Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Magpie/ Prompt #3


photo/willow/willow manor

Another Magpie Tale... 
  
THERE WAS A SIGN in the window of Maximilian Godot's bakery.  Help wanted, no experience necessary.  Good pay, plus...Plus what?  I imagined, hoped for, all the baked goods I could carry at the end of the day.  I dreamed of tarts and donuts brought home each night, sugary bliss endlessly caressing my lips as lemony tea warmed me from the evening chill.  I stepped inside, heavy wafts of Sri Lankan cinnamon tickled my nose and seemed to settle in the folds of my dress.

A tray of petits fours, tiny pink rosettes glistening, seemed sculpted by a Florentine master.  Chocolate ganache icing was just then being spread along the sides of a tiered cake, by Max himself.  He called to me and pointed the spatula as I closed the door, the entry bell tinkling for several moments.
  
"Are you going to be the one?" he asked, eyeing me.  Strangely, it was almost as if he was waiting for me.   He handed me a strange metal object.  "This is the key to my  success...it's a 1 kilogram weight..all of my exquisite ingredients, flour, sugar, butter, chocolate, must be perfectly weighed to get the results I'm famous for." 

He tucked the weight into my hand.  It felt heavier than it appeared.  Max smiled broadly, as if he were presenting me with a jewel.  "Believe me, if I entrust this weight to you, it will be a huge responsibility.  You measure a bit  too much, ruined..a bit too little...."  He shrugged his shoulders.

He took the weight from my hand, and placed it back on the scale.  "This was my grandfather's, and then my father's.   And it earns me the Cake Guild Award year after year".   He pointed to a golden Napoleon, (the Emperor, not the pastry) displayed on a glass shelf, a beam of ethereal light shining on it.
   
I slipped my yellow shawl off my shoulders, draped it on a bistro chair.  It seemed to me that an aura was drawing us together.  An inevitability.  It wasn't an accident that I was here but fate or karma itself.  I reached for the apron that Max was handing me.  And I suddenly realized that now I was to be the keeper of the kilo.  I had the job of weighting for Godot. 

http://www.minblu.blogspot.com/
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43 comments:

Lo said...

Lovely fantasy.....great pun !!
Love, Lo

Lo said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
spacedlaw said...

Ah, that was great! Thanks for the laugh.

Natalie said...

And then?????

A Cuban In London said...

' I had the job of weighting for Godot.'

Oh, dear, I have just died and gone to heaven. :-) Please, tell me that you meant that pun. That has to be one of the wittiest and 'wink-wink/nudge-nudge' posts I've read by you with one of the better endings ever. In fact, as I'm writing my comment I've pressed the 'show original post' button and I'm reading it again. How exquisite! The way you build up the denouement is superb. Many thanks.

And I don't care that when it comes to reading gadgets you're unfaithful. When you produce pieces like this, Kindle or traditional book, it matters not one jot what you use as your inspiration.

Greetings from London.

Jan of Thousand Acres said...

I could smell the tasty treats! Such visual impressions captured in a story, very nicely written.

Brian Miller said...

nice magpie. enjoyed your tale...

Steve Capelin said...

'Weighting for Godot'. Where on earth did that slip its moors and wrinkle itself into your mind. It comes as such a gentle surprise. The pastries tasted sweet!

Unknown said...

Hi Lyn,

This is the first Willow/Magpie prompt story that I've read and I enjoyed it very much. I could smell the cinnamon too! So much from a kilo weight - and a great last line!

Lyn said...

Hi Lo-
Thank you...I live to pun!


Hi spacedlaw-
So pleased to hear from you..laughter saves us!! Thanks...


Hi Natalie-
Then we pass the donuts!! Thank you..

Lyn said...

Greetings to a Cuban-
Sad to say, I live to pun..it's a twisted thing to do..so appreciate that I am not alone in this world.
Thank you for your great kindness in encouraging me!!

Tess Kincaid said...

"all the baked goods I could carry at the end of the day" Now that is my kind of job perk!

