Vegetables
744 Words
The kitchen!
The kitchen?!
What on earth were they thinking? Not only was it my least favourite work assignment, I was honestly terrible at it. Slow, kept dropping things, was always getting in the way. Sheena and I had a running joke that the cooks on duty would sigh if they ever saw my name rostered.
“But at least you’ll get to work with me for a little longer!” Sheena was trying to cheer me up.
In a daze, I’d wandered back to my house accompanied by her, likely out of concern.
Mum and Dad had opened the door with bright, eager smiles clearly waiting for happy news, I just walked past and Sheena offered them an apologetic shrug.
Why the kitchen?
‘Well on the plus side, we can snack constantly and maybe end up being known as the fattest wolf on pack lands,’ Bree said.
‘Yeah you’re no help right now, apart from making me hungry.’
“Cheer up Zee, they must have seen something in you to have given you that assignment. You know they always have their reasons.”
“Seen what in me? How clumsy I am?”
“Well, I mean sure… You are clumsy. But you make up for it with how… Nope, I’m drawing a blank. You really are terrible in the kitchen,” Sheena laughed.
It was laugh or cry at this point, I joined her.
“Get some rest okay? Maybe you’ll feel better in the morning. I’m rostered on all week so maybe I can help you out a bit, see if we can’t improve those skills?”
“What would I do without you Sheena?”
“Wallow in self misery, clearly,” she laughed again.
Leaving me hugging a pillow on my bed, Sheena got up to leave. I could hear her chatting to my parents on the way out, no doubt letting them know what happened. If I focused I probably could have eavesdropped but frankly, at this point, I really didn’t care.
In my dreams, I was being chased by an assortment of vegetables brandishing weapons. The cauliflower was armed with whisks, the carrots had meat mallets, the potatoes… Oh the potatoes, my mortal enemy in the day as well as in my drams, were wielding knives like swords. It was absurd and yet, I woke up drenched in sweat after a restless night.
‘Really Zee? A vegetable army?’
‘Hey in fairness, you’re probably responsible for part of what goes on in my subconscious too.’
‘Yeah except I’m not afraid of vegetables.’
‘I’m not worried about eating them. Just cutting, peeling, cooking and serving them.’
‘You’re hopeless.’
‘Love you too.’
After no doubt chatting with Sheena last night, Mum and Dad knew better than to try and give me pep talks with big fake smiles. The effectiveness of that wore off my first day of school, when they’d psyched me up to go- making it out to be something terribly exciting and fun- and I ended up being bitterly disappointed.
It was a sombre mood instead, with Dad offering me a hot chocolate and Mum dishing up some pancakes with golden syrup.
“We know you are disappointed honey, and we’re sorry. Dad’s going to see if he can chat to the Alpha at some stage, surely it had to be a mistake. But either way, we know you’ll make the best of it.”
“But Mum, no one has ever had an assignment changed by choice, what makes you think he’ll even hear Dad out?”
“It’s worth a try at least, worst he can do is say no.”
She had a point, hopefully it didn’t lower our standing in their eyes any further though.
I scoffed down 4 small pancakes and grabbed one for the short hike to the main pack house. Our home was on the outskirts of what we dubbed the ‘Village,’ a collection of Omega houses. I was never a fan of the segregation or the classist way in which we were positioned however once again, my view was considered ‘strange’ and ‘out of character for an Omega.’
As wolves though we were naturally fit, so the two kilometre stroll went quickly.
Too quickly.
After a night being chased by militia vegetables I clearly wasn’t about to have an easy day.
Paige had been assigned to oversee the kitchen.
- Writer
