Hmm, so how does this fit in with your other hints? Clearly the unimaginative person would see this as a reference to council bureaucracy, but I think you're telling us that the Penticton Cheerleading squad have been having trouble building their human pyramid and you're being contracted to be at the top, with them being all the layers beneath :) Which conveniently gives you height, for your last assassination mission, and a pretty good alibi as no-one would suspect a cheerleader of hiding a rifle in their skirt!
Layers The clock struck midnight and a desultory cheer went up from the tables in the Turning Point. Of the two guys at the bar, one fell over and started snoring, and the other, the man with the slim black cigarette, looked at the drink that Derren had put in front of him. "I asked for a Manhattan," he said, his tone neutral. "Why is there a potato in this?" "We're out of olives," said Derren. "It's the same family of vegetable, right?" "No," said the man. He pushed the drink back. "Try again?" He looked around the bar while Derren pulled the potato out and googled 'substitutes for olives' on his phone. "This year's going to be a turning point, you know. When the trade wars start, things are going to change dramatically. You used to have industry here, right?" "In Moose Bend Creek?" Derren looked up from his phone and his jaw dropped in startlement. "i don't think there's ever been enough people here to be industrious. We all knit our own Christmas jumpers, but that's about as far as it goes." The man watched as Derren dropped a pickled egg into the cocktail glass. "You had a witch-hunt industry," he said. "Back in the late 1700s." "I wouldn't know," said Derren. He pushed the glass across to the man, who shook his head and pushed it back. "Yes, you were very good at it. There'll be a resurgence. You'll be backed by the layers." Derren banged on his head on the underside of the bar where he was sorting through plastic bags of stuff in the hopes that one of them would contain something that might substitute for an olive. "You what, like?" he said, managing not to curse. "You'll be backed by the layers," said the man. A thin smile haunted his lips, though Derren couldn't see it. "There are, for any event, backers and layers: those who think you're going to win, and those who think you're going to lose. You're going to be in the unusual position where the people who want an overall failure are giving you their full support. You'll be very... lucky... people. All fifty-six of you." "Fifty-seven," said Derren. He pulled out a jasmine twig, wondered briefly what it was doing under the bar, and stuck it in the Manhattan. "Population of Moose Bend Creek is 57." The man at the bar pointed at the other man, who had stopped snoring and appeared to have choked on his own vomit. "Damn it," said Derren with feeling. The man held up the glass and nodded his approval. "Same family as the olive," he said, sipping the drink. "You might just make through the year after all."
She cut the first cake in half, which was red, and placed it on the decorative plate. “This one reminds me of the first time we met. It was all passion, full of fighting and making up. We were so young! We had thing or two to learn about relating, that’s for sure.”
She cut the second cake in half. It was orange. She grabbed some icing on a spatula and applied it like glue to the red layer and then place the orange half on top of it. “This one reminds me of giving birth to my first child. I’ve always been a bit creative, but I think this was my magnum opus. Making a baby and raising that child is the most amazing experience a person can have. Children teach us as much as we teach them. They teach us how to explain things simply, and how to love purely, without condition.”
She cut the third cake in half. It was yellow. Once again she pasted some icing to glue the yellow layer to the others. “This one reminds me of sending the children off to school. They have to learn so much now in what seems like a shorter and shorter period of time. It’s as if there’s more knowledge now then there was in our day. That’s probably true, actually, when you think of all the technical things they have to learn about that we didn’t have. Yeah, it’s a whole New World now. I don’t know where we’re headed and I’m not sure I always like it, but people have always adapted so suppose they will continue to do so.” As before, she layered this cake on top.
She cut the fourth cake in half. It was green. “This one reminds me of when we made the tree change. The kids were going off to college so they’d really left home. We were free to do what we wanted so we moved to the countryside - a forest on the side of a hill. I remember all the digging we had to do to create layers in the hillside - flat areas where I could plant vegetables and herbs. We were surrounded by trees and night foraging animals. It was an experience completely different to what I’d grown up with. I felt enriched by it.”
