Thursday, September 23

A Day for Feasting


        Welcome!  Pull up a seat at my table and enjoy the feast of bloggers who were kind enough to bring along a dish of their own.  There's sure to be variety, with something to suit everyone's tastes, so be sure to get a hefty helping from around the table.  Hey, could you please pass the dinner rolls???


        So my dish features Sen and Rainee, who have survived a crash.  They're seeking shelter to wait out the night.  Sen's an alien Kindred who doesn't really need food in the human sense of the word, but Rainee's human and needs to eat on a somewhat regular basis.

        She made no sound save her labored breathing as she clambered over boulders and downed trees. At least they were leaving the mountainous area for the easier terrain of the forest. Of course, the forest had its drawbacks, too—namely the Vamphyri. She didn’t relish the idea of ending her life as vamp fodder. The thought of food in general sparked pangs in the center of her stomach. Now was a bad time to remember she hadn’t eaten dinner before they left the docking bay. She promised herself to never skip meals again if only she could live through this.
        “What is it?” she asked as Sen stopped at last.
        “You need to eat and you need water.” The water had lasted about two hours, even with her conservative consumption and his lack of the need for water altogether. Her body had worked so hard, she’d lost much more than what was in the flask to begin with.
        “I’m fine.”
        “Of course. You’re always fine. Wait here and I’ll get you something to eat.”
        “No. Don’t leave me here.” He hesitated at her tone. “Please let’s just get somewhere first.”
        “Not much further.” She nodded. They’d hiked another half hour when Sen stopped again. He turned around and walked back a short distance.
        “What are you looking for?”
        “This.” He pulled back the vines along the steep embankment. She frowned at the yawning darkness behind the natural curtain.
        “Ugh. In there? Bugs, snakes and Ursula dogs. No thank you.”
        “This is it. Take it or leave it.”
        “You’re going to leave me here by myself?”
        He nodded. “It’s empty. Pretty much,” he added, smiling down at her.
        “Jerk.”
        “Come on.” He led her inside, pulling out his illuminator. “Here. This is dappled moss. It loves caves and water, two things we needed right now. Feel it.” The stuff felt like a plush couch cushion. “Also good to sleep on.”
        “You should be a ranger.”
        “Perhaps, but that would waste my murderous nature.”
        “When I look at you, I don’t see a murderer.”
        “I was born to be one.”
        “Let me guess—'it’s what you do.'” He laughed, his flawless white teeth flashing in the dim light.
        “Stay put.”
        “You don’t need to worry about that. Hurry though.” So he did. He couldn’t have been gone longer than a half hour before he returned with a large cavy, shoving the cream-furred rodent's still-warm body into her hands.
        “Awww. I can’t eat this poor thing. It’s cute and fluffy.”
        “You’d prefer something scaly and slimy?” Her nose wrinkled. He tapped it with his fingertip.
        “Very well. I’ll dress it for you, Princess.” He ducked out of the cave, leaving her standing in wonder. He’d uttered a dreaded pet name. Where was her fury? Missing along with many of her other usual tendencies. His tone had been playful. Playful!
        What he brought back wasn’t much more appetizing, though he’d thoughtfully placed it on a wide, cut leaf. She pondered solemnly over the poor thing’s bleeding remains. At least it didn’t have its head, its pitiful eyes looking up at her as she bit into its flesh. Rainee shuddered. Sushi was difficult enough for her to consume. Years of social grace conditioning explained her ability to get that down. After all, a grand gathering wasn’t truly upper-class unless it served sushi and caviar. Ugh. Dead fishy flesh and unborn baby fish.
        “Can’t we cook it?” He ignored her, stretching out full-length on a thick pad of dappled moss, his fingers interlaced behind his head. It was probably a relief for him. Too tall for the cave, the colossus had been hunched over as he checked the perimeter and covered the entrance to their hideaway. It was a bad idea, she knew, to have any kind of fire. The smoke would draw the vamps right to their doorstep, the harsh scent powerful enough to travel miles on the night wind.
        “You’re thinking about it too much,” he said finally, his eyes still closed. “Just eat. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you act like such a baby.”
        Rainee bristled. “Some people around here aren’t barbarians.”
        “Cut strips from it and pretend it’s soft jerky.” She wanted to throw the thing at his head but admitted to herself he'd had a good idea. Besides, if she didn’t eat soon she’d shrink and wither away. Her stomach cramped like someone stabbed it, and she had the worst headache from not drinking anything.
        “Did you find water, Sen?”
        “In the flask. It’s full.”
        “What would I do without you?”
        “You’d be just fine.”
        Slicing the meat from the cavy, she did as he suggested. Tonight it was a lovely Carpaccio in a bloo—er, burgundy sauce. With her angry belly assuaged, her thoughts turned to their current circumstances. It never crossed her mind until then they might not be found, might not make it back to a settlement, and might not even survive this strange situation. Somehow the thought didn’t really bother her. It seemed so damned unlikely. Her life wasn’t over yet, and she knew it.

