A Little Quiet, A Little Rest, A Little Chocolate Cake

Wednesday means another prompt from Prompt & Happenstance. As usual, I won’t reveal the prompt but let the story unfold.

---

Eyes closed, mouth moving, Eleanor was lost in Heaven. The richness of is flavor saturated her tongue. Sweet, yet familiar, the molten chocolate oozed inside of her mouth. Truffles dusted in chocolate adorned the top. She sighed, bringing another bite to her lips.

The cake itself was moist, and a thousand happy memories fluttered before her as she chewed. The din around her became muffled as all she focused on was the warmth of the thick liquid pouring out of the cake and the softness of its sponge.

It was a dreamy dessert. She imagined clouds were made of molten chocolate lava cake, simply painted white to deceive our eyes.

Eleanor remembered when she couldn’t afford a chocolate bar, but now, like a queen, she sat in a velvet upholstered seat with three different flavors of chocolate flooding her mouth. It was her ninetieth birthday. She wanted to feel like nobility. Contented, she brought another bite to her lips.

And another.

Slowly, very slowly, the words of her beloved firstborn reached her.

“I hope you enjoy the cake, Ma,” he was saying.

Exhaustion overtook her. Her bones ached. When did I get so old? she wondered. Her son’s words were foggy. All she wanted was a little quiet, a little rest, and a little chocolate cake.

“because,” he continued, his voice soft, “it’s the last thing you’ll ever eat. I laced it with arsenic. I hope the chocolate was worth it because now, the inheritance is mine.”