Heaven Tastes Like Peaches

The Attic! Well, this house has it, actually! Konrad had seen a small window before and the roof was sloping, so there should be an attic. He looked around at the ceiling. In fact, there was some square, small door in the hall. There were no stairs, no ladders, so he missed them, but he could clearly see the attic entrance. His imagination instantly stirred creating visions of dozens of wonders hidden behind them. In one moment he turned into a treasure hunter. What wonders could be hidden in the attic of such an old house?

Probably none, he thought. If there was something valuable, Sławoj would surely sell it to pay off the debt, or eventually Sławek would discover it. While there may be something there that is normally not considered valuable, but will be invaluable to the connoisseur? For example, an old photo of someone or something important that will have more than a museum value. Or books from a hundred years ago, a lost work of an author never reissued ...

It was a chance. Maybe a small one, but he couldn't just waste it. He had to check.

"Sławek, I have a question!" He exclaimed.

There was no answer, so he knocked on the studio door.

"Sławek!"

Silence answered him, and he pressed the handle.

There was no one inside.

Strange, he thought, because he had walked around the rest of the house earlier and there was no sign of Domejczuk. He had to go, but where? After shopping? Maybe. At most, he will have to wait for Sławek to return. It's hard.

His gaze naturally drifted towards pieta. It was covered with a cloth so he couldn't see it, but he was curious about the progress. He shouldn't be doing this, looking at her without permission, but the curiosity was tremendous ...

"What are you doing here?"

Konrad jumped as if he were caught sinning, and yet he hadn't done anything wrong yet.

"Uf, but you scared me," he breathed, turning to Sławek. "I was looking for you. Why are you dressed like that?"

"I was in church."

"What? For what?"

"Today is Sunday."

"Really?"

Konrad was genuinely surprised. He was completely lost what day of the week it was.

"Yes. Why were you looking for me? Do you need something?"

"I wanted to ask you something ... You look good in black," Konrad blurted, "although white suits you better."

"Erm ... Thank you," Sławek blushed and Konrad's heart immediately hit harder. "What did you want to ask?"

"I don't think so," Sławek Domejczuk said resignedly. "It's not even an antique magazine. But we can check. Maybe I missed something. I'll just change."

"I'll bring the ladder."

The prospect of starting a treasure hunt was just opening up before them. Of course, it didn't make sense to expect too much, but Konrad couldn't shake his excitement. He really hoped they would find something valuable there. The house was so old that it remembered at least the interwar period. Perhaps somewhere, in some nooks and crannies, there was hiding gold left for safekeeping by some Jew, or silver cutlery inherited from ancestors, hidden so much from the turmoil of war that everyone forgot about them? Think positive.

Konrad carried a ladder from the garden. Though old and rotten, she held his weight well as he picked the cherries. She will hold him now as well.

Sławek wasn't there yet, so Skalski set the ladder down and looked up, getting ready to climb it.

"First me" announced Domejczuk, who had just left the kitchen. "The door doesn't close, so it has to be locked," he showed a quite powerful and definitely old key. This is what was the inseparable prop of key keepers in old movies about even older times.

"Sure," he made room for him.

"Really don't expect too much" warned Sławek. "If there was anything valuable, we would have already sold it."

"You never know."

"Optimist."

"It's not a bad thing, huh?"

"I guess," he admitted without enthusiasm, and began to climb. Konrad stood at the side of the ladder to secure him. It wasn't high, but who knows what might have happened. Sławek has already fallen once.

The memory of that moment made Skalski's heart beat stronger. When then Sławek felt ...

Konrad looked at the climbing boy. Right in front of him was his firm buttocks, tucked in light jeans. The sight was so temptingly erotic that he felt a rush of saliva in his mouth. Ashamed, he looked away. His heart was beating way too hard. He looked again at Domejczuk's buttocks, which were moving tense, indicating that the boy was physically active.

"Well, it worked" Sławek triumphed from above. "This lock is really old and it's hard to open."

The buttocks flowed up filling Skalski with regret. All he has left is to follow them straight to the attic.

The interior was gray, mostly with dust that had accumulated here over the years, but also because the only light source was a small south-facing window. It smelled like warm dust. There were no statues shining with gold and precious stones waiting as in adventure games for a daring explorer. There weren't even clay ones. There was nothing. Of course, there was also no chance that a treasure was in direct view, but Konrad felt disappointed.

"It's probably the most empty attic I've ever heard of," he said, disappointed. "How is it possible that there aren't any chests here, not even a pile of old books?"

"That's because Grandpa was only interested in the sculpture. He kept everything in his studio. As for books, we are not really the kind of people who read a lot."

"But only old newspapers and decaying stools? Well, I have time, so I'll search this place very meticulously."

Sławek sighed, but went into a corner and started leafing through the pile of old magazines.

He doesn't look happy today, said Konrad, glancing at him. He's sadder than ever. Was it because of the search in the attic or maybe something else happened?

He wanted to ask if Sławek was plagued by depression, but he couldn't find the words. He really wanted to help him, unfortunately no one had taught him how to behave in such situations before. Therefore, in silence, they searched the entire attic, finding nothing.

"I don't think there's really anything here," said Skalski, admitting defeat. "Sorry I wasted your time."

"You have nothing to apologize for. I'll make breakfast. Maybe scrambled eggs?"

"Sure."

Domejczuk was already approaching the hole in the floor when Konrad suddenly felt that the board was breaking under his leg.

"Wooah…!" He exclaimed, losing the ground under his leg, and suddenly he was struck by the realization that he was falling.