Cooking up a Storm

This piece of flash fiction is in response to a writing dare from @StoryBandit, who said:

--------

COOKING UP A STORM

BT had been really second-guessing his choice of career lately. Yeah, sure, he'd fallen into it. And the money was great. But...

There was no rush anymore. No anticipation, no challenge. His wife said he needed a hobby. He snorted - like what? Gardening? Canoeing? Golf?

BT exhaled heavily and stared at the goods being baked, his mentor's voice always snarling in his head, "always oversee the work and don't overcook it!" BT never had. He took pride in that. On the counter behind him, the finished goods were prepped and ready, sitting in their plain packaging - all designed to look inconspicuous and to not be remarked upon. BT's mentor insisted that the good clients - the ones who paid on time - had to be catered to.

BT looked up suddenly, sixth sense screaming, the tedium of the day shredded. "When in doubt, run!" His mentor's voice again.

BT ran. His long-planned escape route worked.

That night, just before he sat down to dinner with his wife and their new neighbours, the news reported on police success in busting a huge drug lab. Unfortunately, the ringleaders had gotten away.

BT smiled to himself. The thrill was back. Time to start again.

Comments

The Sun and the Moon

The following little story came to me while driving home one night on a dark road lit up in silver by a half-moon. I suddenly had a fanciful little image of a car smilingly gobbling up a crescent-shaped sliver of moon-flake which helped its headlights shine brighter. Such an image wouldn't normally find a home outside my head, but

Making Mauritius-Style Banana Cakes (Gateaux Bananes)

I mis-managed my bananas. I got my timing all wrong and they were suddenly too ripe and too spotted and dotted to eat, and were sitting there looking at me with accusatory and reproachful looks. Banana cake was the obvious solution. But why go the way of regular banana cake, when there's the distant call of Mauritius-style gateaux bananes (you guessed it: banana cakes).

Bird Stories

It seems that bird season starts around mid-winter here in Brisbane, Australia. I have a couple of 2021 posts which detailed my bird adventures, and I'm pretty sure those posts started around June/July last year too. And so begin the 2022 encounters worries stories. I should add that I hummed and hawed about whether to record these or not here at Dodo-land. On the one hand, they're tiny moments in time and place which are usually forgotten by the following day or week. And sometimes they're worth remembering. On the other hand, it feels - I dunno - a bit... morbidly focused on nature-things I can't change? But I think I'd rather remember than not. The Plovers The first moment is about a pair of nesting plover birds (not the same as the pair I blogged about last year ; we live in a different suburb of Brisbane now). This new local pair had successfully raised 4 chicks last year. I know, because I saw them all thriving and grooving in all their mature-feathered glor...

Dodo Au Go-Go

Search This Blog