RP Post: The Snack Bowl Champion

Cassidy didn’t know which team was winning. Or losing. Or even playing, really. She had tried to remember their names earlier, but they both sounded like toothpaste brands, and neither of them had an animal in the logo, which felt like a missed opportunity.

What she did know was that the table was winning.

Green like a football field with little white lines painted down its plastic tablecloth, it held more treasures than any game possibly could. Piles of golden pigs in a blanket curled up like sleepy puppies, a bowl of tortilla chips stuck out like crunchy mountain peaks, and near the middle, a fortress of deviled eggs stood perfectly still, dusted with paprika like they’d been tucked under a sunset.

Cassidy stood in the center of it all, dressed in a pink-and-white cheerleader outfit that puffed out around her knees. A single pink pompom dangled from one hand. Her white sneakers gripped the edge of a nacho plate, her twin buns bobbing as she turned in place, surveying her snack kingdom. She didn’t yell or clap or even say much—just smiled, quietly delighted, cheeks a little sticky from the powdered sugar someone had dusted over the soda cups earlier.

The grown-ups were shouting at the TV again. Wings disappeared by the dozen. Salsa dripped. But Cassidy just kept standing there on the table like the tiniest, proudest mascot of joy. She wasn’t cheering for any team. She was cheering for snacks. And in her world, that meant everyone could win.