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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#100: Breaking Bread

One of the most intimate things you can do with someone is sit down to eat together. The idea of friends and foes, families and strangers breaking bread has been a recurring theme in art and literature for a very long time. It’s something that can bring us together against the steepest of odds; to quote Oscar Wilde, “after a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one's own relations”. But things don’t always end quite so harmoniously — food fights, anyone?

 

This week, we’re reflecting on the joys (or pains) of eating together or making a meal. Whether the dinner table is a place for communion or conflict for your characters, I look forward to sitting down to a hearty portion of food-themed stories with you. Bon appétit!

This week's prompts

Start or end your story with two characters sitting down for a meal.

Middle School – 264 stories

Write a story where a meal or dinner goes horribly wrong.

Thanksgiving – 202 stories

Write about a group of strangers — or people who know each other, but may as well be strangers — eating together.

Fluff – 153 stories

Write about a character preparing a meal for somebody else.

Fluff – 157 stories

Write a story that involves a secret or magic ingredient.

Halloween – 116 stories

Stories

“WITHOUT MALICE” by Sudhir Menon

Submitted to Contest #100

Satish and Sanjana, and their German Sheppard dog, Boxy, stayed in their villa on the outskirts of Indore. Satish was an ex-Wing Commander of the Indian Air Force who had taken voluntary retirement and was now engaged in a business of his own. Sanjana was a housewife. They were an amiable couple always willing to lend a helping hand for anybody in trouble. So when they saw they had a new neighbour, Sanjana and Satish trooped to their villa at about 8.00 a.m., the next day, and rang the bell. The door opened after a while and the lady of the...

21 comments 21
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“THE LAST PIECE” by Elsa Bluemoon

Submitted to Contest #100

  TW: gore, murder It was awkward looking into his eyes as we sat across the table for a meal. My heart was pounding so fast that I thought it would burst into pieces. He was smiling, but I couldn't read anything from those blank eyes. Even after years, this silence between us remained the same. Hopeless romantic, anxious me trying to find out what is hidden in those empty eyes. Today is the day of disclosure, which is why I called him to this secluded cabin. I was staring at the warm yellow light reflecting on his face highlighting his...

8 comments 8
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“Cackleberries, Hot Rocks, and Texas Butter” by David Brown

Submitted to Contest #100

Brody took a mouthful of hot and gritty, campfire coffee from a tin cup. Choking, he swallowed down the bitter liquid portion, wiped his black horseshoe moustache on his sleeve, and spit coffee grounds onto the dusty earth. “Cripes sake, Skinner! Why the hell we should keep ya on the payroll is beyond me! Yer brown gargle is the worst!”“Maybe because the little weasel makes the best damn cackleberries, hot rocks, and Texas butter?” Tripp defended his fellow outlaw while scarfing down a plateful of the bean master’s signature eggs, biscuits, ...

1 comment 1
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“Cooking Lesson” by Kathleen March

Submitted to Contest #100

It seems there is a food that makes people love people. Well, it's not love in the romantic sense, because everybody knows about that kind of food - it's called an aphrodisiac, a love potion number 9, something like that. The sentiment in question is more like when people show generosity, kindness, insane levels of empathy.  "I don't believe you." Is this really possible, you might be asking? It's true that people aren’t so nice anymore. They carry out drive-by shootings, shoot up discotheques, kneel on somebody’s neck and break th...

0 comments 0
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“Happy Birthday Sweetie” by Anjali Venugopal

Submitted to Contest #100

She insisted on Italian. Every birthday. We had considered other choices, as we do every year, and eventually settled for Italian, as we do every year. The mushrooms were sizzling in the butter, all glistening and sparkling. Like her brown, velvet sweater. It was her very first sweater. She'd hated it. Scratched her at her armpits. But she wore it, uncomplainingly, till she outgrew it when she reached 5. She was a good girl. I turned to study the minced garlic. My husband was never very good at chopping garlic. All different shapes and s...

3 comments 3
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“Raspberry Cookies” by Madeline Atwell

Submitted to Contest #100

It was a bleak December day when I got the confirming call. It was Dolores, my grandmother’s hospice nurse, informing me that she had passed away in the night. I thanked her for calling me then hung up hastily, taking shuddering breaths. I had no more family. My grandfather had died 5 years prior, swept away by dementia, now my grandmother was gone. She had been alone in her house for 3 years except for my occasional visits since I left and, of course, Dolores. I had been alone, too, for the first 8 years of my life. My father was unknown an...

6 comments 6
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“My daiquiris at El Floridita” by Eva Leticia Brito

Submitted to Contest #100

I arrived hot and sweaty to the cocktail bar located on a corner of the famous Bishop Street in Old Havana, Cuba. I teleported to a surreal past just when I crossed the threshold of the door: rancid fashioned velvety curtains, baroque columns crudely repainted to conceal time deterioration and lack of funds for its restoration. These topped with a color coat so ordinary that it almost violated the eyes with their failed attempt to resemble a true gold leaf. The stale smell of more than two centuries ago made me think of luxuries before commu...

