Short Story: Breakfast
Emily looked down at her breakfast, and then up to the Entity sat opposite her.
“It’s porridge, raspberries, blueberries, banana, and a little bit of honey. Do you like any of those things? I could give you some.”
“That is very generous of you, Emily, but I do not require food to survive.”
“Okay, just let me know if you’re hungry. How do you know my name?”
“I know every identity of every person.”
Emily paused, wondering if it was impolite to admit that she didn’t know the Entity’s name. “So, um, what’s your identity? Do you have a name?”
“Some may call me a god. Others, a monster.”
“That’s neat. Though, if you were a God, you wouldn’t be sitting here with me. And if you were a monster, you would have eaten me or something.”
“Very true. You are very wise, Emily.”
“Thank you. I think I could be.”
The Entity paused for a moment, before saying, “I don’t actually have a name.”
Emily made a humming noise, the type of humming noise one makes when they feel sorry for someone. When the Entity looked at her questioningly, she realised that specific hums might mean something to people, but something else entirely to incomprehensible beings.
“That’s a shame,” she explained.
“It is fine. I am above trivial things like getting upset over a name.”
“I didn’t like my name at all when I was younger. I constantly told my mum I was going to change it without her knowing.”
“Yes, Emily is rather a dull name.”
“Oh. I suppose it is,” said Emily, a little wounded. She forced a smile, “Well, even if we can’t introduce ourselves properly, it’s still very nice to meet you,” and she held out her hand to shake the Entity’s.
The Entity responded by raising what Emily could only describe as sleeves. Inside was a bright flash of light, and Emily felt her eyes burning. There were images of nature and destruction. Angels and demons. Aliens, the atoms of the Universe. She could see the Big Bang. She could see everything.
“Errrm…”
The Entity looked down. “Oh, my apologies, I forgot that you humans shake hands.”
The Entity put its arm, or what could only be described as an arm, back down.
“Was that God in there?”
“Maybe. It is best not to discuss it.”
To distract herself from what had just happened, Emily stood up to turn the kettle on. Her joints creaked as she made the short journey back to her chair at the table, and she tried to examine the Entity in more detail without fully staring at it. She didn’t want to be rude.
While the Entity didn’t possess a hand to shake, it didn’t really possess anything else either. And yet, it also possessed everything. The Entity was unfathomable; the best way she could describe it was big, but small at the same time. Its head kept hitting the kitchen light, causing bright beams to circle the room.
The kettle boiled. They both listened to the whistling as Emily continued with her breakfast, occasionally glancing at the Entity to see if it wanted any. The Entity was looking around the kitchen, craning its head back ninety-seven degrees.
“Your home is very nice.”
“Thank you.” Emily knew it was lying. Her home was very fathomable; the best way she could describe it was small, and even smaller at the same time. She swallowed nervously, “If you don’t mind me asking, how did you get here? You just sort of…appeared in my kitchen.”
The Entity shrugged. “I am not of this world. I can appear anywhere, at any time.”
“But, um, where did you come from?”
“It does not matter where I came from.”
Emily felt like it mattered very much indeed, but didn’t want to annoy the Entity. Its answer had seemed very short, so she tried to lighten the mood with a joke.
“I wish I could appear anywhere, anytime. Then I wouldn’t have to pay the massive bus fares, eh?” she laughed. The Entity didn’t, so she stopped.
“I apologise for intruding on your breakfast, but I had to hide.”
“I didn’t think you’d have to hide from anyone.”
“Well, not that I should be saying this in the presence of mortals, but my relationship with the other…I had a bit of a revelation. I reacted rather immaturely.”
“What do you mean immaturely?” asked Emily. She began to eat some banana.
“I destroyed multiple universes.”
Emily began choking on her banana. She coughed and spluttered, while the Entity watched her impassively.
“Are you alright?” it asked after a while.
Emily was not alright, and kept choking, but didn’t want to call attention to herself. “Yes, of course, I’m fine. Just swallowed it the wrong way.” She wished she’d never asked anything.
“Perhaps that was a tactless thing of me to say.”
“No, no, it’s fine,” Emily paused as she caught her breath, “Then…then why-”
“Forget I said anything. Your human minds are not capable of comprehending the issues that I face.”
Emily thought that was a tactless thing to say, but all she could say was, “Oh. Okay.”
“Just take peace in the fact that I came here because I prefer this location to where I once was. I need to be here for a while. Let that glorious honour cause you to lay your head into the light, and glow in the presence of infinity.”
“I don’t know what that means, but thanks.”
Emily continued with her breakfast. She always felt sad doing this. She had spent so long making her morning meal look nice, only for it to all end up as mush in her mouth.
“You eat very slowly,” said the Entity, “I apologise, am I making you uncomfortable?”
“Not at all. I just have a nervous disposition.”
The kettle finished boiling. It felt like the kettle had been boiling for an eternity. Perhaps because the Entity was here, time was moving really slowly. Or maybe because this breakfast felt very awkward.
Emily stood up again and began pouring her tea. She liked the cup she poured her tea into; it was a nice blue colour. Much nicer than the beige of her walls.
