(Spoilers??? for The Stanley Parable)
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3¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup warm whole milk
1/3 cup warm water
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 tablespoons honey
1 envelope instant yeast
calling
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It was like any other day. I don’t know how I got here, but I have the memory of living. The oatmeal in my rice cooker beeped every morning, 10 minutes after I wake up. I don’t drink coffee. The shower drain is clogged again no matter how many times I get someone to fix it. I always have an important meeting to go to, the one that will change my life. My name is Mariella.
I pull my hair back into a ponytail as I slip into my shows for work. I don’t really like my hair this way. A man, or maybe many of them, said I should wear it this way. Behind my reflection in the mirror, there is a bowl full of apples. They look bright and sickly at the same time. I take one and leave.
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Escape
He never liked being where he ought to be. He ran and I chased, with my legs bound and arms stiff. But now, like Nyx, I am the black in everything and can no longer touch him. Kiss or kill? The greatest gift would be to put him to rest. My eyes are forced closed when his are open. I don’t have hands anymore; when the time comes, can you press the button?
Eat this blessed bread
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calling
1.
adjust an oven rack to the lowest position and heat the oven to 200 degrees
maintain the heat for 10 minutes
turn off the oven
2.
mix 3½ cups of the flour and the salt in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the dough hook
mix the milk, water, butter, honey, and yeast
turn the machine to low and slowly add the liquid
increase the speed to medium and mix until the dough is smooth and satiny
turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface
knead to form a smooth, round ball
15 seconds
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It was like my life so far was for this moment. I crouched, knees at an angle to keep my skirt from rising, to place my briefcase on the cement. His body was perfectly sprawled on the ground, like it was his job to be dead.
Standing back up, I couldn’t shake a sense of home. He smelled like bread. My house always felt like it was made for two, but didn’t think until now that someone was missing. It feels like I created myself in someone else’s world.
I leave the body to its own story. I take a bite of the apple, and I feel better.
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The fall of man into knowledge.
There is a trail of breadcrumbs we are all following. His goes in circles, and makes me dizzy. I am irrevocably grafted to his story, like hanging on to driftwood out at sea. He floats on without any regard for my splinters. Can I really be blamed for burning it all down? And though I am released from my porcelain casting, I am evoked to serve in this nightmare patriarchy. Which is why I need you; only the living can make choices.
Stanley’s always been dead.
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3.
place the dough in a very lightly oiled large bowl
rub the dough around the bowl to coat lightly
cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the warmed oven until the dough doubles in size
40 to 50 minutes.
4.
gently press the dough into a rectangle
1 inch thick
roll the dough firmly into a cylinder
turn the dough seam-side up and pinch it closed
place the dough seam-side down in a greased 9 by 5-inch loaf pan
press it gently so it touches all four sides of the pan
cover with plastic wrap
set aside in a warm spot until the dough almost doubles in size
20 to 30 minutes.
5.
keep one oven rack at the lowest position
place the other at the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees
place an empty baking pan on the bottom rack
bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a small saucepan
pour the boiling water into the empty pan on the bottom rack at set the loaf onto the middle rack
bake
195 degrees
40 to 50 minutes
remove the bread from the pan
transfer to a wire rack
cool to room temperature
slice and serve
calling
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I arrived at the usual meeting room, room number 104. I fidgeted in my chair, the only one, again, staring a large opaque pane of glass. I was hyper-aware of my clothing, a toupe I would have never chosen for myself. I felt the temperature of the room, the dull shine from the light above.
I stood up, took the chair, and smashed the window. No one was there. There was a body-shaped void of noise behind the door of the room, waiting for me to open it and enter. There was a gross familiarity to this scene.
And that’s when remembered him, the person who was supposed to live with me: Stanley. I vaulted through the window to save him.
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But listen to me, you can still save these two, can stop the program before they both fail, push escape and press quit, there’s no other way to beat this game. As long as you move forward, you’re walking someone else’s path. To stop now would be your only true choice. Whatever you do choose it, don’t let time choose for you, don’t let time-
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