Chapter 40: Death By The Pot
We were in the living room by the big table. It was pretty cool, cloud base suspended in the air, a big round glass countertop floating on top. I was sweating. How did we get here? I was going to die, and it was all my fault. Damn it.
Me and Mel stared at each other, sweating, praying. Why did it have to end like this? So… how did we get here exactly?
The day after the potato incident:
Mel's planting was going well. The plants given to us by the giants seemed to have some kind of accelerated growth. In 24 hours, we had... how do I say this without sounding insane?
We had a soup plant.
Yes…..a soup plant. Its petals folded in on themselves like a dome and it was yellow with purple spots. If you stood over it with a bowl, its lip would open and it would shoot out soup. We were hesitant at first,after all, the potatoes almost killed us,but we chose to trust our giant friends. Surely they wouldn't give us something deadly… again… right?
"Oh my God it's DELICIOUS!" Mel shouted, hands raised to the sky.
"It really is sooo good," I added. The flavor was like nothing I'd ever had,rich and vegetable-y, smooth and sweet. It actually made me remember this one time El tried making soup at the orphanage. It was a disaster. Ren got food poisoning, and we had stomach pain for days.
My mistake was reminiscing out loud.
Mel laughed at the story and,well,El didn't like that very much.
"Oh really?" she said, blushing. "I know I can make a soup ten times better than that stupid FAT plant." Her cheeks were red with a mix of anger and embarrassment.
Maybe I was imagining it… but it felt like that statement actually made the flower,who we named Mr. Soup,sad.
This was the beginning of El's "cooking stage."
She bolted to the kitchen.
That first night, she grabbed some of the leftover angry potatoes and tried to make fries... Fries! You'd think it would be hard to mess up fries, right? Cut 'em up, bake or fry boom, done.
Then…
A plate of what I could only describe as white pus was plopped in front of me. It wiggled. It sloshed. Like it was trying to escape.
"G…g…g go on then, have a taste," El said, blushing.
Woof.
"What the actual fuc– did it just bark at me? EL. What the hell is this?!"
"Nooooo," she stammered, red in the face. "It didn't. It just… released air. From a pocket. That's normal."
"The hell kinda explanation is that?! Fries aren't supposed to do that either!" Mel shouted, disgusted.
"Just try it! It most likely tastes good!" El said, cocky, arms crossed like she was some five-star chef.
"Don't look so proud," I said. "How do you even mess up fries?"
"Please," she begged. "Just try it."
"Fine....."i said defeated
I don't remember when exactly I passed out. Maybe the moment it hit my tongue. Maybe just before. All I know is, it felt like God himself was punishing me for daring to eat that horror she cooked up.
I woke up twelve hours later.
"Never again," I whispered to myself. My stomach still hurt. Did I just… almost die?
I staggered into the kitchen. There she was. At it again.
"No. No no no. Get out the kitchen, you criminal!" i shouted
She jumped. "What do you mean criminal?! You're overreacting, Maddox,it was just a tiny oopsie!"
"That wasn't a mistake,it was attempted murder, you harlot."
"I'm surprised you're the first one to wake up. Mel's still sleeping."
"Sleeping? Or unconscious?" I asked dryly.
"Rude. I'll have dinner ready in a bit. I think I did a decent job this time," she smiled.
"No thanks. I'll have some plant soup. I don't wanna die yet." i said backing away
"Oh, come on! I tried so hard this time! And the door is locked, so you aren't getting to the garden."
She smiled. An innocent smile… but the eye contact was menacing.
God, if you're out there, help me, I cried internally.
Honestly, in a week, I've set a personal record for most near-death experiences. I swear on one occasion she made chicken that was somehow still alive. Like, literally. It was frozen in the fridge when we left the giants' land. But when she cooked it? It was as healthy as the day it hatched. Now excuse my language…but how the FUCK do you cook a chicken to life?
Anyway, his name is Bob now. He's chill. Roams the deck on most days.
The following day:
"Bob, I swear, you just get me, you know?"
I was sunbathing again. We swore to give El one last chance to cook. We had no doctors up here, and if we kept getting food poisoning, one of us was actually going to die.
I sighed as I sipped on my homegrown soup.
