Story A Day: Deep - Fried Moose

No phone number.

No address.

Not even a last name that didn't sound like it was ripped straight from a soap opera.

There were so many reasons why Sally shouldn't hire the quiet young man leaning against the stove. Being right off the old highway meant that Sally had seen her fair share of folks looking to make a fresh start and most of those people had been running away from something. She didn't have a problem with people running away from nastiness in their past, it just bugged her when that nastiness showed up on the doorstep of her diner.

This boy, with his tired eyes and quiet voice, he was in the running away camp. Even worse, from the twitch he gave whenever the bell over the door rang, even he wasn't sure if he had run far enough. Even after studying him for the last half-hour while he cooked, she didn't have a clue on what he trouble he had gotten into. He was too healthy for drugs, too clean for poverty, too nervous to be a criminal. Sally didn't know what trouble might be sliding up to her counter in the near future. And she sure as shooting didn't know that she wanted to fight someone else's battle.

In fact, there was only one thing Sally did know. The kid could cook up a mean deep-fried moose.

Notes: Man, this story fought me from beginning to end. Sally had so much extra information that really didn't fit in the story, info that I really liked. Sally's real name is something else, but she bought the diner from a 'Sally' and the name came with it, the restaurant is called "The Six-Niner Diner" (and you know how I love a cheesy rhyme!) and Sally only makes one thing on the menu, a cheese apple pie. Sadly, none of those things fit in the story. Also, I have no idea if Sally hired the young man in the end.