(100-word flash fiction)
She had seen pictures of these semi-museums. Now, she was standing in one.
“It would have been odd,” she mused, “to eat in public, with people watching. Could I have licked my fingers? Burp?” She had to worry about none of that. Eating out meant the food arrived at her doorstep with the click of a few buttons.
Yet, there was festivity in this setting, even pomp, as though the act of eating was worthy of celebration. She imagined the hum of voices, scents rising from sweltering plates, the communality of the experience.
All of which stopped in 2020.
Returning to FF after a long, long time. Been busy changing countries, restarting business, finding my bearings. It’s good to start writing again. Thanks Rochelle for continuing to continue and so ably that too. Looking forward to reading all the other FFs 🙂
Photo prompt –
PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson
Just Joyfulness 
Hey Joyful,
Long time no see. The times they are a-changing, aren’t they?
Shalom,
Rochelle
Hi Rochelle, Yes, have been busy with life and the muse got neglected.
Times are very weird indeed, it seems we are stuck in some apocalyptic movie 😦
Welcome back. I liked the sense of alienness of something so (previously) normal. I’m pretty sure we’ll have restauarants again in the future, but still I liked your imagining that we wouldn’t
Thanks for the welcome, Neil 🙂
As the the imagining, anything is possible 🙂
Hey, Joyful! I just now returned myself to FF. Good story. I’m sure, though, the restaurants will re-open really soon. Maybe a hologram setting …?
Thanks William. Yes, they will if we don’t have a resurgence. Anything can happen.
All things are possible it seems.
Yup! We can only wait and see.
I’m doing my best to remain hopeful. This too shall pass.
Yes, we always rise, don’t we?
Yes we do. I have to believe the American spirit is still alive and well.
I meant the human spirit, not just American.
Let’s hope the hygiene in all restaurants will be taken seriously from now on! Will be a while after they open before I go back I think.
Yes, better be safe than sorry.
Ouch. Killer last line ( so to speak. ). Let’s hope not. But it is true that the current state of affairs makes you think of abandoned places like western gold rush towns, or Chernobyl after the nuclear accident. Even driving through Orlando outside Disney felt eerie, for the lack of a proper traffic jam.
Yes, it’s so eerie, sometimes I think I’m in some alternate reality. Thanks for reading 🙂
Nice story with a scary ending meaning something bad happens this year! Great story!
Thanks Nan!
Wow, this is like the story of a movie all about this pandemic…
Thanks for the lovely comment. 🙂 Let’s hope all those apocalyptic movies don’t come true.