She cut the fifth cake in half. It was blue. “This one reminds me of my first day of retirement. I decided to take up art lessons. Watercolors was my choice of medium. I like watercolors because you can blend the shade, making it as dark as the ocean or as light as the baby blue booties I put on my son when he was first born. When you start to see the world through the colours of pigments, you appreciate it in a different way - it’s not something you could explain to someone who has never painted. You just have to take my word for it.”
She cut the sixth cake in half. It was indigo. “This one reminds me of when my husband died. I thought my world had collapsed. I looked up at the night sky and wondered what on earth all those stars were for? They seemed to be there just to light up the sky. They seemed to be there so that scientists could struggle to invent machines that might one day reach them. On the day my husband died I thought they were the cruelest thing I could witness. There seemed to be no point to them. Someone said my husband’s spirit had now become one of those stars. I thought ‘phooey’ to that - nothing can take away the pain I was feeling, no pretty little platitudes about God’s greater purpose. Nothing made sense. I was blue for a long time after that.”
Finally, she got the seventh cake, cut it in half and applied it to the others. It was purple. “Well, this one is for the purple hat I’m wearing today. It’s my 80th birthday so I’m entitled to damn well do as I please. If I want to look like one of those crazy ladies with a house full of cats then I will, even though I don’t have any cats. So, here we are, the rainbow cake is complete so let’s all have a slice and just enjoy the day and think about all the things we’ve done that has made us who we are right now. I can’t see any more purpose in life than that. It’s about what we do and how we handle what is given to us. Hopefully, we can do it all with a sense of love, that’s the best pearl of wisdom I can give you for now.”
Greg - I prefer your more imaginative explanation. Also: I can't remember what inspired this prompt.
I appreciate the continuation. And I still have no idea what is going on here. But I am very much intrigued and interested in discovering more.
Morganna - 'kin to bread but better' that about sums it up, I should think :)
Dragonfly - really like the way you used the various cakes to tell this tale. You don't say who your narrator is speaking to but I feel like I've got a pretty good picture of the scene anyway :)
4 comments:
Hmm, so how does this fit in with your other hints? Clearly the unimaginative person would see this as a reference to council bureaucracy, but I think you're telling us that the Penticton Cheerleading squad have been having trouble building their human pyramid and you're being contracted to be at the top, with them being all the layers beneath :) Which conveniently gives you height, for your last assassination mission, and a pretty good alibi as no-one would suspect a cheerleader of hiding a rifle in their skirt!
For layers, we're returning to the Turning Point.
Layers
The clock struck midnight and a desultory cheer went up from the tables in the Turning Point. Of the two guys at the bar, one fell over and started snoring, and the other, the man with the slim black cigarette, looked at the drink that Derren had put in front of him.
"I asked for a Manhattan," he said, his tone neutral. "Why is there a potato in this?"
"We're out of olives," said Derren. "It's the same family of vegetable, right?"
"No," said the man. He pushed the drink back. "Try again?" He looked around the bar while Derren pulled the potato out and googled 'substitutes for olives' on his phone. "This year's going to be a turning point, you know. When the trade wars start, things are going to change dramatically. You used to have industry here, right?"
"In Moose Bend Creek?" Derren looked up from his phone and his jaw dropped in startlement. "i don't think there's ever been enough people here to be industrious. We all knit our own Christmas jumpers, but that's about as far as it goes."
The man watched as Derren dropped a pickled egg into the cocktail glass. "You had a witch-hunt industry," he said. "Back in the late 1700s."
"I wouldn't know," said Derren. He pushed the glass across to the man, who shook his head and pushed it back.
"Yes, you were very good at it. There'll be a resurgence. You'll be backed by the layers."
Derren banged on his head on the underside of the bar where he was sorting through plastic bags of stuff in the hopes that one of them would contain something that might substitute for an olive. "You what, like?" he said, managing not to curse.
"You'll be backed by the layers," said the man. A thin smile haunted his lips, though Derren couldn't see it. "There are, for any event, backers and layers: those who think you're going to win, and those who think you're going to lose. You're going to be in the unusual position where the people who want an overall failure are giving you their full support. You'll be very... lucky... people. All fifty-six of you."
