Nightmare into Fantasy- Part 2

They made their way towards the house. It was a solid afternoon of work. Anthony glanced back over his shoulder, to survey their efforts. “How much would you say, what we did was worth?” He asked out of pure curiosity.

“That?” Parker responded, turning abruptly to face the stacks of mammal meals. “Best guesstimate… probably $1600,” he delivered nonchalantly, spinning back toward the main house. They could hear laughter wafting through the early evening calm. The sun was still high enough to suck the remaining energy from the beleaguered men. They stumbled toward the house in anticipation of a good meal.

As Parker was just about to step onto the first stair leading up to the front porch, he heard Anthony curse. “Shit!” Parker glimpsed back, considering his friend.

Anthony froze mid stride. He had the demeanour of someone who had forgotten something terribly important. He pulled out his phone and scrolled through to his calendar. Yep, there it was right there. The alert suggesting he had to leave immediately if he wanted to make this appointment. “Hey buddy, I hate to do this on short notice but I gotta head into town for a few minutes,” Anthony expressed. “I gotta see a guy about a case I’m working on. Tell your folks I’ll be back to grab a piece of that delightful looking chocolate cake in there.”

“Better hurry back dude,” Parker smirked, “You know I have the strength of 10 oxen when presented with chocolate cake. They’ll have to knock me out to prevent me from eating the entire thing.” Anthony knew this to be true. Unfortunately the risk of losing out on cake paled in comparison to how important this meeting was.

“How about you try and save me a piece?” He knew his request was futile. Parker’s stomach was like a black hole for pastries, all matter around it disappeared through it, never to be seen again. It had been a few years since he had discovered how dangerous it was getting between Parker and pastries. He still bore the scar but it could have been a lot worse.

Forked Up

It’s not often you bond with your roommate the way they had in freshman year. They met each other openly but with skepticism and for the first couple of weeks, everything went pretty smoothly. Their schedules and habits were relatively similar, no super late nights keeping the other awake, no conflicts over filthy boxers mysteriously left in the middle of the floor. At the beginning, the only source of conflict between them was Anthony waking up at 5:30 AM to go to the gym. Who wakes up at that time? Only dads and entrepreneurs as far as Parker knew.

It wasn’t until a month into the semester when true colours began to expose themselves. Parker was surprised to learn it was Anthony’s birthday. This fact was revealed to Parker through a combination of complex, deductive logic and the manifestation of a birthday cake. Ok, it was just the cake. Maybe we are giving Parker a little too much credit. On the other hand, it did give Anthony insight into just how perilous Parker could be around cake.

There was nothing exceptional about the cake. It was your standard, round homemade cake covered in icing made with the love of a mother who was still grieving her son going off to college. She called every night. A stark contrast to Parker’s parents who still hadn’t checked in on him, not even a text to see if he was alive. That was the relationship Anthony had with his mother. Parker would get to experience her warmth, vibrancy, and hospitality frequently in the following years. This cake however, nearly ended their friendship before it began.

The moment Parker’s nose caught wind of the cake, he turned feral, like an animal stalking its prey. His senses heightened, and mind sharpened with one goal… the cake. He didn’t understand. How was Anthony able to remain so calm? It was just sitting there, on the little table they sometimes used to share meals, begging to be eaten. Upon receipt of the cake, Anthony had secured a couple of forks from the little kitchen they shared with the rest of their floor.

When he set the cake on the table, Parker, who had been mindlessly reading the latest Song of Ice and Fire book, snapped to attention, his mouth salivating. Anthony was feeling a little homesick. He wasn’t used to being away from his friends and family so while the cake brought him joy because he was on their minds, it also produced a pang of loneliness. It was then that his phone rang. It was home and Anthony decided to step into the hall to reconnect with his family.

There was no hesitation. By the time Anthony had returned two minutes later, Parker had already devoured ¾ of the cake. “Dude! What the fuck? That was my birthday cake. That I was going to share with you because you’re the closest person I have to a friend here.” Parker narrowed his eyes towards Anthony and let out a low growl. This surprised Anthony. For one, it was HIS birthday cake. Two, the only time he had ever received a reaction like that was when he tried to take food from his dog at home. He stepped toward Parker and was met with a deeper, more menacing growl.

