Jade's First Meal

One-Minute Writer Friday Fiction: Meal

Write a brief bit of fiction involving a meal.

JADE'S FIRST MEAL

Although Jade had been experimenting with human food for many months before her mission, having to actually eat human food while on Earth was not something she looked forward to. The taste and texture of solid food was revolting and the thought of three meals a day was the one thing she dreaded about her mission.

All the inhabitants of Jadocon received their nourishment in the form of liquid protein, normally only ingested once in a 24 hour eon. Jadocon was a dry, desert-like planet, so growing and raising food had been banned several million eons ago. Jade never realized there was such a thing as "food" until she began training for her 10 year Earth mission.

Picking the shiny red apple off the tree, Jade turned it around and around in her hand. She knew it was an apple, but she was reluctant to bite into it, even though she was running low on protein liquid. The Elders had allowed her to bring several days worth of liquid protein with her, but in order for Jade to blend in unnoticed, she would be required to eat the human food.

She held the apple up to her nose and sniffed. It smelled good, like sunshine and water. Finally she could put it off no longer and she bit into the crispy apple. Working the bite in her mouth, she was surprised at the sweetness and juiciness of the apple. She had been expecting something hard and sour. It took her many attempts to be able to swallow the small bite. When you've been used to drinking liquid all your life, swallowing a bite of apple can be a bit difficult.

For the next 45 minutes, Jade continued to work on the apple, taking small bites and chewing for long minutes. She was surprised to see the pretty white flesh of the apple start turning brown after a few minutes. She had no idea what was making the white turn brown, but she knew it wasn't affecting the taste.

When she was finished with the apple, she felt a little better, a little more energized. She hadn't realized how tired and hungry she actually was. Now, if only her stomach would tolerate the unusual nourishment, maybe she would be alright.

When she stood up, Jade picked a few more apples and put them into her backpack. Then she slung the backpack over one shoulder and headed out of the woods toward the nearest Earth town.