Schwarzwälder

Caroline never gave up on her cake.

In whatever circumstances her birthday happened to come, nothing ever prevented her from enjoying it. Hell or high water, the finest specimen of Black Forest she could find landed on her pristine table every year.

At first it was a childhood gift – a casual pleasure, expected without failure from her family. Sooner than she could know, she was a woman, and the luxury of taking things for granted slipped out of her grasp forever.

Parties turned into sparse family reunions. Once numerous phone calls faded in the silence of her home, where lone dinners – all her schedule could afford – went by with dessert as her only companion.

The more time passed, the more it took from her. But she would not let it happen to her cake.

The first year she had it delivered to her desk, Mr. Johnson made fun of her delight. He took small morsels – so small, surely not on purpose? – and hinted at her ruined womanly figure with a wink. When she watched him walk away, each of her nerves was quivering.

Nothing could ever replace what she had given up for him. If he did not care, she cared enough for them both. She would get her cake delivered at her desk, every year, whether he liked it or not.

Caroline would not let her cake go. It was the last random thought to slip out of her consciousness, once there was nothing left of hers to take. She lost, forgot, erased – but that, she never gave up on.

And every time a subject crawled, crazed with hunger, she knew exactly what she had to show –

a promise she would never keep, shaped like the mirage of a Black Forest cake.

A heartfelt happy birthday to Portal 2, one of the games that changed my life forever. I share this celebration with silverstreams, ehlsea, babycharmander, fuchsiamae, Indy, Lennart, my love, and all the people this fandom brought together, giving me the pleasure to meet them.