Friday, October 26, 2012

The Only Game in Town




After spending the better part of the week with Gregor Samsa from "The Metamorphosis, the Musical" and my son Brandon as "The Ref," it's time for me to cotton up to The Friday Fictioneers.

You know the drill:  1) Put together a story based on the prompt.  2) Make it 100 words or less.  3) Totally screw up No. 2

That's how it works for me anyhow. 

The  stewardship of the Fictioneers has now passed from the capable hands of Madison Woods to the equally capable hands of RochelleWisoff-Fields.   FYI:  I haven't personally inspected their hands, but I've received excellent capability reports about three out of four of them.   

Now imagine a small cafe in an even smaller town ...


The Only Game in Town

Calvin DeForest,  grinning proprietor of Calvin's Cafe in the remote little town in which he'd opened it last month,  led Carrie and Matt over to their table by the window. 

"Enjoy your meals," said Calvin, "but maybe not too much!"

As Calvin walked away giggling,  Matt and Carrie ordered their appetizers, a  garden salad for Matt and onion soup for Carrie.

"Salad's pretty good, " said Matt.  "How's the soup?"

"Fine," replied Carrie. "Damn it!"

"Phtooey!" spat out a nearby bald man as coffee spewed in all directions from his mouth.  Gagging on her French Fries, his date was frantically signalling for a glass of water.  Always the proud practical joker, Calvin was instantly over to congratulate them as the day's winners and to present them with the $25 Calvin's Cafe coupon.

"The old sugar/salt switcheroo, I might have known," said Carrie, getting up well disgusted. "Well, shall we come again tomorrow?"

"Why not?" answered Matt, putting on his jacket.  "Only game in town." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

33 comments:

Sandra Crook said...

Not much going on in that town then. :) Nice one.

Douglas MacIlroy said...

Dear Perry,

Calvins's got a captive audience from the sounds of it. People are going to get wise to that switcheroo real soon. Good work keeping us on our toes. Small town cafes will make us leery from now on.

Aloha,

Doug

Perry Block said...

Yes, there's really no other game in town, but the salt/sugar switcheroo is just for tonight.

Could be anything anytime in the future.

Well, at least you get 25 bucks.

Perry Block said...

Yes, on the whole, I'd rather be in Philadelphia.

Thanks, Sandra.

Rochelle Wisoff-Fields said...

At the store where I work I often buy from the Chinese department. One time I went to sprinkle red pepper on my noodles and the lid came off leaving me with a crimson mountain. Calvin won't garner much of a lunch crowd if he keeps it up.
Funny story, Perry. Thanks for the supportive intro.

Perry Block said...

I think the semi-scary thing is that town is so remote (I probably should have used that word), that this truly is "the only game in town." And though relatively harmless with salt and sugar mixups, who knows where Calvin might go with it next?

Thanks, Rochelle!

Unknown said...

Very original and oh so funny...i think Calvin might be having too much fun with his customers lol. Thanks so much for stopping by mine

Perry Block said...

Thanks, Boomie!

Hey, take some french fries before you go ...

Parul said...

That's a dull town! lol

Anonymous said...

Hi Perry,
Things get really boring in small towns. They're lucky to have Calvin to keep things lively, though I don't know if I'd want to go back and use the gift certificate. Who knows what could be in the food next time. Funny, well-written story. Ron

Perry Block said...

But the french fries are REALLY good!

Thanks for writing.

Russell said...

I suspect a playful character named Hobbes works in the kitchen, although I have a hard time imagining either of them washing the dishes. Perhaps Hobbes licks them clean between customers, that is if they aren't too salty.

Anonymous said...

Funny, caught me off-guard.
Scott

janet said...

I enjoyed the story much more than I would enjoy eating there!! I think I'd cook at home. Or think of some way to turn the tables (so to speak, of course) on Calvin. Russ, I'm with you on Hobbes! :-)

Anonymous said...

And I recall my mother told me that she accidentally put salt on the yoghurt when she visited her mother in law to be the first time. And I silently wonder if it's worse with sugar on fries. Thank you for an insight in small town life :-)

Anonymous said...

I actually had to try, sugar on fries is not that bad actually. Salt in coffee is another matter.

Julia Munroe Martin said...

I love it! Nice!

Anonymous said...

This really made me laugh! The old switcheroo! I'll have to watch out for that. Very well done and nicely written.

Perry Block said...

Thanks, Ron!

I've got a feeling it might get to the point that patrons will risk having their stomachs pumped for a little excitement and to win 25 bucks.

And I thought my life was boring. Wait a minute, that does sound like fun!

Perry Block said...

Yes, Hobbes is indeed Calvin's partner and he does lick all the dishes.

That's just a little bonus the customers get that they don't even know about!

As we've said, the thrills come cheap in a small town. Thanks for writing, Russell!

Perry Block said...

Yeah, me too!

Thanks, Scott.

Perry Block said...

Turn the tables on Calvin and the "fun" stops, I think. But you're right, Janet, I'd cook at home and I can't cook!

Thanks for writing.

Perry Block said...

Thanks, Amy.

Not as depressing as your piece but certainly more disgusting.

Perry Block said...

Julia,

Hopefully you ate at a better place than this in Philadelphia!

Thanks for writing.

Perry Block said...

Thank you for "living my story!"

There ought to be some kind of gift for that, but I'm over budget with the $25 gift coupon right there.

Lora said...

Calvin,the prankster. Now that I know who is doing what in the kitchen, I think I'll bypass that small town cafe.

Tom Poet said...

Perry,
I have worked as a cook/chef in a kitchen. The difference is a chef is less likely to put something bad in your food A cook in a small down..I'd rather eat dirt.
Tom

Shirley said...

Gotta get their kicks somehow, huh? Cute story.

Perry Block said...

Are you sure?

That's 25 big bucks you're passing up!

Thanks, Lora.

Perry Block said...

Calvin is going to be very offended by that, Tom. And he does own restaurants virtually everywhere!

Thanks for your comment.

Perry Block said...

Well, I guess it beats skydiving from space!

Thanks, Shirley.

Anonymous said...

Neat twist to your story! My post is a
http://beebeesworld.wordpress.com/2012/11/10/hopeless-morning/

nightlake said...

just $25 for this? Thank you for the laugh:) very entertaining:) Thanks