HER
SUGGESTION
Marrie
had left work early that Friday and, forgetting the chicken at home
in the fridge, had stopped to purchase three pieces of fresh salmon.
Irfelt good not to be in her usual Friday night rush to cook. "
I will do the weekly shop tomorrow" she thought.
Unpacking
the salmon the phone rang. " is it Ok to bring a couple of mates
home to eat", her husband asked. "Ok love?" OK LOVE
she thought. There goes my quiet evening, "whats up Mum?"
asked son Charlie. Now, it wasn't that she disliked his friends, it
was the meal...what to serve. Its always last minute with Ben It was
partly her fault as she always managed to come up with something.
Surveying
the pitiful contents of the fridge with Charlie, she took out the
chicken, "but Mum this is two days passed its use by date"
he said, and you always told me to throw away anything passed its
date. Having recently taking an interest in cooking he looked at the
date on the sausages too... which were on their last day. Marrie
unwrapped the chicken, it looked alright and smelled alright. Charlie
gave her a doleful look, and at her suggestion that she cook it and
don't you say anything Charlie
They
peeled and chopped the only veg she had left in silence. They found
some out of date rolls, some mixed frozen veg and old fruit pie.
Charlie was eying her but did help with the preparation.
Ben
and his mates arrived after a quick stop at the local pub. "smells
wonderful" he exclaimed, "sorry to drop this on you at
short notice but you always come through. Kiss Kiss. The meal looked
lovely, but for some reason Charlie wasn't very hungry. Afterwards,
Marrie went out in the garden with her glass of wine while the three
men had a good chat. Young Charlie was cleaning up. He's such a good
boy, he was becoming quite domesticated lately, and she wondered if
she should be worried about it, as he didn't seem to like sports at
all,
It
seemed as if the men were going to make a night of, so making her
excuses, off she went to bed. Just as she was dropping off she heard
a strange coughing noise, but then the car started up so she went to
sleep.
The
next morning, Charlie came in with tea and a flower on a tray. Then
the phone shattered peace. Ben answered and she saw his face turn
grey. His friend Dave had passed away in his sleep. Ben told hear
that
he had been sick last night before he left. Oh no. thought Marrie,
the out of date chicken. But we all felt alright didn't we? Charlie
hadn't eaten much.
As
Dave was only 55 and healthy, there had to be an inquest. They lived
on tenderhooks until the verdict. Pour Dave's wife called to say that
his heart had given
out
. Apparently his father had also passed away in his 50's, but Dave
had always been so healthy he had never bothered to get his checked.
Marrie
slumped in the chair. "Family meeting now", she said, Ben,
no more last minute dinners, you must give me at least a day's
notice. "Charlie, always throw away food past its use by date",
"me, I will be a better housekeeper". Later that evening
glancing at the paper, she read "In future there will be no use
by dates as too much perfectly good food is being binned". "I
think I have aged 10 years" she said.
