#109 - Cake

Today’s words: Guilt, Life, Cake, Implode

Word count: 358

Completion time: 22 minutes

Summary: Don’t blindly digest everything that people tell you

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Every week, a slice of cake was delivered to every family around the world.

No-one knew what the ingredients were (Was it vanilla? Tony swore there was a hint of lemon. It reminded some of us of yoghurt....surely that was a mistake?), but every week, without fail, the cake would come.

People of all ages would wait at the front door in anticipation for the mysterious but incredibly tasty treat. No-one was spared; even babies were given their share, regardless of whether they had teeth to process it or not. Cake didn’t discriminate, cake was for everyone.

That was life, that was what we were used to. To question where the cake came from or what was inside of it was seriously frowned upon. “Shut up and eat your cake.” “Be grateful, don’t ask questions.” “Just don’t.” Everyone in our area knows of these kids who set up their own private investigation about the origins of the cake but eventually, they just disappeared and they’ve not been heard of in close to fifty years. It’s our urban legend. People tell their own kids not to do what they did and that if they do, they’ll mess up the balance of the world and cause it to implode or something. I don’t believe that, I never did, that’s why I want to do my own investigation.

I don’t want to drag anyone else into it or share any guilt, I want to find out for myself and if I don’t come back, so be it. There was something that people weren’t telling us, and I wasn’t going to be bribed with sweet treats – I could make my own cake, and it tasted better anyway.

Some people had stopped baking altogether because they didn’t believe in any other cake but The Cake. The question was: whose cake was it?! Would you eat cake from the side of the road if a stranger told you it was okay to eat?

If I don’t make it back, I want to leave with one last message: you don’t need to rely on anyone for sustenance, be your own person, make your own cake.