2008-04-20T04:16:59Z http://ficlets.com/feeds/author/teleject <p>My rents would be approaching soon, but I had arrived first. The hostess showed me to my table, reserved for three.</p> <p>Knowing I had a short time before the waitress confronted me, I had to decide. Was I hungry enough for an appetizer. And if so. What kind of appetizer?</p> <p>Chicken wings? Nah. Too cliche. Mashed up corn mess deep fried into nugget form. You gotta be desperate to eat that. Fried okra. I don&#8217;t get okra, but frying makes it more in common with my vernacular.</p> <p>You know what. Maybe I wasn&#8217;t that hungry for an appetizer.</p> <p>&#8220;Hi, hon,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Can I get you something to drink before your company shows up?&#8221;</p> <p>Sure, I rattle off my usual thirst quencher request the same way she came to my table&#8212;without looking at her.</p> <p>&#8220;Do you want to order an appetizer while you wait?&#8221;</p> <p>To stall, I asked what appetizers they offered, even though I knew they fell into two categories: too cliche or too weird. But I felt a pang in my stomach when she mentioned onion rings.</p> <p>&#8220;Oo. Gotcha,&#8221; she noted.</p> http://ficlets.com/stories/862 2007-03-19T02:49:13Z 2008-04-20T04:16:59Z teleject http://ficlets.com/authors/teleject