Sound the Alarm

Short Story Day 145 of 365

Yesterday, Brad ate only a slice of buttered toast all day. That’s it.

Whatever he ate the night before didn’t agree with him. Could have been the gigantic beef and bean burrito or the dulce de leche dessert or maybe it was a combination. He had gone to the bathroom five times that night and only felt like eating toast the next day.

When lunch time rolled around, though, he headed to a sit down restaurant where he could enjoy a full and relaxing meal. He already had his eyes on the restaurant’s crab meat lasagna with a side Caesar salad. Brad only hoped it would be enough.

His drink and salad came out at the same time, and he devoured the salad almost before the waiter got back into the kitchen.

Five minutes later, just as the waiter rounded the corner with his plate of pasta, the fire alarm rang out. With a variety of pitches, tones, whistles, and obnoxious sounds, neighboring suburbs could hear the alarm.

Brad tried covering his ears and the waiter put down the hot plate. With one hand over his ear, the waiter yelled, “Enjoy!” and immediately returned to the kitchen.

Brad took two bites and tried to get his waiter’s attention. Four booths of people nearby had their coats on and tried to cover their kids’ ears while herding them out the door.

The waiter finally came to Brad and yelled, “Can’t turn it off. The fire department has to come turn it off.”

In between bites and holding his hands against his ears, he saw three more tables empty into the parking lot just as the fire fighters rushed through the front door.

As Brad rose to leave, he stared at his full plate of hot pasta, grabbed his coat, and was out the door too. Any restaurant within a mile would be a more appetizing solution.

And a lot less noisy.