Thanks everyone for coming by and reading!

29 comments:

  1. Bonus Post--Famous Powdered Toast Man Quotes:

    "Quick, man! Cling tenaciously to my buttocks!"

    "I, Powdered Toast Man, do solemnly swear to relieve the American citizens of their basic human rights." -while being sworn in as President

    "Powderrrrrred Toooooaaaast Maaaaaaaan!"

    Just something about a guy with two slices of sweet toast for a head who flies backwards and farts cinnamon and sugar...

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  2. Hi,

    Very descriptive and air of primitive about it!

    Good read, and LOL for the comment!!

    best
    F

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  3. Thanks Francine! If PTM makes it by, he should be happy. He was hoping for a post about him, lol.

    Darn I should sleep. 3 AM and I gotta get up in 3 hrs, but I just wanted to point out that Mr. Linky got the Gremlins, too. I do only have one widget, but it says I have more. Ghost in the machine? I blame Roland if it is ;)

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  4. I like it! In just a few words I feel like I already intimately know both the characters. Loved this line, “Cut strips from it and pretend it’s soft jerky.”

    I cheated a bit with mine; it's more of a story than scene. Hope that's okay!

    Even Zombies Have Taste

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  5. If I had to kill my own food, I'd starve in the wilderness. Good stuff, Angela!

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  6. Great scene Angela, food stripped to its basic form and function! Ugh, though, in a good way :D

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  7. I loved the relationship between the two and want to know more about them! And, I'm a little queasy...it's too eary in the morning for me to enjoy raw covey. :[ Very nice. And thanks, too, for hosting such a fun fest...er...Feast.

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  8. I love the relationship your characters have! It's looking good.
    Sooo, what are the guidelines for this blogfest? I'm a little slow on the draw...

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  9. Ooh now that is very alternative. I love the scene you set too.Well written :O)

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  10. Raw food- ewww but it was a great piece. I connected with your MC very well.

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  12. Great scene! I'm doing some of my character's favorite "secret ingredients" today. Loving the blog-feast :-)

    http:suzanne-johnson.blogspot.com

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  13. Nice scene. Got a good feel for the characters and the setting. Of course I want to read more!

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  14. Ah, I set mine to post this morning but put the wrong time! It's up now, though. It's not a story but I'm blogging about aphrodisiacs on my blog and included a great recipe for a romantic dinner at home.

    P.S. Loved your scene!

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  15. This is genius:

    ...it was a lovely Carpaccio in a bloo—er, burgundy sauce.

    haha! Awesome. Thanks for hosting this Feast! It's a great idea for a subject.

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  16. Great pacing and mix of dialogue and narrative. Loved the raw food issue!

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  17. Not the most appetizing meal! But great interplay between the characters, and some lovely description. Nice idea for a blogfest Angela.

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  18. That is one gruesome blogfeast. And what a friendly, helpful murderer.
    I like that she normally wouldn't want a pet name.

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  19. Our new blog has a Monday Menu Madness post every week, so this was great - another chance to blog about our food obsessions! Which, in our case, does not include raw cavy. :)

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  20. Ah! I got the heebies thinking about eating raw cute thing. Thanks for hosting this. :)

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  21. I loved your scene! Thank you for doing this. My post is about my real-life as of late. I'm beginning to cook, finally, at 33. And I have been struggling to come up with a blog entry about it. You kicked me into deadline!
    ~Ivy

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  22. Loved the characters and the scene. They are both engaging, well developed. I almost hated to see the end. Sounds like a story I could get into.


    ...........dhole

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  23. Now this is taking food to a new dimension. Well done. Great scene. Didn't make me hungry though, thank goodness...thanks for hosting...I've got a bit of a vamp vibe happening too for this bloggy..:)

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  24. Apparently I always forget to follow those I love!!! Thank you for the fabulous blog fest, I read a ton of awesome pieces yesterday and thought it was such a fun and inventive idea! Loved your scene, I'm definitely wanting to know more :)

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  25. Wow - the scene is caring & ick at the same time! (in a good way) Very well written. I applaud your writing and your blogfest.

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  26. Thank you so much for hosting this blogfeast. It was wonderful and I'm stuffed! Your feature was great.

    CD

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  28. *LOL* I loved this post! "Sushi and caviar...dead fishy flesh and unborn baby fish." So true! And the carpaccio in burgundy sauce was inspired!

    Thanks for hosting this awesome blogfest! Anyone who combines writing with food is AWESOME and ROCKS!

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  29. Hi, I'm dropping in from the blog fest. Nice to meet you! I really enjoyed your blog. Great stuff. And am happy to follow you!

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