Posts from the Author -- The Weirdening of Dinner

Welcome!

 If you’ve found your way here from flashfictionmagazine.com, welcome to my blog. This is where I post random thoughts about writing,  along with some original work that I don’t mind sharing for free. (I hoard most of my good stuff for copyright purposes, but if you’d like to read something else of mine, follow the link or scroll back through the blog. )

The Weirdening of Dinner

“Weird Dinner” came to me one night as I was reheating some leftovers for a makeshift quesadilla. I was alone for the evening, and thought to myself, “Looks like I’m having weird dinner again.” The story came to me in a flash, and rather than let it slip into the either, I wrote it down. 

“Weird dinner” is what I call those thrown-together meals I make when I’m way too tired to cook. I am a full time worker bee, and a mom, and sometimes I am too exhausted (or I can’t be arsed) to make dinner, too.  One night I made a salad out of cut baby carrots and sliced tomatoes, and an entree out of the leftover chicken nuggets that that toddler rejected (she’s more of a turkey hot dog fan). I said to the hubby, “Sorry. It’s a weird dinner night.” 

To which, to his credit, he responded by saying, “I love weird dinner!” 

As so began the inspiration for my flash fiction story, “Weird Dinner,” which was featured today at Flash Fiction Magazine.  It is a very, very short story (362 words) about eating dinner at the end of the world. If the worst happened, and your food supply was completely cut off, what sort of meal would you make out of the contents of your cupboards? We’d be eating cat food, stale crackers, and cans of cranberry sauce left from last Thanksgiving. 

The biggest inspiration for this story, however, came from my brother, who ate his own weird dinner at the end of the world. 

This July, his partner of twelve years suffered a stroke caused by a massive brain hemorrhage. He survived, but is now paralyzed on his right side and has trouble communicating. Their world has been changed forever—life will never be the same. 

My brother had to return to their apartment alone to pack up all of their possessions and have them placed in storage—a devastating, heart-wrenching task.  When it was time to eat, rather than go to the store or a restaurant, which would have been too much trouble and too depressing, and rather than just waste all that food in their cupboards, my brother made his own “weird dinner.” He found a full can of Kraft Easy Cheese, but didn’t have any crackers. What he did have was a can of large, pitted black olives. And so he opened the can and ate them, filling each olive with a squirt of cheese. 

When he told me about this, I was both grossed out and impressed at his ingenuity. That’s my brother.

And so I dedicate this super short story—my first fiction piece to be published, anywhere, ever—to my amazingly strong, brilliant, and slightly disgusting brother; and to my darling husband who doesn’t much care what’s for dinner. Love you both.

Enjoy,

LLH


P.S.
You can read my story, "Weird Dinner," here. 
Enjoy flash fiction? Read more stories online at www.flashfictionmagazine.com