"Are you sellin' or servin'?" I asked as I poked my head into the open French glass doors. Outside, under the covered patio, were the remnants of the interior of the restaurant, layed out and apparently for sale.
A mature woman in a long flowered dress stopped, used her strong yet delicate fingers to push back some fallen strands of hair and said, "Both. We have soup. The counter is open." She smiled the smile of those who are beaten but will somehow overcome.
"Whaddaya say?", I asked my traveling partner. "It's on me."
We entered the shotgun-style building amid the bustle of things being moved about, being packed, and sat at the tiled counter. A younger woman, perceived by me to be the daughter of our host, approached us from behind and said, "We have minestone. Will that be all right?" We both said yes and watched her as she dissapeared into the back, re-appearing almost instantly with two bowls of steaming soup. To this she added a wicker basket of bread and a small bowl of grated cheese. She said, "I'm sorry. we have no butter."
The soup bowls were the kind fine restaurants use. More like a plate than a bowl, with a shallow indentation and a wide outer lip. White, with a classically intricate red and green pattern. The bowl sat on a plate of the same design.
As we ate our soup, the family continued to move items out onto the patio.
The soup bowls were the kind fine restaurants use. More like a plate than a bowl, with a shallow indentation and a wide outer lip. White, with a classically intricate red and green pattern. The bowl sat on a plate of the same design.
As we ate our soup, the family continued to move items out onto the patio.
13 comments:
I can picture the scene....nice, but what's a shotgun style building?
as she stepped away from our table and glanced back at us I saw in her a glimpse of the woman I spoke to earlirer who I perceived to be her Mother. Was it a vision of how the years will take their toll that I saw or that of her Mother and how she must have looked before, before family,work and life had made her weary; I think both.
Nice story Phfrankie.
Kinda reminds me of my distant cousin's, the Joads.
Mic...tsk tsk tsk. Even I know the long and skinny of The Shotgun Home. Well, Phfrankie?
I have no clue and I expect an answer. Well, Phfrankie?
...well, for cyin' out loud...a shotgun style building, be it business or residential, is one that is long and narrow, as in the bars on Broadway in Nashville or inner-city homes on deep, rectangular lots. Like the shape of the barrel of a...guess now, Mic... Sheesh!...
Very Hemingway-ish.
Long and narrow so that you could discharge a shotgun and the shot would pass thru without the pattern touching the walls.
...I will accept that definition if only because it might help our ol' pal Mic to figger it out. *shakes head*...
...in fact, I think that is THE definition...
...no, wait...I think I was right the first time...this is starting to ruin my whole dream...
Gee, I'm sorry I put you out by asking a simple question. Long and narrow would have been a fine answer, but then again I'd might have asked what the hell has that got to do with a shotgun. But now I have all the information I desired.
Go back to sleep Phfrankie!!!
...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...
GREAT Dream
Yummy soup...and yes that would be the definition of a shotgun building
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