Gold-trimed Plates

A Chapter by highflyer

“Get out! Go to work and earn a living!”

It was a scream heard throughout the sunny little neighborhood of Woodberry. All anyone could think was that ‘they’ were at it again. ‘They,’ the couple on the corner. The tall blonde, wasted in stress, her once shining blue eyes now broken in sorrow. He, the tall newspaper writer, dark and mysterious. Everyone thought they were quite the couple. They married too young, and now everything ended in a fight.

The front door to their cute little house flew open. A woman, Saundra, stood there, holding her newborn baby in her arms. Her husband, Mark, marched past her, walked down the sidewalk, and got into his car. The car backed out of the driveway and drove off down the road.

Saundra stood there, staring out into space, dazed. Then she shook out of her reverie and looked down at the baby in her arms. “It’s okay,” she whispered to it, “you won’t hear daddy complain about anything anymore.”

Mark went through a normal day at work. It was routine, writing articles, editing articles, creating a layout, and all the other things editors of newspapers do.

When he was getting ready to leave work and go home, his wife called.

“Honey,” she said, “when are you getting home? I feel horrible about the awful things we said to each other this morning. I want to make it up to you.”

“I feel the same, we shouldn’t fight, for the baby’s sake.” Mark replied happy he was in for a argument less night.

“I made you a special meal; I spent all day on it. I really want you to forgive me. I know you work hard,” She said.

“Of course I forgive you. I love you.” Mark said, smiling at the thought of her glowing face.

“Well,” she said, “You still have my entire meal ahead. When do you think you’ll be home?”

Mark thought a moment, “I’ll probably be home in around 30 minutes. I have one more thing to do before I leave.”

“Okay,” Saundra said cheerily, “I’ll see you then, I love you.”

Mark smiled at her, though he knew she couldn’t see it, “You too.”

Mark hung up the phone and grabbed a piece of paper off his desk, along with his briefcase. Mark dropped the paper on a desk and left.

His drive home was silent, without even the radio on. Mark was happy that things were still alright between him and Saundra. When he arrived home, he opened the door to a delectable aroma wafting towards him from the kitchen.

“Mark,” Saundra called, “is that you?” She poked her head into the foyer to check, and smiled widely when she saw it was him. “Oh, I just finished cooking, you’ll adore this meal.”

“It smells delicious,” said Mark, kissing his wife.

Saundra led Mark to the table and sat him down in his chair, then disappeared into the kitchen. A moment later, she returned with two gold-trimmed plates full of potatoes, vegetables and a reddish-colored meat.

“Yum.” He said when she sat a plate down in front of him. Saundra stayed hovering expectantly over him, waiting for him to taste the food.

Mark cut into the meat and took a bite. It was like nothing he ever tasted. He didn’t have any idea what kind of meat it was. “Wow,” he said when he had chewed carefully and swallowed, “What is that? It can’t be any bird of some sort can it?”

Saundra smiled and shook her head, “It isn’t,” she said. Saundra sat herself down across from her husband. She picked up a fork and took a bite of the potatoes.

“Come on,” Mark said, “you must tell me what it is. It’s not beef or pork or fish or deer?”

Saundra shook her head again. “Nope.”

Mark didn’t seem to mind what kind of meat it was. He couldn’t stop himself from eating it; the food was just so mouth-watering and delectable.

“So, did you have a good day?” asked Mark.

“Yes,” the wife simply answered.

“Did the baby behave?”

“Yes, he cried a lot, but around three he stopped,” she answered, still eating potatoes.

After a few minutes small talk, Mark realized the portion of meat she had given him was gone. “Say,” he asked, “there isn’t anymore of this is there?”

Saundra nodded and went into the kitchen once more. She came back carrying a large plate of more of the food.

Mark’s eyes widened, and he grabbed more of the mysterious meat. “Seriously Saundra, you’ve outdone yourself. I can’t believe you cooked this and took care of the baby at the same time.”

Saundra smiled sweetly and replied, “It was easy, when I started cooking, the baby was no problem at all.”

“Where is the baby? I haven’t heard a peep since I came home.”