Try It, You’ll Like It
WD February Flash Fiction Challenge — Day 15
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“Come on, try it!” Maya said, holding a donut in her hand. “I made it myself. You’ll love it! I promise!”
Sergio shook his head firmly, rejecting her offering with a wave of his hand. “You know I don’t like to test things.”
“I’m not asking you to ‘test it,’ I’m asking you to take a bite. I’ve already done that, and so did your mother and father. They both liked them.”
“What is it?” he inquired.
“It’s a raspberry-filled donut, and I made the jelly from our raspberries! It doesn’t get any better than that!”
“I just don’t feel like it. I’m all dressed for work and it’s time for me to go right now!”
“The bus doesn’t come for another 15 minutes and it only takes you five minutes to walk to the corner. Come on, Sergio! Don’t be such a stick in the mud”
“I am not a stick, in the mud or otherwise. I’ve just never enjoyed putting things in my mouth like that. You know me!”
“Yes, I do…a stick in the mud, by definition. In fact, they were thinking of you when they came up with that phrase.”
“I doubt that.”
Maya made her pouty face, and tucked her chin down.
“You know, I work hard to make something nice for you. The least you can do is taste it. It’s not like I’m asking you to go to the moon or anything. Just take a bite. I know you’ll love it. Please!”
Sergio hated it when women cried, or even hinted at crying. This was largely because he hated to be manipulated and he was sure Maya was manipulating him now. But being his wife gave her more latitude than others, so he relented, reaching out to receive the donut.
“Hand it over, then and I’ll bite the danged thing.”
“Thank you, Sergio!” she said as her face lit up with a smile.
Sergio looked the donut over, turning it about in his hand. He had to be honest, it did look good. She had dusted it in powdered sugar, which he verified by touching his tongue to it.
“Take a bite already. It’s not a science experiment. It’s just a donut!”
“I have to be sure of a thing first,” was Sergio’s reply, as he passed the donut under his nose. It smelled nice.
Maya frowned at him.
“Okay, okay! I’m taking a bite!”
He brought the donut up to his mouth, the look on his face a pained expression, as though he were about to take a tablespoon of some unsavory medicine.
Maya tensed.
At last, Sergio’s lips parted, and he inserted one end of the donut into his mouth, sinking his teeth into it.
Two things happened at once — a burst of sweet, and tangy raspberry spread across his tongue, shockingly delicious, and simultaneously, the remainder of the filling slid out the backside of the donut and landed on Sergio’s tie.
The expression on Sergio face went from fearful expectation to one of absolute delight.
The expression on Maya’s face went from hopeful expectation to one of absolute horror.
“It’s good, baby! It’s really, really good! Why are you looking like that?” he asked, concerned.
She rushed to the sink to retrieve a dishcloth as Sergio watched, clueless.
“I’m so sorry, honey, the filling got on your tie! But I can wipe it off!” she said, as she wet the cloth.
Sergio looked down and saw the blob of filling slowly sliding down his silk tie.
“Oh, fudge!” he said. “That’s why I don’t like to try new thing — something always goes wrong!”
Affirmed in his world view, Sergio stomps back upstairs to change his tie, complaining all the way.
This is my Day Fifteen entry to the Writer’s Digest February Flash Fiction Challenge. The prompt is to “write a story about a reluctant character.” I wrote this on the 15th.
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