Parker couldn’t be serious. It was just cake. Not even his cake! Why this reaction? Anthony found out how serious shortly after. As he moved toward the last bit of cake, Parker’s face flashed a look of fear, desperation, and rage. It was so quick Anthony didn’t feel it… until he did. There, lodged in his hand, fortunately missing the bones, was Parker’s fork.

Anthony’s blood curdling scream broke Parker’s trance. He awoke to a mostly eaten cake, Anthony’s cursing and a bit of blood spatter. He was just realizing where the spatter came from when Anthony punched him in the face. Anthony didn’t mean to do it. He was generally non-violent except when threatened and Parker was no threat. Hitting Parker wasn’t even done out of anger, it was purely reaction because he had just been stabbed with a fork!

Eventually Anthony was able to come to terms with Parker’s behaviour but only after witnessing a few more feral acts of indulgence in baked goods. Every time Parker said he blacked out, Anthony believed him. As they got to know each other, Anthony learned Parker was a genuine and loyal yet terribly disorganized person. If only he knew the heartbreak that awaited Parker at the end of the evening. Maybe then he would have avoided leaving.

Anthony spun around and began trotting the 30 yards to his car parked under the shade of the iconic white oak tree. Driving up the windy dirt road toward the main house always reminded him of a painting, likely because it was.

Dessert Before Dinner

Parker watched his friend get into his car and drive away before climbing the short staircase onto the covered front porch. The laughter from the house was clearer now. He could hear the sweet melody of Tanya’s laugh. He imagined her smiling and was instantly taken to a place of peace.

The setting sun waved goodbye to the day leaving behind a trail of reds, fiery oranges, deep pinks and vibrant purples. A curtain of stars was opening onto the sky and the grasshoppers had begun their evening song. He was definitely going to propose tonight.

He entered through the front door, walking past the living room on his right down the hall to the kitchen where his parents were revealing Parker’s most embarrassing childhood memories. He emerged into the kitchen and was greeted warmly by his father, “There’s the man! How did you and Anthony get on with clearing out the barn?”

Barely managing to keep the exhaustion off his face and out of his voice, “Would have gone a bit faster if we had another set of hands. But I get it... you’re old.” Truth is Parker’s father could have done the work in half the time but he felt it was important for Parker to remember where he came from. Whenever Parker came back from the city to visit, he seemed a little bit softer than the last time they had seen each other.

And then he saw her. Clean lines and smooth curves framed a luscious dark body which tantalized the senses. He wanted to taste her, no, needed to and he would have done it in front of his parents without hesitation. Tanya spoke softly. “I see you’re eying up that piece of cake, pretty hard babe. Do you want to take it somewhere private so you two can be alone?”

Parker’s mother and father burst into laughter. Everyone knew his pastry cravings were potentially dangerous. He was even tested for hypoglycemia but it turns out, he was simply unnaturally violent when it came to pastry consumption. Therapy and Tanya had helped him get his blackouts under control. At least he was no longer stabbing people. He looked away sheepishly. He knew their words were in jest but he still couldn’t help feel a touch of shame.

Tanya slid the piece of cake toward him. “Go on hon. One bite won’t hurt.” She smiled, loosening his inhibitions. There was something else in the smile he couldn’t quite explain because pastry lust had taken him. It looked so moist. Like the baker paid extra attention to batter consistency. He brought the porcelain plate towards him and picked up the fork that accompanied the dessert.

“Risky giving me a fork,” he voiced, as he cut a piece off with the utensil and lifted it to his mouth. He was right. It tasted like a chocolate cloud. As he swirled the cake around his mouth the flavours dissolved around his tongue. Almond, dark chocolate, coffee, and butterscotch blended well to form a well balanced piece of confectionary artistry. He swallowed, eager for his next bite but something was off.

Dizziness, headache… oh no Parker thought. Not another black…