If you don't go wrong, go right.

               Title  of story   : If You Don’t Go wrong, go right.

                  Name of the author:                                 Lydia Mensah

                  Word count              :              1228

                  Page numbers:                     six

                  Email:                                 esthermode005@gmail.com

                  Phone numbers        :         020 7238235/0548285822

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

Ekua Atta woke up early in the morning wanting to try something new. Her routine has made life so boring for her. Waking up has also become a drag. She sat thinking about several options to make her day memorable. All she thought about pointed to the fact that she needed to plan for this change of routine. Since she had run out of ideas, she asked her colleagues for dynamic and overwhelming ones. They came up with this solution. Since she was a very good cook who believed so much in herself that no one was a match for her, she could organise a contest between herself and her toughest competitor. It seemed the only person they could think of was Adwoa best. Both of them could prepare both local and foreign dishes and made it their aim to learn from experienced cooks. Ekua Atta was dynamic and it paid off with more customers and recommendations. Her Restaurant, ‘Ekua Atta’s best’ was popular in the vicinity. She secretly registered for challenges behind closed doors and won, the reason for which her restaurant was adorned with several trophies, a testimony of how competent she was. It was a trademark for foreigners who did not need word of mouth to choose a place to eat.

Adwoa also owned a restaurant and was good at her job. She was the best candidate to stand up to Ekua Atta because she was tired of all the bluff and even made comments on social media about how loud mouthed she was. She promised to take her on and Ekua obliged. Today was the day when she and Adwoa were to go to battle in her backyard. She prepared both the courtyard and backyard for the competition, and went to the supermarket to get some fresh spices and meat. She kept encouraging herself that she had everything under control. Sure she did.

By mid-afternoon, the judges were seated waiting on both parties to settle down. The guests also arrived, ready to cheer their favourites on. Ekua sported the uniform she had asked Maame Kafui to sew for her and so was Adwoa. She was also smartly dressed with a matching apron. It has always been her dream to display her skills before a waiting audience like the one she has been watching on Television. The Master of Ceremonies made a call from the contestants and introduced them to the judges when all the guests were seated. There were a few shout outs and some catcalls from the guests and a few spectators from the neighbourhood, some looking over the walls as others watched from their balconies. Soon, they were seriously preparing their favourite meals. Ekua Atta told the judges she would be preparing Kao Pad Thai- Style Fried rice. On the table were diced carrots and peas, bell peppers cut into short strips, vegetable oil,  fresh minced gingernut, minced garlic cloves,  cooked rice, two lightly beaten eggs, chopped tomatoes, Thai sririja chili sauce, light soy sauce, lime juice and diagonally cut.scallions She was so proud of herself. The timer stood in the middle and set the time, then asked them to start work immediately. She told the judges it could go with tomato sauce, pepper or beef or chicken sauce.

Adwoa would be preparing Chicken Fried Rice. On her table were  frozen peas and carrots, half chopped onions, parsley flakes, cooked rice which had already been cooled, cooked chicken which she had already chopped and cooled, olive oil, eggs, soy sauce and  pepper. Some of the guests chose to sit in the living room, waiting to enjoy the meals.

It was a joy to watch the two at it. Ekua Atta had a little trouble at the beginning. She had her assistants helping her to proceed quickly.

She soon caught up with her opponent, Adwoa who was gracefully working herself out to victory. The whole backyard smelt good with the fragrance of the various flavours they had shooting up into the atmosphere. Adwoa controlled every input careful not to overdo things. The music in the background calmed down their nerves and entertained the waiting guests.

Adwoa was soon ready to grill her chicken on the ones provided in the backyard. As she did so, some of the pepper went into her eyes. She started screaming all of a sudden. A few men on standby from the clinic helped her get over it. That took a few minutes off her available time. The judges offered to give her some time to recuperate and continue. Ekua Atta was far ahead by now. She had finished with her fried rice and was on her Kentucky Fried chicken when some of the oil spilled over from the pan and burnt her hand. The paramedics were quick to react. What could go wrong again? Ekua Atta was becoming apprehensive. Were they right to have started this whole thing at all? Perhaps all that was happening was sending them a clear message.

She however kept at what she was doing until she heard a fire alarm. A fire had broken out in her living room from a faulty socket. It seemed it was overloaded with too many wires. Ekua Atta was suddenly distracted. She glanced at the judges to ascertain whether it was okay to go and see what was amiss. They gave permission to proceed. Everyone seemed to forget about the fire service until her food in the backyard caught fire. Adwoa was engulfed in fire too. She lay down on the floor groaning whilst others shouted instructions over to her that she should try rolling on the floor to help herself. By the time they remembered to call the fire service, the whole house was engulfed with flames and everyone was trapped in the fire.

Neighbours called the fire service, but as usual, her house was almost inaccessible. They were stuck in the middle of nowhere trying to find access to her house. Neighbours rushed in with buckets of water and managed to get everyone to safety including the host and guests.

Their ingredients were in ashes and so were their cooking utensils and all. There was nothing for the guests to eat afterwards. The contest was however rescheduled with many of the guests sceptical about its success. Some suggested that they organised the programme in a restaurant and others argued over the importance of the contest. Soon, there was a heated debate over the ashes left to remind them of an unsuccessful challenge. Ekua Atta did not seem to be bothered about her losses. Her passion kept her going. She apologised for what had become of a contest gone bad and promised to compensate everyone for the time wasted at the programme. Just as she was doing so, the insurance company called her and told her her package was ready. It was a new house and new utensils.

A few months later, she visited the site of the incident and could not find any trace of what happened. Construction works had gone on and a new building was rising up high up in the skies.