Recipe for how to avoid conflict
2 Females 1 tsp of truth
1 exit 1/4 tsp of lies
1 church lock in 1 really big smile
3/4 cups of drama 1 silver tongue
2 Large Blessings A helping of instigators
Pinch of wit 2 or 3 questions
Grain of word play
My sophomore year in high school I was talking to two different females, one went to the church I was attending and the other was a friend of my sisters. Late one Friday night we had a church function, a lock in. A lock-in is where you must come to the desired location, in this instance a church, and you must stay "locked in" for the night. Well I naturally assumed that the young lady I went to church with would be there, but was pleasantly surprised when my sister walked in with her friend. Well now you have to women I'm talking to, add the lock-in let it sit 'til it boils, add in 3/4 cups of drama and O will it boil. Add in the hint of instigation and both young ladies decided to confront me as mixture around the midpoint of the evening. As the heat started to rise under the two women, 2 or 3 questions sprouted from the heat. "How long have you been talking to her?, Are you talking to both of us? Which do you like more? Once you see the bubbles this is where you add in the tsp of truth. "Yes I am talking to you both, what did you think I would lie about it? I have nothing to hide I like the qualities you both have…this is when you add the silver tongue, the really big smile, grain of word play, and pinch of wit. *Hint* if done properly 2 blessings shall appear and a gasp of relief will be let out. Now, remove from the heat. As the pot begins to cool at separate points in the night I was approached by each woman and told that she appreciated my honesty, and told that was one of a kind, but I had to promise not to talk to the other girl anymore; now take your 1/4 tsp of lies and ever-so gently sprinkle it over the mixture. "Your right, I'm sorry." Now enjoy your night and wait for the one exit to open in the morning because, if done right, you have just avoided dangerous conflict.
Yay for the hermit crab! My favorite part of this is the way that your topic matches the form you've chosen. We talk about personal drama "heating up" and "boiling over," and it's fun to read those expressions in the context of an actual recipe. The lock-in element is a perfect match to the oven or pot. Your pace at which you introduce different ingredients is good here too, and you pack your story into a paragraph, just the way many recipes do their instructions.
ReplyDeleteApart from the form, my favorite part of this piece is its sort-of-self-deprecating, sort-of-overconfident voice. Being able to show (and have fun with) your own ambiguous actions and characteristics is just as appealing in print as it is in person.
If you decide to revise or develop this piece, I'd be curious to know what the cook created, as well as what he avoided... Perhaps you could emphasize that at the end?