Floor Fish (an impromptu episode for @owasco's pop up #WeWrite contest!)

almost 2 years ago (Edited)

This is a continuation of @owasco's WeWrite, which began here: https://peakd.com/hive-161155/@owasco/pop-up-wewrite-contest-rpem7s#@owasco/re-bennettitalia-rpfczu

...so ya might wanna read that first! 😉

It's also an entry for today's #freewrite, "makeup": https://peakd.com/hive-161155/@mariannewest/day-1936-5-minute-freewrite-thursday-prompt-makeup

...The crew stood in stunned silence, watching as the pantry chef tossed his (perfectly plated) salad into the sink, turned on one heel, and strode briskly out of the kitchen. The alley door slammed behind him.

The poaching pans continued to simmer along happily. A steady stream of water trickled from one of the faucets over a bag of frozen shrimp. Expertly battered tempura bubbled its way to perfection. And then slightly past perfection...

"Could we start over"? one of the poachers asked doubtfully.

The boss looked stricken. "We're going to have to", she sighed. "I won't have it getting around that our establishment serves 'floor fish'". She stepped into the walk-in freezer, brow furrowed, whispering something under her breath. The metal door swung shut behind her.

Then she burst out again. "What are you waiting for?" she snapped, "Hop to it! Toss everything and start over!"

The kitchen crew got to work. In the blink of an eye, overcooked quail's eggs and tempura were disposed of, and new batches were started. The dishwasher, who'd done it before, was recruited to plate salad. The waiter was equipped with several ready-made appetizers, and instructed to stall. The grill person disappeared into the walk-in to procure a brand new fish.

Everything was back on track.

Or it would have been, if every fish in the tub hadn't been wearing makeup.

Yes. Makeup.

Some lunatic had painstakingly applied pink lipstick to each little set of fish lips, and blue eye shadow around each little fish eye. They'd even cut fake eyelashes down to size and glued them in place. It looked like the work of a psychotic beauty school student slash taxidermist.

The grill person stared in horror at the tub of artfully painted fish. The fish stared back prettily from their bed of ice.

Who would do such a thing?

And why??!?

Image by tookapic from Pixabay

freewrite wewrite curie curangel palnet neoxian ocd finishthestory chainfiction restaurants

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12 comments

@wandrnrose7 69

almost 2 years ago

Wow! That is amazing! What an awesome cliff hanger, too!
!ALIVE

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@youarealive 59

almost 2 years ago

@bennettitalia! You Are Alive so I just staked 0.1 $ALIVE to your account on behalf of @wandrnrose7. _(7/10)

The tip has been paid for by the We Are Alive Tribe through the earnings on @alive.chat, feel free to swing by our daily chat any time you want.

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@bennettitalia 66

almost 2 years ago (Edited)

Thanks, glad you liked it! It was a challenge to write that at all convincingly 😆

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@corvidae 75

almost 2 years ago

I mean, I probably would. Not to where it would fuck up a restaurant, but, you know, art is art. And fish deserve to look pretty on their caskets as much as anyone else.
I wonder how they got those eyelashes to stick, though?

Nicely written!

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@bennettitalia 66

almost 2 years ago (Edited)

Ah! You might be onto something there, art could very well have been the motive...I myself have no idea how to answer the two questions at the end, but that's the beauty of chain fiction: I don't have to! Here's hoping somebody else will step up to accept the challenge. As to the eyelashes, your guess is as good as mine...maybe the culprit had access to some top secret cutting edge glue tech? 🤔

Thanks glad you think so!

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@owasco 72

almost 2 years ago

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Love it! I might have to finish this one myself, a real whodunnit.

Thanks for continuing my story. I sure hope someone picks up on this. My little contest, so far, has kind of gone kerplunk.

So you have worked in a restaurant!

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@bennettitalia 66

almost 2 years ago (Edited)

Thanks @owasco, glad you liked it! I'd love it if you did finish or continue it. I hope more people join in! I enjoy this kind of thing, which is why I brought it up in the first place 😁.

Yes. As a dishwasher, then bartender, then front manager (I was terrible at that last one). Along the way, I was called upon to throw in on the line on many occasions.

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