She knew which one to pick, it was a routine task for her.
Orders kept coming, deliveries were on, Suzy was comfortable with the noise around her. A la Carte was a famous food joint at Checkers Street, where she worked.
3 chopping boards away Lily was a new trainee. Even after 8 months of practice, she could not grasp the basics. From chopping to serving, she erred on every front.
Suzy had given her best, to train Lily. Despite guidance and assistance, Lily stayed as she was,with no improvements. Now Suzy had given up on her.
Engrossed in thoughts over the time she wasted on Lily, Suzy placed the last egg plant beneath the knife.
Gripped by thoughts, she lost grip over the egg plant. In a matter of seconds, the vegetable skid and the knife slit Suzy's finger.
The busyness around her continued, but her activities momentarily stopped. She realized , the knife that chopped her finger was the "most blunt knife" on the stand. For a tender vegetable like Egg plant, she had deliberately chosen it.But now..it had chopped her finger really hard.
Did she have to be extra careful, even with a blunt knife ?
On second thoughts ...
Does a blunt knife ever exist? Or everything depends on what gets cut?
Suzy had underestimated the knife by calling it blunt. The thought made her take a fresh look at Lily.
Suzy's Learning : Everyone has potential. Its a matter of time, to unleash it.
PS - Suzy, Lily and Ala Carte are purely fictional. But the thought and the finger is mine.
This post is a part of Ultimate Blogging Challenge - July 2014 - Day 19
My Theme for this week - Short Fiction
"Parable" is a form of Short Fiction with a learning
I would have liked her apprentice to have shown special skills in helping to staunch the blood-flow. The chef was tardy in not sharpening the knife, but couldn't blame herself for not giving Susy enough teaching.
ReplyDeleteI loved your short story. I'd love to read more though and see your characters develop. :)
ReplyDeleteHey!! It reminds me of the time I started in journalism and later my boss told me she almost gave up on me when she saw the changes after a span of time. Naturally, she's been such a good mentor and I always look for her advice despite we do not work together.
ReplyDeleteLove the post:)
http://vishal-newkidontheblock.blogspot.com/2014/07/an-orkut-love-story-chapter-19.html
Just as I was admiring the lessons extracted from the anecdote... ouch! Hope you didn't hurt your finger very badly. After all, it has to help you type up these regular posts.
ReplyDelete@RG - No it didnt hurt badly.
ReplyDeleteThis post has been developed from the tweet I made a week back.