{"id":12,"date":"2017-05-26T14:16:37","date_gmt":"2017-05-26T14:16:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/skyfirefox.net\/word\/?p=12"},"modified":"2017-05-26T14:16:37","modified_gmt":"2017-05-26T14:16:37","slug":"candor-tasmanian-devil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/skyfirefox.net\/word\/?p=12","title":{"rendered":"Candor Tasmanian Devil"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Flash fiction from SkyFireFox author \u00a0Alyce Campbell.\u00a0Copyright \u00a9 2017 by Alyce Rita Campbell\u00a0\u00a0 All Rights Reserved.\u00a0\u00a0Candor Tasmanian Devil\u00a0is a work of fiction.\u00a0 Any resemblance to actual incidents or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.)<\/em><\/p>\n

I can\u2019t say I didn\u2019t have doubts, after letting my betrothed, Lou, strong-arm me into buying the empty warehouse balanced on the edge of Candor Canyon.\u00a0 And I mean that literally\u2014he won the arm-wrestling match that decided what we would do with our severance pay from The Service.\u00a0 At least I won the coin toss and got to name the place.\u00a0 I chose to honor Nero, my first, \u00a0my only, and now my sadly long-dead, foster pet.<\/p>\n

Lou guffawed.\u00a0 \u201cEmma, calling our speakeasy The Tasmanian Devil<\/em> is just inviting trouble, \u00a0but I admit it suits you.\u00a0 Those little critters are tetchy and can fly into a maniacal rage when facing a predator or fighting with a mate!\u201d \u00a0He laughed again, giving me a hug.<\/p>\n

I almost spat out a snarky retort but bit my tongue so as not to prove his point. \u00a0Instead I very gently replied, \u201cLou, that\u2019s \u2018when fighting FOR a mate\u2019<\/em>, and I have never been maniacal. \u00a0Besides, it\u2019s catchy.\u201d<\/p>\n

So after a few months of exhausting grunt-work, we launched, and two buddies still in The Service, Milo and Elway, drove up at noon and started guzzling my homemade whiskey. \u00a0I set out dried blueberries mixed with \u00a0some candied mint as a snack. \u00a0At three, they enthusiastically clapped when Eva, our belly dancer, started swaying to Lou\u2019s jazzy sax. \u00a0 For an hour, they sat blissfully ogling her strategically placed flower-petal tattoos, visible under her sheer veils.<\/p>\n

But then I served the fish and chips (fish from the farm in our pond out back, potatoes and lemons from the greenhouse). \u00a0Milo took one bite and glared at his plate through boozy bloodshot eyes.\u00a0 He growled, \u201cEmma, this belongs in the compost.\u201d<\/p>\n

I should have booted him out, as he was conspicuously drunk, the thin air amplifying his buzz. \u00a0But being ex-Service myself, I knew homesickness when I saw it.<\/p>\n

\u201cMilo, don\u2019t give me flak.\u00a0 I don\u2019t have a long menu\u2026costs being what they are\u2026so it\u2019s that or beansprout salad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Milo snarled, \u201cTasmanian Devil<\/em>…even that scavenger wouldn\u2019t eat this grub!\u201d<\/p>\n

He stood and snatched up the plate as if to throw it to the floor.<\/p>\n

Now I could not abide waste.\u00a0 Every edible ounce was a little victory in the unrelenting struggle to make our freehold profitable.\u00a0 Whether we would succeed or leave with our tails between our legs was still to be determined. \u00a0I jumped up and grabbed his hand.\u00a0 Lou jumped up and grabbed my hand. \u00a0We scuffled for a few seconds but, in the end, all that got spilled were the blueberries, which formed a purple mass by Milo\u2019s glass of booze.<\/p>\n

Milo\u2019s pique had died, replaced by acute embarrassment.<\/p>\n

\u201cEmma\u2026I\u2019m…I\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then he scooped up the berries, dumped them into his glass, and took a swallow.<\/p>\n

I watched as surprised delight flooded his face.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s damn good!\u201d<\/p>\n

He handed me the glass and I took a sip.\u00a0 The mingling of blueberry, mint and rye reminded me of lazy summers in my native Raleigh but I was still able to smell the distinct aromas of grain grown on local soil.<\/p>\n

The drink needed a little bite so I squeezed lemon juice into the glass and swirled.\u00a0 I handed the glass to Lou.<\/p>\n

\u201cDamn good,\u201d was all he said after he took his sip.<\/p>\n

A knowing look passed between us.<\/p>\n

I smiled: \u201cSo I think we do need to change the name of this speakeasy, but I still can honor Nero. \u00a0I christen this drink the Candor Tasmanian Devil<\/em>.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s the story of the first cocktail invented on the planet Mars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Flash fiction from SkyFireFox author \u00a0Alyce Campbell.\u00a0Copyright \u00a9 2017 by Alyce Rita Campbell\u00a0\u00a0 All Rights Reserved.\u00a0\u00a0Candor Tasmanian Devil\u00a0is a work of fiction.\u00a0 Any resemblance to actual incidents or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.) I can\u2019t say I didn\u2019t have doubts, after letting my betrothed, Lou, strong-arm me into buying the empty warehouse balanced … Continue reading Candor Tasmanian Devil<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/skyfirefox.net\/word\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/skyfirefox.net\/word\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/skyfirefox.net\/word\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skyfirefox.net\/word\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skyfirefox.net\/word\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/skyfirefox.net\/word\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14,"href":"https:\/\/skyfirefox.net\/word\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12\/revisions\/14"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/skyfirefox.net\/word\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skyfirefox.net\/word\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skyfirefox.net\/word\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}