Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Bouncebackability (06/05/14)
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TITLE: My Favorite Part | Previous Challenge Entry
By Tal Bartelle
06/12/14 -
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ADD TO MY FAVORITES
“Oh, dad. I didn’t eat nearly as much as you did,” Amber said. “Why do you always grab two platefuls the first time through, anyway?”
“It wasn’t that much food, and the second plate only had two dumplings on it. I didn’t want the sauce to ruin the flavor of my Lemon Chicken. Edward chuckled, “Once the food makes its way past my taste buds, the sauces can mingle all they want.”
Amber gave him a weak smile and said, “I did save room for dessert, though. Want me to bring you some ice cream?”
Edward shook his head as he chewed a mouthful of fried rice.
Just as Amber returned to the table, a waiter arrived with their check. She said excitedly, “Oh, goodie. This is my favorite part.” Amber set her bowl on the table and reached for the fortune cookie pointing most towards her, and tore off its wrapper.
“Well, what does it say?”
Amber’s face wrinkled while she read the fortune. A few moments later, a smile blossomed. “A smile increases your face value,” she said, as if sharing a deep philosophical insight. “Do you get it, Dad?” Face value? You know, we take things at face value, and a smile can increase its worth. Cool huh?”
Edward’s eyes moistened as he smiled. “You’re a smart girl, honey.”
“Dad, why do you say that fortune cookies aren’t really fortunes of our fate? I mean, this one’s true.”
“Indeed, it is,” he admitted, while stabbing his fork into the last of his uncompromised chicken. “Would you mind reading mine?”
Amber cracked the cookie in half and wrinkled her face again as she stared at the fortune. Her lips moved but no sound came out of her moth. A moment later she looked around the restaurant, then glanced back at the small piece of paper. Amber said slowly, “You have bouncebackability.” Her face flushed with uncertainty. Sliding the paper across the table, she said, “Is that a real word, or a typo?”
“If it is a word, what do you think it means?”
Amber took several spoonfuls of ice cream then met her father’s gaze. She smiled and said more as a question than a statement, “The ability to bounce back from something?” Amber paused to rub her chin, then said excitedly, “That’s like our faith, isn’t it, Dad? It’s what gets us through our trials.”
“You’re a smart girl, honey.” As Edward prepared to give his daughter a fist-bump, he bumped his tea glass. In trying to catch it before it leapt from the table, he knocked his plate with silverware to the hard tile floor. The plate broke into several pieces and the eating utensils added their voice to the clatter.
After a waiter cleaned up the mess, Edward wiped embarrassment from his face.
With the atmosphere retuning normal, the customers’ attention back to their meal and conversations, Amber said, “You did that really well, Dad.”
“Huh?” Edward said.
“You proved your fortune to be true. You look as if nothing happened.” Amber changed her tone as if addressing a new born baby. “That face,” she said, while reaching to squeeze his cheek. “Look at that innocent face.”
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You must have been in a hurry when you sent this...you don't make careless mistakes when you write.
Usually it is me who does the spilling...liked the reversal.
Loved the characters and the intimacy between Dad and daughter.
Thanks!
God bless~
Good conversations were what carried it along.
Nice work.
God Bless~