Resented

Written 55-G14 [2024-01-18], Edited 55-G14 [2024-01-18]

Image credit: Twitter Twemoji

It had to be cauliflower.

Cauliflower! Not even broccoli, or kale, or green string beans. Morris scrunched up his tiny, hairless face at the sight of it.

“I’m not eating that crap,” he said.

“Language!” said his mom.

“Langig,” said little baby Mortimer in his high chair.

“Fine,” said Morris. “I’m not eating that poop, I resent it.”

“Would it kill you to eat a vegetable for once in your life?” asked Morris' mom.

“I’d eat any other vegetable,” said Morris. “Any other food, really. But this, no way.”

Morris' mom was visibly frowning. But what she didn’t reveal was a deep sadness inside. After hours of work at the plant, she had come home with aching arms and sweat on her brow, only to find a single species of edible vegetable in the fridge. She kept trying to stay calm with these teenage, no, preteen outbursts. But enough was enough.

Morris' mom wordlessly picked up Morris' plate and lay it in the sink. Then she presented him with an even more alien substance: a can of her biochemist sister’s algal gruel.

“Is this… edible?” asked Morris.

“You have to open the can first,” Morris' mom said with a glare.

Notes

This was written in 15 minutes during a Joy of Writing meetup.

Feedback from The Joy of Writing group

• “I love vegetables, I married two of them”
• Liked how the baby is named Mortimer
• algal gruel
  • this is a recurring plot point, see also Bloom and Variety
• common scene in a family with children
  • children hiding under the table to escape food they don’t like… or to hear gossip
• brings the mundane to life