Picnic Lunch for Two Lost Hikers
Dana Vickerson
Ingredients
1 loaf of fresh baked bread
3 fat, ripe tomatoes
1 hunk of mozzarella
1 tsp olive oil
4 basil leaves
Directions
1. Follow the scent of freshly baked bread through the woods. The enticing aroma is a beacon to your salvation
2. Set eyes upon a picturesque cabin in the middle of a sunny glade. Hug your hiking companion, fall to your knees, and thank your higher power that you’ve been saved
3. Spy a robust garden near a water well. Pick three tomatoes.
4. Enter the cabin after announcing your presence. When you’ve established no one is home, make your way into the kitchen and look for supplies
5. Find fresh mozzarella in the refrigerator and baked bread on the counter. Dismiss your companion’s fears that this feels too good to be true
6. Locate olive oil in the pantry and pull basil leaves off the healthy plants on the windowsill
7. Try and remember if the front door was on the left side of the cabin or the right
8. Slice the bread, tomatoes, and mozzarella as you push down the thoughts of dread clawing up your spine. Do not ask yourself why this luscious cabin in the middle of nowhere seems to be abandoned
9. Do not ask yourself who baked the bread
10. Drizzle the olive oil on the bread and lay out slices of basil, mozzarella, and tomato on each sandwich. Hand one to your companion
11. Eat in silence as you both now wonder why there seems to be no door at all
About the author:
Dana Vickerson lives in Dallas, though she’s most comfortable deep in the woods where she loves to sit and listen to the symphony of nature. When not crafting buildings or stories, Dana can be found analyzing horror movies with her husband or making elaborate paper dolls for her daughters. Her short fiction appears in Zooscape, Dark Matter Ink’s Human Monsters, Apex Magazine’s newsletter and many other places. You can find her on Twitter @dmvickerson.
