The Chocolate Cake

Igashu steps towards the barn with the painting of a slice of chocolate cake. He opens the door and some unknown force pulls him in and straight down into a dark abyss. Igashu screams until he hits the ground and becomes unconscious.

When Igashu wakes up, he’s in a low lit alley. It’s already night time. Up ahead he sees a bunch of people, wearing unusual clothing, walking past. He gets up and notices his clothes changed. Igashu walks out of the alley and looks up. He sees a bunch of colorful lights everywhere and realizes that they’re buildings. He’s in such awe that his mouth opens wide. He has never seen such buildings at those heights in his life.

Igashu walks around and sees people selling food. The food looks tasty and the aroma is so unbelievable that his stomach begins to growl. All of a sudden, he sees glimpses of his past. Igashu lived alone in a run down apartment. He struggled trying to make a living, but managed to get by. Money was always an issue for him because it always led him to more trouble. His stomach growls again, snapping him back to reality. He remembers that he has a wallet with money in it. He goes ahead and buys food, moving from stand to stand. Igashu happily eats with no care in the world. His hands are full from carrying so much food. While picking what to eat next, he bumps into a larger man. Sauce from the food splash all over his shirt.

“I’m so sorry, let me get that for you,” Igashu says, using a napkin to wipe off the sauce.

The sauce smears and Igashu sees the larger man grinding his teeth, growling.

“You little -,” The larger man begins to say.

Igashu gives a nervous laugh and says, “Bye.” Dropping his food, Igashu runs as fast as he can. The larger man runs after him. Fortunately, Igashu is nimble, so he brushes past the crowd easily. The larger man struggles to get through and ends up bumping and crashing into people. Igashu stealthily goes back into the alley and crouches down in the dark. He sees the larger man trying to find him, looking left and right, and continues onwards. He gives a sigh of relief and stands back up. Igashu walks in the opposite direction as the larger man and decides to head to his apartment. He knows the vicinity of his apartment, but has a hard time finding it. After two hours of searching, Igashu finally finds it and heads up to his apartment to pass out.

Noon arrives and Igashu is still sleeping. There are loud knocks coming from the door. Igashu wakes up and slowly walks to the door to open it. The moment he opens it, a woman barges in.

“I can’t believe you stood me up at brunch! I can’t do this anymore. You’re such a lazy sloth, it’s irritating! I mean look at your place, it’s a total mess and it’s noon and you just got out of bed!,” she rants.

Igashu is still half asleep at this point. She notices and starts snapping in front of his face.

“Hello?! Earth to Igashu? Are you even listening to me?,” she says with an attitude.

Igashu stares blankly, not understanding the situation he’s in.

“Ugh! I’m done! We’re so over! I don’t know why I even gave you a second chance,” she says as she walks out, slamming the door on the way out.

Igashu continues staring blankly for a bit and heads back to his bed to sleep again.

Three hours pass and Igashu wakes from his slumber. He washes up and decides to grab some food. He opens his fridge and it's empty. There’s a knock on the door. Igashu opens it and he sees a bag on the floor. He looks outside, but the hallway is empty.

“Hello?,” Igashu calls out, “Is this anybody’s?” However, there was no reply; just dead silence.

Igashu shrugs and places the bag on top of the table and opens it. It’s a food delivery with multiple containers. One container has a slice of chocolate cake. His stomach grumbles and he decides to eat, saving the cake for last. After eating everything else, he opens the container with the chocolate cake. It smells delicious. Igashu takes a bite of it and his head tilts backwards, eyes closed. A heavenly taste. He continues eating it until there’s one bite left. He’s about to eat the last piece until he hears a knock on the door. He drops his fork and gets up to open the door. An average looking guy is at the door.

“Really dude? You’re still in your pajamas?,” the guy said. “I can’t believe you. You had one last chance and you completely blew it. Boss man said the moment he sees you, you’re fired. How many times did I tell you to stop being lazy and get your act together?”

“Uh..,” Igashu said, not understanding what’s going on.

“Never mind that. All this time, I was trying to help you, but I feel like I’m just wasting my time. You're a lost cause. You’re on your own now, Igashu,” the guy said, “And wipe that chocolate off your face.”

The guy leaves and Igashu touches his face. He heads towards the sink to wash it off. The moment he turns the knob, water starts to come out extremely slowly. Igashu’s head tilts, wondering what’s happening. He puts his hand right under the slow moving water. Then, he waves his hand back and forth several times, but the water moves a couple milliliters at a time. Igashu blinks and all of a sudden the water pours out like normal.

“What is going on?” Igashu wonders.

He turns around and finishes up the last bite of the cake. On his way to put dirty utensils in the sink, he trips on the nearby chair, dropping the utensils. However, the moment that happens, Igashu looks at the fork he used to eat the chocolate cake and it’s floating midair. The other utensils, on the other hand, fall down normally. Igashu walks around the floating fork. He grabs for it and drops it again. The fork slowly drops at a slow rate again. Igashu realizes that whatever he focuses on, he can slow down time around it.

Igashu is excited about his newfound powers and decides to use them outside. He spends the rest of the evening stealing people’s food from their stands and slowing people’s heads to steal their belongings. He goes back to his place and lays on his bed. Around him are peoples' wallets, necklaces, watches, and rings. Igashu lays there with a big smile on his face, thinking of what to do next. Eventually he comes up with another idea and heads out again.

Walking in the crowded street, Igashu tries to find his next target. Some distance ahead of him, he sees a muscular man. He bumps into a muscular man on purpose.

"Watch where you're going!," the muscular man yells.

"No, you watch where you're going!," Igashu yells back.

"What did you just say?!," the muscular man replies.

Angry, the muscular man starts to swing a punch at Igashu. Using his powers, Igashu slows his punch, dodges and swings a punch at him. Confused, the muscular man swings back a couple time, but Igashu uses his power to slow down every punch. A crowd starts forming to watch the spectacle. Igashu swings a few punches at the muscular man, landing all his punches. He feels a rush of adrenaline and starts smirking. Annoyed and furious, the muscular man throws a punch again and Igashu focuses on the incoming punch. This time, he narrowly dodges. Suddenly, Igashu feels his hands shaking as if he is about to have a sugar crash. The muscular man throws another punch. Igashu tries to focus on it, but it fails. Losing his power from the chocolate cake, Igashu gets punched in the face and gets knocked out.

When Igashu wakes up again, he returns to the place with the white sky and seven barns.

- Even when life doesn't go your way, remember that you're the pilot.