ok this is my attempt at a short story, I asked my friend Mat to give me a topic to base the story on and this is what he gave me...
Peace by Piece: Life, Death and Chocolate cake...
So here goes....
Walt peered through the frosted glass at the display behind. Cakes, Pastries, Desserts of every kind rotating slowly in front of him on thrones of Expensive Crystal. Decorated with artistic precision...
"Just Pick the One that stands out the most" said the waitress behind the counter, impatiently.
Walt looked back and the display slowly lifting his finger to the large cake in the middle, a monolith of sorts, layers of sponge and mousse, Caramel and Chocolate wrapped lovingly in a dark chocolate coating, a small card underneath written in script by hand...
"Mortal Sin"
The Waitress shot him a strange look then smiled. Walt did his best to cover up the white hidden behind his otherwise black collar as he walked back over to his seat, groaning as he sat down, it was not easy at his age.
To anyone else this event would be nothing special, old man orders a cake in a cafe, But to Walt this was everything, this was more than just baked goods, this was a matter of faith, Walt had grown up into the stereotype that fell upon him as the son of a minister, he was taught Chastity, Patience and above all, Restraint and he carried this on ever since his father had passed on with such strictness that the mere thought of lashing out in any way or form was never even considered. All Walt Knew was Faith, and this to him was happiness.
That is until the morning of Wednesday the 1st of November
It is usual in these kind of stories to note that the day in question starts out like any other day... this is not one of those kinds of stories... Walt's day was different right from the beginning...
Walt prayed open his eyes, the harsh sunlight burning through the window giving him cold sweats, this however was not unusual, what was unusual was that this was not Walt’s bed. In fact he did not know exactly whose bed this was...
He tried to think back to the night before... everything seemed in order, a normal day... church and then tea and scones with the retirees at the clinic.... is that where he was now..? Was there a medical issue, maybe he collapsed and they put him in a bed, he was old and he knew it... that’s the kind of thing that happens to old people right?
Walt lifted himself up, something felt strange, the weight of the bed seemed to be shifted to one side. Walt looked across at the other side of the bed. A shape, made under the covers, the shape of a person, a woman... Walt slipped off the bed and onto the floor, a dull thud.
"Walter?" A woman’s head peered over the edge of the bed at Walt.
"Who are you?, I’m... not sure what happened..." he stammered as he lay, staring at the ceiling.
"I'm Joyce, you must have hit yourself hard with that fall."
Walt lifted himself back up and rested on the bed, his head hurt but not THAT much.
"I'm sorry, its just, i don't remember you, I don’t remember this... this is not like me."
Joyce placed her hand on Walt’s shoulder, softly. " If it helps, you were amazing.."
Walt looked back at Joyce. "I have to go...now..."
He got up and walked quickly out of the room, people had already started to wake up and were leaving their rooms for breakfast. Walt walked quickly, eyes foreword not acknowledging anyone even though they tried their best to acknowledge him.
Finally as Walt left the building he stopped and took a deep breath in. She must have been lying, it must have been a trick, Walt wouldn’t have succumbed to such carnal desires, he was stronger than that. It was a test.
Walt quickly made his way to church, he put on his robe and made his way to the office. He just needed to forget about what happened, forget about Joyce...
This lasted about 5 minutes.
There was something about this woman that made Walt weak in the knees, she was beautiful, not in the way a younger version of himself would have looked at a woman, there was just something about her, something in her eyes... Walt quickly tried to distract himself with some readings... Gods word... The Bible.
He opened the book and begun to flip through the pages.... but all he could see were words, just words, he couldn’t keep up enough concentration to see anything else... no meaning, no messages, just words.
He slammed the book closed on his desk. What was happening to him?
"God i pray to you now for help... I don’t know what to do, if this is a test then please show me the right path..." Walt knelt still, eyes closed, silent... waiting for something... anything....
Nothing.
"GOD... i have done everything for you.... I don’t know where i went wrong but please let me know what to do!"
Still Nothing.
Walt got up onto his knees and down the aisle slimming the church door behind him.
A walk, that would clear his mind, let him assess the situation...
"Lets for a minute suggest that i did....fornicate with that woman... surely i must have been drugged, slipped alcohol... but i don’t feel any different, i didn’t wake up feeling any worse than i do every other morning.... in fact i felt....better?" Walt thought to himself.
He stopped in his tracks... he suddenly remembered everything, he remembered seeing her for the first time, he remembered being alone with her, he remembered being WITH her... He remembered why he did what he did... it was what she had said to him...
"What is the point in existence if you don’t try and understand everything about it?"
Walt looked around him, he had stopped directly outside a cafe.
The cake arrived, the darkness of the chocolate contracting heavily against the pure white plate. Walt picked up a fork and began to slice into it, he could feel the pressure against his hands as the metal worked its way past the dense layers of the cake as the fork then lifted it to his mouth.
"Walt?"
Walt looked around mid bite, Joyce at the side of his table, smiling.
"May i join you?"
Walt smiled back at her and through chocolate stained teeth replied...
"Yesch"
