Well, bruised definitely hints at a story, following from rule-breakers and entry... I shall look forward to hearing it!
Bruised There were people in Josie's diner when we arrived back. Ben and I put the water in the hovel that Jimmy had rented, or perhaps even bought, and while Jimmy cleaned himself up a little from his tumble down the slope, we strolled on over to the 'diner' for want of another name for it, and sat ourselves down. There were five or six people, all sat at the other end of the long table, each some of the way into the food on their plates. There was a stew of some kind, with what looked like red and green peppers in it, and something covered in a thick, chocolate brown sauce and served with rice. There was also a bottle of wine on the table, but the owners of it were drinking it from shot glasses sipwise, and Ben and I got the impression that they were unlikely to share, and probably keen to expound on the sins of strong liquor to anyone dumb enough to ask. "We can get Jimmy to ask them," said Ben, in a half-whisper. A couple of heads turned our way, but we both paid more attention to the two heads that very definitely didn't turn and look at us but stayed focused on eating. Very slowly. "What do you fancy?" I said, my voice pitched just a little louder. "The stew or the sauce?" "Whichever has meat," said Ben. "It's been a long day hunting for the chupacapra and we've got nothing to show for it but cuts and bruises." The slow eaters slowed down a little more, and Ben winked at me. I got up and asked Josie what the food was, while Ben performed his little cigar rituals. "Three peppers stew, or goat mole," said Josie. "I recommend the mole, it's my own recipe. There's a good kick from chorizo in there, too." "That's good enough for us," I said, smiling broadly. "We'll take three then." I sat back down, and Ben raised an eyebrow. "Later," I said quietly. "We'll get the oil and rags after there's no-one listening to us talk." Ben smiled and tasted the mole. "Gosh darn it that's hotter than the devil's smallclothes," he said, and the wine-drinkers blanched a little. "I needed that, I never thought I'd be spending the day wrassling turkeys and dry-tracking what turned out to be a bear." "That big turkey nearly did for you," I said, tasting the mole. It was chocolately, meaty and very spicy. "Especially when you fell over than overhang and into the bear's cave." "Lucky for me that bear had as much luck with the turkey as we did," he said. "I never thought I'd see a bear run away from a bird like that." "It was only a little bear," I said. "It was big enough for me," said Ben. "I vote we go look downriver for the chupacapra. It'd have to be mad to be living up here with the turkeys and the bears and crap." "I'd like that," I said, standing up to get something to drink before my mouth caught fire. Josie saw me, and nodded friendly-like, and Jimmy turned up then and sat down as well. "Something a bit calmer and less exciting." The slow-eaters suddenly found a burst of speed, and a minute later they had up and left. Three more invocations of the devil and his body parts and the wine-drinkers were gone too, and we had the table to ourselves. Josie set glasses of milk in front of the three of us and cocked her head. "Do you have any old cooking oil and some used rags?" asked Ben, with his sweetest smile.
Greg - man, I'm just going to stop trying to give you helpful prompts for your story if you're going to be this suspicious :P
The slow eaters are intriguing, and the comedy of the spicy food and the easily offended company are a nice touch to make sure you don't lose that fun Red and Ben undertone.
2 comments:
Well, bruised definitely hints at a story, following from rule-breakers and entry... I shall look forward to hearing it!
Bruised
There were people in Josie's diner when we arrived back. Ben and I put the water in the hovel that Jimmy had rented, or perhaps even bought, and while Jimmy cleaned himself up a little from his tumble down the slope, we strolled on over to the 'diner' for want of another name for it, and sat ourselves down.
There were five or six people, all sat at the other end of the long table, each some of the way into the food on their plates. There was a stew of some kind, with what looked like red and green peppers in it, and something covered in a thick, chocolate brown sauce and served with rice. There was also a bottle of wine on the table, but the owners of it were drinking it from shot glasses sipwise, and Ben and I got the impression that they were unlikely to share, and probably keen to expound on the sins of strong liquor to anyone dumb enough to ask.
"We can get Jimmy to ask them," said Ben, in a half-whisper. A couple of heads turned our way, but we both paid more attention to the two heads that very definitely didn't turn and look at us but stayed focused on eating. Very slowly.
"What do you fancy?" I said, my voice pitched just a little louder. "The stew or the sauce?"
"Whichever has meat," said Ben. "It's been a long day hunting for the chupacapra and we've got nothing to show for it but cuts and bruises."
The slow eaters slowed down a little more, and Ben winked at me. I got up and asked Josie what the food was, while Ben performed his little cigar rituals.
"Three peppers stew, or goat mole," said Josie. "I recommend the mole, it's my own recipe. There's a good kick from chorizo in there, too."
"That's good enough for us," I said, smiling broadly. "We'll take three then."
I sat back down, and Ben raised an eyebrow. "Later," I said quietly. "We'll get the oil and rags after there's no-one listening to us talk." Ben smiled and tasted the mole.
"Gosh darn it that's hotter than the devil's smallclothes," he said, and the wine-drinkers blanched a little. "I needed that, I never thought I'd be spending the day wrassling turkeys and dry-tracking what turned out to be a bear."
"That big turkey nearly did for you," I said, tasting the mole. It was chocolately, meaty and very spicy. "Especially when you fell over than overhang and into the bear's cave."
"Lucky for me that bear had as much luck with the turkey as we did," he said. "I never thought I'd see a bear run away from a bird like that."
"It was only a little bear," I said.
"It was big enough for me," said Ben. "I vote we go look downriver for the chupacapra. It'd have to be mad to be living up here with the turkeys and the bears and crap."
"I'd like that," I said, standing up to get something to drink before my mouth caught fire. Josie saw me, and nodded friendly-like, and Jimmy turned up then and sat down as well. "Something a bit calmer and less exciting."
The slow-eaters suddenly found a burst of speed, and a minute later they had up and left. Three more invocations of the devil and his body parts and the wine-drinkers were gone too, and we had the table to ourselves. Josie set glasses of milk in front of the three of us and cocked her head.
"Do you have any old cooking oil and some used rags?" asked Ben, with his sweetest smile.
Greg - man, I'm just going to stop trying to give you helpful prompts for your story if you're going to be this suspicious :P
The slow eaters are intriguing, and the comedy of the spicy food and the easily offended company are a nice touch to make sure you don't lose that fun Red and Ben undertone.
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