerbread treehouse began to shake around her. 

She reached toward the walls, wanting to hold the sheets of gingerbread in place, but she could feel them cracking and tumbling toward her…

“There you are!”

Penny opened her eyes to see Ginny’s head popping through the hatchway. Ginny looked down the ladder and said, “I told you she was up here.” 

Ginny swiftly ascended, and Sheila was right on her heels. 

“Who else would be up here?” Sheila asked, and Penny realized that they must have seen the lights from the house. 

“Hiding out?” Ginny asked with a smirk. 

Before Penny could answer, Sheila added, “Mom sent us to get you… But we’re not in a rush.” 

They both sat on their own poof chairs. All of them crowded into a space that had once felt so much larger. 

“Shouldn’t you be making a Great Wall of Gingerbread or something?” Penny responded, referencing one of the ideas Ginny had texted, and Sheila had shot down. 

“We were waiting for you,” Ginny said pointedly, though a smile softened her tone. 

Penny felt a twinge in the center of her chest. She looked to Sheila, who grinned and shrugged, saying, “We couldn’t agree on a design, anyway.”

“Not surprised,” Penny said neutrally. Though she was surprised. She was surprised and touched after their threats to abandon their group. 

They sat together, their warm breath mingling in the cold air and their bodies settling into the protected comfort of their treehouse hideaway. The place they’d shared countless sleepovers, fights, and reunions. 

“I have an idea,” Penny ventured softly. She raised her hands, gesturing around the space. “Gingerbread treehouse?”

Her sisters’ eyes lit up before meeting in agreement. In that moment, they were on the same page, holding on to this link to their past as they fumbled their way into the future. 

They helped each other up and clambered down the ladder, tossing out design suggestions. They were a team, and they had a gingerbread treehouse to build. 

The End 

Thanks for listening. Family gatherings can bring all kinds of mixed emotions, but hopefully a good dollop of joy. I wish you all the merriest of holidays and a happy New Year! 

If you’d like to check out my books, please visit SusanQuilty.com or search for Susan Quilty wherever you buy books. There are also links in the show notes. 

Until next time, try a little free writing of your own. Let go of any planning and see where your imagination takes you. 

[Light piano music]