Exercise of the Day: An Uncomfortable Meal

[gooberfishbowl.livejournal.com]

Today's EotD:

An Uncomfortable Meal

Write on the topic for five minutes, and post the results in a comment, or in eotd.

Comments

[sirrich.livejournal.com]

Half an hour after eating it the meal became uncomfortable. He'd stopped at a diner to eat and was driving hard though the night to get home but the cheap hamburger and fries , not to mention the thick and bitter coffee was starting to make it hard to concentrate on the road. The in started raining and he found it hard to see with the wipers going.... their motion made him nauseous. He was crawling along now, his stomach churning, looking for a place to pull over and maybe vomit. The head lights of a truck coming down the road dazzled him into blindness and....

[twistedraisin.livejournal.com]

They stared at each other across the table. The gnoshing of teeth and chewing of food combined to make one rumbling, disgusting noise. No words were said, and no words needed to be said. Electricity filled the air, generated by all of the tension flowing through the room.

The men stared at each other, hate boiling across the centerpieces. The magnesium-like tempers could flash at any moment, with the result being anything from an argument to a killing. The final item arrived, an after-dinner aperitif. The delegates all sipped slowly, trying to out-wait their enemies, but nothing could be done to slow down the inevitable.

Then, as if in slow motion, a slow guttural sound trailed across the floor. No one thought, no one could understand that perhaps some person out there had even more feelings of ill-will than they did. One delegate spotted the source of the noise, screaming “GRENADE!”

[lizzyrose89.livejournal.com]

'Hello, dear. Do sit down.' Mrs Winterton looked her daughter up and down. They were in the parlour, Elspeth having been let in by the maid. 'And you are ... ?' Mrs Winterton turned to the short, weedy yaong man next to her daughter.
'Mum, this is Tom. My boyfriend. You said you wanted to meet him when I next came round, remember?'
'Yes, of course dear. We're having roast lamb. It'll be ready in-'
'Mum! I told you Tom's a vegetarian!'
'His is? Whatever for? Well, never mind dear, a bit of lamb won't hurt.'
'Mum ...' Ellie groaned. This was going to make for a very uncomfortable meal indeed.

[amandahuginkiss.livejournal.com]

Jacob was confident that tonight's dinner would go well. It had to go well. This had been the worst two months of his life but now it was all coming to a positive end.

Carina squeezed his hand and smiled. "Breathe", she said.

Jacob smiled back. "Of course everything will be fine", he thought to himself, "This dinner meeting between the two families is just what we need to break the tension and start over again."

Carina's father stepped into the restaurant and headed towards their table. She and Jacob rushed over to greet him but he pushed them aside and headed straight for Jacob's mother, Beth.

Beth smiled and extended her hand. "So pleased to finally meet..."

Carina's father had pushed Beth's hand away.
"YOU!", he bellowed. "I DEMAND SOME ANSWERS NOW!"

Beth's face turned crimson with rage and indignation.

Jacob whimpered.

"My God, she's going to blow!"

[nano-curio.livejournal.com]

An Uncomfortable Meal. (Word Count: 302)

They sit in silence, looking steadfastly at their plates. No one wants to say anything, but they know it happened. They can feel it already.

“Er...lovely meal there,” says Roger, gesturing at his food.
The hostess, Rose Mary Ginger, looks at him and turns away, wondering if it was him. “Er...thanks. It was fun to make,” she answers him.
Roger smiles encouragingly.
Rose Mary Ginger clears her throat, wondering what else she is expected to say. This was the first time she’d held a housewarming party and she’d only managed to invite a few people, all of whom were currently sitting around her small table. She says it’s only a temporary thing, but wonders if that same, chipped table will be there in five years.

She shifts her gaze towards her boyfriend - her sensitive, caring boyfriend, Bernard. He gives her a strange look and she knows he felt it too. She wonders at how one can feel such a thing pass in the company of friends and family.

Aunt Emma eats hungrily at her food, not paying attention to the goings-on. Bernard and Rose Mary Ginger shift their gazes to her, their attention seized by the sheer amount of noise the older woman is making.

“So...” says Roger, attempting conversation once more. He looks at his date - the fifth member of the small dinner party - but her eyes are on the window, watching the outside rain interestedly. He taps her thigh and she looks at him, giving a small smile and indicating the weirdness of the situation with her eyebrows.

“Oh, for Pete’s sake - it was only a fart,” says Aunt Emma, going back to her food.

Suspicious eyes dart around the room, the falter.

The uncomfortable meal resumes, with only Emma’s loud chewing to break the silence.