CONTINUED FROM PG. 53
pleasures, and all his resolve fell away. The warm, thick air enveloped him as he let himself through the door, which swung silently on its hinges. Inside a sturdy, buxom woman—much like his mother—merrily shooed him to a table set for one, her hands heavy with six steins of chilled steam ale, which she set before him before pecking him on the cheek. Elated at this, he tucked the folded cloth napkin into his collar, and soon a large silver tray towering with hot, fresh-cooked hamburger sandwiches was set before him. He ate with abandon, consuming each burger in three bites, the juices running down his wrist as he shoved handfuls of crisp, French-fried potatoes into his mouth. When this tray was done another arrived, and then another, and then a new round of ale. As he slowed, an entire Virginia cream pie was set before him with a single spoon, which he ate while the check arrived. It was a curious thing, a simple slip of paper with the sum, stamped in fat red letters, reading only, “$1,000.” He happily paid it, for he had had the feast of his life. The men who dined and sang around him cheered and called his name, at first in solidarity, and then with a strange worry that he was leaving, as he strode out. As he crossed the threshold of the silent door, a pain like an anglerfish seizing his heart in its hellish maw froze him in place and he toppled over, collapsing through the planks of the wooden porch into the dirt below. No more thoughts came to him. (THE END)
2 The Mercury’s Eat & Drink Guide October10, 2012
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October 11, 2012 The Mercury’s Eat & Drink Guide 55