WHAT'S FOR DINNER?     539 words

What’s for dinner, Mom? asked Kayla.  Her mother was stirring something on the stove and Kayla didn’t recognize the smell. She thought she’d better ask, just to be on the safe side.

‘Casserole,’ said her mother, still stirring.

‘What’s that?’ said Kayla suspiciously.

Her mother added salt and tasted. ‘You’ll like it,’ she said.

‘But what it is?’

Her mother sighed. ‘Chopped meat and vegetables, fried. Topped with eggs mixed with parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of parsley on top.’

‘Do I have to eat it?’ asked Kayla. Just at that moment, her brother Michael came into the room.

‘What’s for dinner?’ he asked.

‘Casserole,’ Mom answered. She had a funny look on her face – like her jaw was frozen.

‘I don’t like that,’ said Michael. ‘I hate it.’

Mom continued stirring for a minute. Then she lifted the pot off the stove and poured the contents into a glass dish. ‘How do you know you hate it if you haven’t even tried it?’

‘I just do.’

Mom sighed. ‘Well, you can have something else, then,’ she said. ‘Sandwiches, if you like. But you’ll have to fix them yourself.’

‘I’m hungry right now,’ said Michael.

‘Well, you’ll just have to wait. Go get yourself a few crackers or an apple.’

For dinner that night, Kayla and Michael had cheese sandwiches. Mom and Dad had the casserole.

‘Just take a bite,’ Dad said. ‘One little bite – I bet you’ll like it.’

Michael shook his head. ‘It’s got onions in it,’ he said. Kayla took a little bite. It tasted okay, but there was something rubbery in it. She spat it out onto her plate.

‘Kayla!’ yelled Mom. ‘It’s just eggplant,’ said Dad.

The next evening when Kayla came into the kitchen, her mother was chopping vegetables. She barely looked up from what she was doing when Kayla asked what was for dinner.

‘Boiled monkey blood,’ she said, ‘with slugs.’ Kayla stood there and stared at her.

‘What?’

Mom continued to stir. ‘You heard me, toots. And I’m serving it on bleached worms.’

Kayla stared at her mother for a few seconds. Then she walked over to the stove and peered into the pot. Spaghetti and tomato sauce. With mushrooms.

‘No it isn’t!’ she cried.

Her mother smiled and shrugged.

Michael came home a little later. ‘What’s for dinner?’ he yelled, throwing his coat on the table.

‘Boiled monkey blood,’ said Kayla. ‘With slugs,’ added Mom. ‘And bleached worms,’ they both said together.

‘What?’ said Michael.

Kayla shrugged and Mom giggled.

That night, Kayla ate one of her mushrooms. It was rubbery. ‘Actually,’ she told her mother, ‘slugs are a little rubbery. But they taste okay.’

‘What are you talking about?’ said Dad.  Mom winked at him.

‘And this monkey blood is tasty, isn’t it?’ she commented. Kayla giggled.

‘What’s going on here?’ asked Dad.

‘Mom and Kayla are weird,’ said Michael. ‘They’ve been acting like this all evening. Slugs – yuck!’  But he ate most of his spaghetti anyway.

After dinner, Kayla heard Michael and Dad talking as they washed dishes. ‘Dad?’ said Michael, ‘it’s your turn to cook tomorrow, isn’t it?’

‘Yes,’ said Dad. ‘Why?’

‘No reason,’ said Michael. But he looked relieved.