“Welcome to our home,” May said, and shook Woo-jin and Seul-ki hands.
After introductions and getting-to-know-you small talk, Seul-ki offered a plastic container. “This is for you. It is a traditional Korean dish called kimchi.”
“It should be perfect,” Woo-jin chimed in, “she made it in Seoul two week ago.”
“Thank you,” May replied and opened the container, its pungent, sour, spicy, and garlicky odor striking her and Winston at the backs of their throats.
“It’s cabbage?” May asked.
“Yes, with spices and fermentation,” Seul-ki said.
Winston said, “well, it smells divine. I never had kimchi before.” He grabbed a fork, and dug in, choosing a crisp, wet piece of the Napa cabbage.
“It’s spicy,” Seul-ki warned, giggling.
Winston offered the first piece to May, who took a small piece into her mouth and chewed. Winston was more adventurous, taking a much larger bite. His eyes grew wide at the enormous spicy tang, but he charged through without incident, nodding his head up and down emphatically, muttering, “delicious,” between swallows.
“That is delightful, honey. Will you show me how to make it?” May asked.
“Of course.”
May sliced out three portions of her dessert onto paper plates. “Try some warm blueberry pie?”
“We’ve never had blueberries before!” Seul-ki said excitedly.
“You’re in for a treat then. We picked musta been a hundred pounds or more this summer jes’ across the street,” Winston said.
May laid out the plates, and turned to ask Maybelle if she would like some pie, only to find the little girl laying on her side and petting Amadeus and Muffin simultaneously, both animals rolled over on their backs.
“I think you gon’ do jes’ fine here.”
About the Author
Pete Conrad writes about real life from a darkened room in the Dover, New Hampshire area. Mr. Conrad has a degree in English, Literature, and Cultural Studies from the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg. He is a bass player, sentimentalist, ice cream devotee, and lover of the Oxford comma.
Copyright
Copyright © 2018 Pete Conrad
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.
This is a book of fiction. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
For all inquiries:
Please visit www.suicidalflower.com
Printed in the United States of America
Book design by Pete Conrad
Edited by Erika Tobiassen