"Fifty-seven," said Derren. He pulled out a jasmine twig, wondered briefly what it was doing under the bar, and stuck it in the Manhattan. "Population of Moose Bend Creek is 57."
The man at the bar pointed at the other man, who had stopped snoring and appeared to have choked on his own vomit.
"Damn it," said Derren with feeling.
The man held up the glass and nodded his approval. "Same family as the olive," he said, sipping the drink. "You might just make through the year after all."
Crumbly
And delicious
Kin to bread but better
Every bite a taste explosion.
Layers
There were seven cakes in front of her.
She cut the first cake in half, which was red, and placed it on the decorative plate.
“This one reminds me of the first time we met. It was all passion, full of fighting and making up. We were so young! We had thing or two to learn about relating, that’s for sure.”
She cut the second cake in half. It was orange. She grabbed some icing on a spatula and applied it like glue to the red layer and then place the orange half on top of it. “This one reminds me of giving birth to my first child. I’ve always been a bit creative, but I think this was my magnum opus. Making a baby and raising that child is the most amazing experience a person can have. Children teach us as much as we teach them. They teach us how to explain things simply, and how to love purely, without condition.”
She cut the third cake in half. It was yellow. Once again she pasted some icing to glue the yellow layer to the others. “This one reminds me of sending the children off to school. They have to learn so much now in what seems like a shorter and shorter period of time. It’s as if there’s more knowledge now then there was in our day. That’s probably true, actually, when you think of all the technical things they have to learn about that we didn’t have. Yeah, it’s a whole New World now. I don’t know where we’re headed and I’m not sure I always like it, but people have always adapted so suppose they will continue to do so.” As before, she layered this cake on top.
She cut the fourth cake in half. It was green. “This one reminds me of when we made the tree change. The kids were going off to college so they’d really left home. We were free to do what we wanted so we moved to the countryside - a forest on the side of a hill. I remember all the digging we had to do to create layers in the hillside - flat areas where I could plant vegetables and herbs. We were surrounded by trees and night foraging animals. It was an experience completely different to what I’d grown up with. I felt enriched by it.”
She cut the fifth cake in half. It was blue. “This one reminds me of my first day of retirement. I decided to take up art lessons. Watercolors was my choice of medium. I like watercolors because you can blend the shade, making it as dark as the ocean or as light as the baby blue booties I put on my son when he was first born. When you start to see the world through the colours of pigments, you appreciate it in a different way - it’s not something you could explain to someone who has never painted. You just have to take my word for it.”
She cut the sixth cake in half. It was indigo. “This one reminds me of when my husband died. I thought my world had collapsed. I looked up at the night sky and wondered what on earth all those stars were for? They seemed to be there just to light up the sky. They seemed to be there so that scientists could struggle to invent machines that might one day reach them. On the day my husband died I thought they were the cruelest thing I could witness. There seemed to be no point to them. Someone said my husband’s spirit had now become one of those stars. I thought ‘phooey’ to that - nothing can take away the pain I was feeling, no pretty little platitudes about God’s greater purpose. Nothing made sense. I was blue for a long time after that.”
Finally, she got the seventh cake, cut it in half and applied it to the others. It was purple. “Well, this one is for the purple hat I’m wearing today. It’s my 80th birthday so I’m entitled to damn well do as I please. If I want to look like one of those crazy ladies with a house full of cats then I will, even though I don’t have any cats. So, here we are, the rainbow cake is complete so let’s all have a slice and just enjoy the day and think about all the things we’ve done that has made us who we are right now. I can’t see any more purpose in life than that. It’s about what we do and how we handle what is given to us. Hopefully, we can do it all with a sense of love, that’s the best pearl of wisdom I can give you for now.”
Greg - I prefer your more imaginative explanation. Also: I can't remember what inspired this prompt.
I appreciate the continuation. And I still have no idea what is going on here. But I am very much intrigued and interested in discovering more.
Morganna - 'kin to bread but better' that about sums it up, I should think :)
Dragonfly - really like the way you used the various cakes to tell this tale. You don't say who your narrator is speaking to but I feel like I've got a pretty good picture of the scene anyway :)
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