2 comments 2
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“The Visitor” by Vijeni Selvam

Submitted to Contest #100

The key clicked in the lock, and the front door squeaked open. Startled, Ananya rushed towards the kitchen. Her mother had asked her to mince the garlic into a paste, to make chutney. But, the moment she left, Ananya along with her ten-year-old brother had been glued to the television. “How come onions hike up within a week?” Janaki tucked the loose end of her sari, and placed the grocery bags on the kitchen counter. “Stop grumbling ma!” “Grumbling?” she said. “You too will, when you have to run a family on your own!” Ananya made a sour face...

2 comments 2
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“Johnathan Earth and A Meal That Truly Mattered” by Cooper Armstrong

Submitted to Contest #100

   “Avus, what are we?”   The old man looked away from the counter and the dishes he was preparing on the granite countertop of his family restaurant and looked down at the small child looking back at him, chuckled and said, “Why, my leonis parum, we’re human! Why do you ask?” The boy began to frown as his head began to droop and his eyes moved their gaze down to his little feet standing in the white tiled flooring. “Well,” he said, “some of the other kids at school today were asking what I was.” “Huh”, the old ...

44 comments 44
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“Daddy's Eyes” by Jason Ivey

Submitted to Contest #100

“Mummy…where did I come from?” Breakfast: eggs and soldiers. Rebecca’s new favourite. Of course, we didn’t need food any more - how could humanity go on existing if demand outweighed supply? But it was good to eat traditionally every now and then, to feel the warmth of the food, the texture in your mouth, the nice feeling of fullness in your stomach. “Well…” began her Mummy. “It all started when I met your Father…”“Where is Daddy?” interjected Rebecca. “Eggs and soldiers aren’t the same without Daddy doing the voices...” she lamented.&n...

11 comments 11
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“Destination: Love” by Pranav N

Submitted to Contest #100

It’s a typical warm summer evening in Glendale. The summers are short, hot, arid, and clear, but winters are lengthy, cold, rainy, and partly cloudy. A city known not only for its offbeat galleries and museums but also for its beautiful scenic mountains. When the sun sets, one will discover live music and a variety of food options all across the city.In this lively town filled with interesting activities for anyone and everyone, a very curious turn was about to take place in the lives of two people namely, Lizzie and Paul. At about 2 pm...

7 comments 7
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“Door” by John Del Rio

Submitted to Contest #100

The door was a solid thing. Fitz estimated that it had to weigh close to fifty kilograms; and was likely two inches thick. Such a portal was a first rate barrier, and had the added advantage of dampening sound greatly once it was closed. Case in point: he could barely hear the men on the other side of the door even though there were half a dozen of them pounding on it, demanding to be let out. The three enterprise men had found themselves in this dockside warehouse thanks to intelligence gained through a meeting with the leader of the so...

15 comments 15
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“The Man Who Loved Me” by Andrea Magee

Submitted to Contest #100

I grabbed Mari from daycare and headed to the Publix on Riverdale Ave.I need to buy a money order and we needed some things for the house.Shopping done I drove home and brought Mari and the groceries inside.After loving on my 'noodle'(Mari's nickname of the week) I put her down for a nap. Bananas, self rising flour, egg, butter, sugar, vanilla extract, walnuts, big mixing bowl, spoon, loaf pan, Crisco.I put on my apron. I was ready to start measuring, pouring, and mixing. As I stirred all the ingrediants of my Banana Nut Bread together I fel...

2 comments 2
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“ FAT CHANCE at the OK CORRAL (AKA The Classic Buffet)” by Jeannie Labelle -Potvin

Submitted to Contest #100

Ginny wondered for a moment if she was having a stroke. Her ears began ringing, and she felt slightly dizzy. Worse still was that the array of desserts in front of her began to shimmer and waver. She almost expected them to disappear and so, tightly clutched the bowl of soft ice cream.She was willing to sacrifice the mint Nanaimo squares, peanut butter confetti bars and strawberry shortcake, but the ice cream was simply too important to let go.She clung tightly to the bowl and briefly thought about leaving the restaurant and driving to ...

0 comments 0
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“Brunch with Grandma” by Amanda Lieser

Submitted to Contest #100

  This piece dives into a conversation surrounding Asian American racism   I am driving to brunch with Grandma and Grandpa today. I am determined to fulfill my role as the household scheduler and get to know them better. The wedding band on my left finger still feels foreign. It’s November which means that it’s cold and grey out, but the hope of the holidays fills the air. As the old time carol says, “even stop lights blink a bright red and green.” My husband is in the passenger seat changing the radio stations absentmindedly searc...

5 comments 5
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$50

Prize money

893

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jul 02, 2021 EST

Won by Rayhan Hidayat 🏆

Title: mie goreng

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

Prompts | Big Blue Hand | 2024-11

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