Fine Dining

I have seen little else other than the plainly decorated walls of our apartment for several months. The walls themselves are fine, Lisa did what she could with what we could afford when we moved in last year. She surely would have preferred a balance between classic and contemporary styles. Something she could have been proud to show off to her friends and family. Domestic dreams could wait back then, and we were satisfied with what Ikea could provide based on our budget. There used to be time for planning and saving. People lived their lives as though they had something they could build. As though there were a future. I suppose there were also those who ‘lived in the moment’, trying to make the most of the time they had. Carpe diem. I can’t imagine what that could even mean now.

The end of things as they were began about eight months ago, although I don’t know if anyone is sure when. I can’t imagine anyone knows exactly how it happened. It wasn’t exactly a war. It happened too fast, and all at once, and everywhere. We don’t know exactly what they are or where they came from either, we only know that they came. I often wonder if they came from another planet, or if they have been here all along. Waiting. Either possibility used to terrify me. I liked to think that while the universe had elements of randomness and chaos, there was beauty in its complexity, and we had the opportunity to live the lives as we wished. This now seemed to be an illusion. Were they waiting the whole time? Waiting just until there were enough of us?

This seems to be their main motivation. Their lives are of quantity, not of substance. They ignored humanities greatest accomplishments - art, science, architecture are not part of their culture, if they can be said to have anything resembling a culture. They don’t discriminate between us either, for the most part. They do not respect the beautiful nor our intelligent among us. A human being is a human body. Flesh is flesh. There exist those among them who have some preferences. Maybe one of them will prefer women, another children. A subtle difference in taste perhaps. Most of them, however, enjoy our consumption en masse, and there is plenty to go around.

This taste preference is the reason I am alive today. Alive is probably not the right description. Taste preference is the reason I still exist. Although the creatures are murderous and callous, they cannot be said to be unintelligent or savage. They possess a set of powers of influence. Human beings are seemingly hypnotized by them, drawn to them like flies to honey. I’ve seen it happen - a creature presents itself without warning to a small group of people, who can’t help but approach with awe. They are beaming, absolutely radiating with joy as the creature ends their lives quickly and not wastefully. When under its spell the creature is utterly stunning and beautiful, although at a distance its hideous nature becomes obvious.

I have also experienced this up close. Lisa and I had followed the government’s advice to spread out and stay home. We stocked up on food and supplies. We were prepared to wait. We stayed away from groups, hardly speaking to our friends and families. At first we saw the horror on television, and we were determined to make ourselves as small a target as possible. Not just as a couple, but as a community. This worked at first, it was weeks before one of the creatures decided to visit our town, and weeks again before one of them entered our neighbourhood. Once they arrived however, what was to come was inevitable. Some of our neighbours panicked, trying to flee from their homes when convenient. Others even had the gall to mount an attack on the creatures. Both sorts of attempts failed completely. Resistance wasn’t possible.

They went door to door, house to house, building to building, consuming those who resided within. They were able to skip over homes that had already been abandoned. I think they can smell us. Lisa and I were terrified. We held each other for what we knew would be the last time. I told her that I loved her, that I was grateful for the time we had together, and that we would be partners until the end. When the creature finally approached I could feel it. I became slightly dizzy. The air was fuzzy around me, and I could only seem to focus on the direction that I knew the creature was approaching from. There was a sweet smell in the air. My thoughts became clear, simple, contented, satisfied. The fear was gone. When it entered our home and I saw it I was awestruck. I couldn’t make out its details clearly, but I had never seen anything as beautiful. As it moved it left a multicoloured spectrum in the air behind it. I could feel myself move towards it, standing at attention alongside to my wife. It moved towards her first, and I she reacted as I would have in that moment, a wide smile grew upon her face. She was humbled by the glory of this being before her. As the being pierced her heart with a protracted tentacle, I knew this was the most accomplished she had ever felt in her life. I knew this as it was what I felt was soon to be my reward, my gift from this saviour.

My release was not to come. I’m sure I’ll never learn exactly why or how the beast knew of my career. I’ll never know if it chose our apartment because it knew what I did for a living, or if it saw my diploma from culinary school, or my award for ‘most promising young chef’ 2020. A few years ago I participated in a reality cooking show, Mystery Meat, where contestants were asked to prepare a gourmet meal with unexpected ingredients from unorthodox sources. Maybe the monster tuned in.

It didn’t exactly use language as it spoke. Not language as I would understand. But the high pitched beeps, gurgles, and other noises registered as something to me. I understood why I was spared, and what the monster wanted from me.

The manner in which Lisa was slain by the monster left most of her body intact. Her internal organs were conserved, and there was no loss of blood from her wound. I butchered her cleanly and professionally. The monster watched me carefully as I selected the choice cuts, fried, roasted, roasted and stuffed them. I served my wife to the creature on her grandmothers heirloom silver platter. I cooked as well as I ever had, and was proud of the result. The beast was pleased. As it left our home the illusion began to lift. Slowly I began to realize what I had done. The horror swept over me in waves. I was paralyzed by grief.

I was alive because they creature wanted me to live. Lisa was to become the first of many meals prepared for my new patron. It would regularly bring fresh meat and other ingredients to my door, and wait silently while I braised and broiled its victims. I resisted at first, feeling a twang of fear each time the creature approached with its cruel haul. Each time I succumbed to the monsters trance and complied. Eventually my body came to crave the beings presence, and the fear became anticipation.

This is my new reality. A cyclic purgatory of boredom, fear, anticipation, creativity, pressure and release. I have prepared every sort of person in every style I know. I have started to develop a certain pride in my work. Every meal served to my master is better than the last. Its tastes have refined as have my anatomical knowledge. Its desires have aligned with my own. I follow a certain culinary mantra: season and taste often.