Looking down at the spoon in my hand I was now feeling fear along with the excitement. After all, I was moments away from finally tasting something other than that same boring Sludge and Pillow we ate for every meal back at my home planet of Oolkana. Was it going to beat that taste or not?
My eyeballs popped out and I couldn't help myself but make a loud mmmmmm sound when it first touched my tongue.
The taste. The texture. The new aromas.
I wished I knew the words to properly describe the sensation in my mouth.
I was far from bored of the taste when the bowl was already in need of a refill.
When I got to the food buffet this time around, I was everything but picky. I filled the plate with as much food as I could and as diverse as possible. I even poured myself a cup of some hot brown liquid called Kaffee.
From crunchy to slimey and from dense to fluffy. I was in Heaven.
I began to feel uneasy in my abdomen area but there was nothing that could stop me from eating more. The diversity was just too great. I went back to the buffet the third time and just ate from the containers without using a plate. I just couldn't help myself.
At some point I noticed other people were staring at me from their tables like I was some natural phenomena. I stopped chewing for a moment to look around the room, and every single set of eyes was locked on me.
I swallowed the wurst and felt the sudden need to burp.
Since burping was considered rude I turned myself back at the table and tried to make it as silent and subtle as possible. But the moment I relaxed my esophagus, all hell broke loose.
Undigested ooze went flying all over the food buffet and the floor. Having realised what was going on I tried to minimize the damage done by turning away from the displayed food, which only made matters worse and contaminated a far larger area.
Appaled, women started screaming and people were massively leaving the dining area.
Helena came storming in and as much as I was trying to apologize, the endless stream of vomit rendered me speechless until I finally collapsed on the floor, too exhausted to get back up.
"What on Earth happened here?"
She didn't know it, but she provided me with one of the most important information just then.
Earth.
I was on planet Earth. The birthplace of humans. I remember learning about it back in high school. We were taught never to feel bad for enslaving humans, because given the chance, they enslave themselves even worse. They always seek someone to follow, someone to show them the way and are gullible through that. "Incapable of independent lives," was how my teacher described them.
Earth was left intact – apart from a small number of humans we extracted – specifically to study their species in their natural habitat. Oolkins never understood greed, hate and wars between the same race. We just couldn't wrap our heads around the idea of willingly hurting your neighbours, friends and even family.
"I believe I ate too much," I replied visibly embarassed.
"Yes, I can see that. But why?"
"I... never tasted food this good. I just couldn't stop. Even now I want more."
"Good? Oh you silly, this is Hotel food. Nobody likes the taste of it. Just what exactly are you used to eating then? Dirt?"
"Same tasteless thing every day. This was the first time I ate something else."
"Listen, help me clean this up and when I'm done working, I'll take you out to a restaurant for some proper food. But promise me you will not this again," She pointed at the mess I had just made.
"You have food tasting better than this?" I was shocked.
She nodded and left to get the cleaning cart from behind the doors.
"Let me take care of this, it's my fault after all. And as for later, I would love to go."
"Alright. When you're done just get everything to the kitchen and return the cleaning cart. I will meet you at 6 pm in the lounge."
I put on the rubber gloves and started to clean the floors.
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- #19 - A struggling door-to-door salesman takes things one step too far
- #20 - A love story about a war veteran
- #21 - The red star
- #22 - A terminally ill child wishes to meet a villain
- #23 - School trip