Total pages in book: 182
Estimated words: 171288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 856(@200wpm)___ 685(@250wpm)___ 571(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 171288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 856(@200wpm)___ 685(@250wpm)___ 571(@300wpm)
She stood up from the small table suddenly.
“Something wrong, sweetheart?” V’rex looked up, frowning.
“I almost forgot!” Penny exclaimed. “The last time I saw my friend, Claudette, she gave me a bunch of flavor sticks because she knew I liked them so much. Hang on.”
She ran to the bedroom and got two of the small wooden sticks from the stash Claudette had given her and came back into the dining area brandishing them triumphantly.
“Here,” she said, handing one of them to V’rex, who looked at it uncertainly.
“Uh, what is this?” he looked at the small, tongue-depressor-type stick and frowned.
“A flavor stick! Didn’t they give them to you when they were holding you in the male dorms?” Penny asked. When he shook his head she said, “Okay, well here’s how they work. You press the stick to your tongue and think about a flavor you really like. Then stick it into the food you want to taste like that and stir it around. The food will pick up the flavor you wanted. Like this—see?”
She pressed the end of her stick to her tongue and thought hard about a recipe her mom used to make when she was a kid. Then she stirred the bowl of vegetable stew thoroughly with the flavor stick before taking a big bite.
“Mmmm,” Penny moaned as the salty, cheesy, crunchy, meaty flavors rolled over her tongue. “So good.”
“Can I try it?” V’rex asked, holding up the spork-looking thing which was the closest thing to a spoon that they had in the Compound.
“Oh sure—help yourself.” Penny pushed her bowl towards him and he took a sporkful of her stew. He put it in his mouth and his eyebrows shot up as he chewed and swallowed.
“That tastes completely different! And completely fucking delicious,” he exclaimed. “What is it, anyway? What did you turn it into?”
“This crazy recipe my mom used to make when I was a kid called ‘cheeseburger soup,’” Penny explained. “She honestly put just about everything in it—the meat, the cheese, tomatoes and lettuce—even pickles. And she served it with a squirt of ketchup and mustard on top.” She grinned and took another spoonful herself. “Tastes just like she used to make—reminds me of home.”
“It’s really good,” V’rex said, smiling. “Your mother must be an excellent cook.”
“She is.” Penny sighed and looked down at her stew. “I wonder…wonder if I’ll ever see her again.”
V’rex reached across the table and squeezed her hand gently.
“You’ll see her, little girl,” he rumbled. “I promise you that.”
Penny cast a glance at the ceiling and was glad to see the red light over the table was dark.
“Thanks, V’rex,” she said, carefully removing her hand. “Um, what about you? What do you want to turn your veggie stew into?”
If he was offended by her tacit refusal of his touch, the big Hybrid didn’t show it.
“Hmmm.” He looked thoughtful as he twirled the flavor stick she’d given him between his long fingers. Finally he nodded to himself, closed his eyes, and pressed the tip of the stick against his tongue. Then he stirred it through his stew carefully and took a bite.
“Did it work?” Penny asked anxiously as he closed his eyes and chewed, a blissful expression on his face.
“It did.” V’rex opened his eyes and pushed his bowl towards her. “Try it.”
Penny took a bite and was surprised at the complex flavors swirling on her tongue.
“Hmm, Sweet and sour…salty with hints of umami, like really dark soy sauce…and the slightest hint of seaweed,” she murmured at last. “Tastes kind of like sweet and sour fish and chips sushi,” she decided and smiled at him. “Delicious! What is it?”
“Mandras pie. One of the better charity kitchens used to serve it when I was a slum kid,” V’rex told her. “It was really warm and filling, especially on a cold night. And sometimes, if there weren’t too many of us, they’d let us stay the night after we ate, and sleep in the ashes of the furnace.”
“In the ashes?” Penny asked doubtfully.
V’rex nodded.
“Sure. It was always good to have a warm, safe place to sleep where you didn’t have to worry about freezing or getting knifed in the middle of the night.” He shrugged. “I guess I associate Mandras pie with all that—with warmth and safety and comfort—the same things you associate with your mother’s cheesbrugger soup.”
“Cheeseburger,” Penny corrected him, smiling a little. But she couldn’t help thinking that the little slice of his childhood he’d revealed had sounded awfully sad. “It must have been hard for you to be on your own like that, after you lost your mom,” she remarked carefully, not sure how much he wanted to talk about it.
V’rex shrugged.
“I got by. That time on the streets toughened me up—taught me that life doesn’t owe you anything—it’s what you bring to it that counts.”