Soup and Sandwich

I don't know what made me do such a thing. Gary was a new friend. Is this the way to make and keep friends. The date on the calendar only hit me after the fact. This wasn’t a planned event.

I invited Gary to come to my home for lunch. I was an university student, and Gary was a classmate from a small farming town. My house was only a couple of miles from the university campus. My mom was always home to make me lunch and she never objected to serving an extra plate.

Mom made her usual grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. Pepper, my ten year old black mongrel Labrador cross, sat watching us eat. He always was ready to catch a crust of bread in mid air, if offered the chance.

Gary and I finished our meals and left only crumbs and a streak of soup on our dishes. I took the plates and bowls and placed them on the floor for Pepper to lick off. This was standard procedure in our house, and Pepper always cleaned the dishes spotless.

My normal routine would be to then place the dishes in the dishwasher to be washed with scalding hot water. However I had a devious thought. I took the dishes, which looked perfectly clean, and placed them in the cupboard from where they came. Then I sat back down at the kitchen table, as if nothing had happened.

Gary’s eyes went wide and his face went white. He placed his hand over his mouth and ran for the bathroom. I started laughing and then looked at the calendar on the wall. I shouted to Gary, who was making strange noises in the bathroom, “April Fool, April Fool.”

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