This was heaven, Lyn. I want to read a whole book of this!

Lyn said...

Hi Sun Dance Hill-
Thank you..I was on a sugar high!

Hi Brian Miller-
Thanks..I too enjoy the Magpies a lot. Many thanks to Willow!!

Geetly said...

A weighty inheritance! Nice tale.

Lyn said...

Hi Derrick-
This is definitely fun to do..I generally see last lines first, then weave a tale..Thank you...

Lyn said...

Hi little hat-
If you were hanging out with me..you'd have to stop this behavior..a DNA deficiency!! Thanks for understanding..

Lyn said...

Hi Willow-
The mother of us all..see what you have wrought? Thanks forever..More sugar, please!!

Lyn said...

Hi Geetly-
Thanks for visiting..a lot of fun to do!

steviewren said...

Love the punny ending! Very nice Magpie.

Anonymous said...

Hi Lyn, I loved it loved it. This is so much fun. That was quite a 'plus.'
I am not a pundit, but hope to get on to it. Good to meet you. I will pop over again.
QMM

Lyn said...

Hi steviewren-
Thanks! I admit, a pun is a strange goal to have!!

Lyn said...

Hi Queenmother...
Thank you so much..yes it is sort of fun, but this is how my mind works..sometimes I'm inappropriate!
Imagine that..

Berowne said...

"En attendant les croissants."

Vicki Lane said...

Hilarious! The buildup had me drooling with all the yummy descriptions and I didn't see the pun coming! Well done!

Lyn said...

Hi Berowne-
Wish I spoke French..what you said..It's good, right??

Lyn said...

Hi Vicki Lane-
Thanks so much..I kept hoping no one would read the end first!! I'm so goal oriented!

Angie Muresan said...

Hehe. Love that pun!
Plus... Your writing is so deligtful.

Salon Delucca said...

you are in your element and as always, magic xxo

Blue Sky Dreaming said...

I didn't see it coming...I was having fun with the sweet aroma...great all around..!!

Lyn said...

Hi Angie-
Thank you so much..glad I surprised you!

Lyn said...

Hi Jeane-
So kind..thank you...my element is what they say is the lowest form of humor..puns..GOOD!!

Lyn said...

Hi Mary Ann-
Thank you..I think I was on a sugar high!!

christine said...

What a great pun and with that promise "all the baked goods I could carry at the end of the day"
I ask, does he need another assistant?? LOL
Christine

Lyn said...

Hi christine-
Thank you..and no doubt, this would be a job with the right kind of perks!

Lyn said...
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Jennifer said...

Enjoyed the story and where you took the image. And sure do love a pun.

Cheers - now I've got a sudden urge for something sweet.

Lyn said...

Hi Jennifer-
Thank you for visiting..yes, there's always room for a sweet!

joanna said...

Clever and Absurd indeed all at once,-- your short tale is a wonderful pun or play on words, and it made me crave some delectable sweets with a deliciously absurd - humorous ending.

If it was intended to be a pun on 'Waiting for Godot' which by the way is often considered one of the most prominent works in the Theatre of the Absurd movement, Your tale was worthy.

Joanny

Lyn said...

Hi joanny-
So nice to meet you, and thanks..those of us who live by the pun are trapped...always looking for the game!!
Of course the "Waiting" was my spur...
Lucky, ahem, to have revivals staged here from time to time..not difficult to get actors to "star"!!

Cathy said...

Very interesting story Lyn. If you are psychic you were probably very drawn to that particular job. If it was me with those cakes and pastries I would be as big as a house in no time at all...haha.

Lyn said...

Hi Cathy-
We can eat all the sugary things we want..in our dreams, but I do manage a nibble from time to time!
Thanks so much...

Peter Goulding said...

Aaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrgggggggghhhhhhhhh!!
Read it a second time and can't believe I missed the Godot reference.
Brilliant!!

Lyn said...

Hi Peter-
Thank you..so glad you found the pun..of course I live for that!
Bit of a history with Rocky Horror here in NYC..did you do the midnite madness?

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