"But you get me, Bob. You're a man of few words, but I feel like we've grown close. You don't do anything but chill, and I mess with that."
The chicken looked at me. Said nothing. He didn't have to. I knew he got it too.
"Exactly, Bob. Exactly."
The next few days were a mix of disasters. One explosion. A revived fish. But despite it all, El kept going. Her hands blistered. Fingers cut. But she never gave up. She tried her own cooking,again and again, day and night. She didn't just want to beat a soup plant,she genuinely wanted to learn.
Late one night:
I woke up for some water and overheard a conversation between Mel and El.
"It's amazing how you're still so trash," Mel said.
"Hey! I have feelings, remember?"
"Yeah yeah… but why do you even try so hard? You're not really mad that a soup plant is better than you, right?"
I paused. I found myself hiding behind the wall like some half-price ninja… or more accurately, a creep.
She smiled. "It's not about the soup plant."
"Remaber what Maddox told you, but back at the orphanage, I made a meal for Ola and the others."
"Your sister, right?" Mel asked, her tone softer.
"Yeah. It was just soup. But it was so bad it left us bedridden for days. But that face… when Ola took a sip… I'll never forget it."
She laughed bitterly.
"She tried so hard to swallow it. Gagging, almost throwing up. I told her she could spit it out, but she forced it down. Then she looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, 'It's delicious.'"
My eyes watered hearing that.
"Since that day, I wanted to cook a meal for her,one that would actually make her happy. One so good she'd eat the whole pot and still want more. But since that soup nearly killed us, the caretakers banned me from the kitchen.
"But I promised myself: when me, my sister, and all our friends finally reached Lux, I'd cook something that would blow their socks off."
She paused, choking on her emotions.
"But it didn't play out like I wanted…"
"Eliza… I'm so sorry, I didn't know," Mel said softly.
"No no, it's fine. When Maddox stupidly reminded me of that soup day, I remembered my promise. And even though she's gone… I still have Maddox. I still have you. So through you guys, I'll cook something so perfect, my sister will taste it from the afterlife."
She wiped her tears, smiling. "So you better be prepared," she said, pointing right at the wall I hid behind.
I smiled.
I launched out and sat down, grabbing a bite of whatever radioactive disaster she'd made.
"You too, Mel," I said, mouth full. "We're eating this. Even if it kills us."
"We'll eat it all," Mel shouted, "even if it kills us!"
I passed out for a whole day.
Worth it, though. I think.
And that's how we ended up here.
The plate looked gruesome, the worst one yet .
We were in the living room again. At the floating glass table.
I was sweating.
"Mel… if this is our last day, I wanna tell you something."
She looked over, fear in her eyes.
"Y-yeah? What is it?" she trembled.
"…You snore. Loud. You should get that checked out," I said dryly.
"…I'd be upset if we weren't about to die," she replied.
I laughed, sadly. Tears ran down my face.
The plate had an aura of actual death purple and… well, evil. It looked like stew but growled like it wanted blood.
I dipped my spoon into it.
It disintegrated.
"El… are you sure this is edible?"
"Yeah," Mel asked , backing me up.
"I mean… I took a little taste and I'm still standing. So probably."she replied
"Life is a beautiful thing… I wish I could've kept mine," I sighed.
I lifted the plate and took a sip.
It wasn't a long life. Not even an extraordinary one. But still…
I sipped.
My body convulsed. Shaken to the core. A sensation I'd never felt before.
As the gooy, mushy substance slid down my throat, I braced for death.
Bye, Bob. I'll miss you most.
Wait,I hadn't passed out yet.
I smacked my tongue.
Wait…
No…
It couldn't be…
It was…
"…Terrible," I said with tears in my eyes. "But less terrible than last time."
"YAAAAY!" el shouted, dancing.
I looked over to Bob, giving him a thumbs up. It seems we'll see another day, my friend.
And that was it. That's how we somehow gained a chef and a farmer in just a few weeks.
It sucked that I had to almost see God on both occasions to get here , but in that moment, watching Mel and El holding hands, jumping for joy as they celebrated…
Yeah.
Totally worth it.
Notes~
Please check on Mr soup fat shaming ain't right el smh lol.