As she took the milk out of the fridge, she noticed some strawberries behind a juice carton. Emily figured that since this morning had been quite hectic, she may as well treat herself. She put some on her plate, styling them into a smiley face.
The phone rang. The Entity looked at the phone curiously, whereas Emily glanced at it, saw who was calling, then ignored it.
“Are you not going to answer the phone?” asked the Entity.
“It’s my sister.”
“I know. Is she nice?”
“I don’t know. We don’t really talk.”
The Entity gestured towards the phone, “She is trying to talk to you right now.”
“She’ll be asking me if I want to get a drink with her at some point, but she knows I can’t. I don’t drink alcohol, and I have to work late almost every night.”
Emily sensed that if the Entity possessed eyebrows, it would be raising them.
The phone stopped ringing. Emily sighed.
“Families are tough.”
“I would not know from experience.”
“You don’t have a sister?”
“No, I have never had any family.”
“No one?”
The Entity pondered for a moment. “There are other...what shall I call them...Beings, but we do not consider ourselves familial. We despise each other's presence, and we are always on the verge of destroying one another.”
“Well, that sounds like any normal family.”
“Hmm. But I rarely see them. So…I have no one, I guess.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
“It is fine. I have been able to manage for the whole history of existence.”
Emily thought that this was the time she was supposed to say that she considered the Entity family, but she’d only known it for fifteen minutes. She didn’t want to make things weird. So she didn’t say anything.
There was an awkward pause.
“Are you working today?” asked the Entity.
“Yes, I do need to work today. Do you work?”
“I suppose you could call what I do working.”
“What do you do? At work?”
“Well, because I am omniscient-”
“What’s that?”
“It means I see everything and know everything.”
“Then how come you didn’t know I was working today?”
The Entity stared at her. Emily suddenly felt very uncomfortable.
“Sorry,” she said, “Carry on.”
“My work consists of maintaining and organising knowledge. I oversee everything and anything. The cosmos is my order. I work in the atoms of time and the explosions of existence.”
“I work at the DVLA.”
“Is it fulfilling?”
“Huh?”
“The other Beings, they were always talking about “The Greater Plan,” so our work was supposed to be fulfilling. Is it like that for you?”
“Well, no, not really. But it pays the bills, and they figure me a pretty good employee. Though, if you need me to stay home, I can.”
“Not at all, I would not want my sudden intrusion to alter your daily routine.”
Emily smiled, “To be honest, you’re far better company than anyone at work.”
“Thank you. I have never been company before.”
“I’ve never had company before.” Emily still felt guilty, “Will you be okay on your own?”
“I may get a little bored.”
“I don’t have many things to do here, sorry. I have some paintings that I bought, would you like to see them?”
“No, thank you.”
“Oh.” Emily didn’t know what else to suggest. It was unlikely that the Entity watched TV, and TV shows were the only things she knew how to talk about. That, or how to make your breakfast aesthetically pleasing. Since the Entity didn’t eat food, she felt that that would be a pointless endeavour.
“May I stay for a while?” asked the Entity.
“Of course, you can stay here for as long as you like.” Even though the Entity hadn’t asked for tea, she gave it a cup.
It inspected the tea, but didn’t drink it. “If the other Beings find me here, you could be in very big trouble.”
“That’s okay. I don’t mind. You seem nice.”
“You are very kind, Emily.”
“Thank you. I think I could be.” She smiled at the Entity, and finished her breakfast. Today’s meal had felt slightly stale. The banana skin was left on her plate, and she still had her tea to drink. She sipped it carefully.
There was a bang on the front door.
“Who could that be?” spluttered Emily. The bang had caused her to jump, and she had swallowed her tea the wrong way.
The Entity sighed. “It is five other Beings. They are here for me.”
Emily wiped her mouth. “How do you know that?”
“I’m omniscient.”
“Oh, of course.”
“I have managed to hide from them for a total of twenty minutes. That is longer than I expected.”
The banging increased. Emily wondered why they didn’t just destroy her home. Surely, they had the power to.
As if answering her question, the Entity said, “Do not question the way we do things. It is all part of the Greater Plan.”
Emily assumed they were just doing it for the dramatics, but didn’t say anything.
“They are going to break down the door,” said the Entity.
“I know,” said Emily. She finished her tea, and took the dishes off the table. Her china had been quite expensive. She didn’t want it to get damaged.
The door was being hit rhythmically. Emily figured they would be inside soon.
“I wonder if they’ll still let you go to work,” said the Entity. They probably wouldn’t.
The banging continued.
Emily shrugged. “Can I ask, why did you come here? If you know every identity of every person, then you would know I couldn’t protect you.”
The Entity paused, perhaps in thought. “I do not know. But, if you knew you could not protect me, then why did you say I could hide here?”
“I don’t know either. Maybe because having a nice-looking breakfast is the only thing interesting in my life.”
“You are interesting,” said the Entity.
“Thank you.” Emily knew it was lying. “Do you regret coming here?”
“Not in the slightest.” Maybe it wasn’t lying.
They heard the door open with a bang, which was loud enough that it could have been in the same room. Emily’s home was small enough that it practically was.
Emily sighed. “I’ll put the kettle on again.”
END
This piece was published in the York Juba Anthology 2018 Edition.