Running on Empty Contest Entries

ROE 2: Story #3 - The Intrepid Celebrity Chef

PROMPT: A la carte story


THE INTREPID CELEBRITY CHEF

On the plane, HOP-SING went over the menu in his head. As a celebrity chef, his services were in demand all over the world, and today, that part of the world was BLAINE, MINNESOTA. He had agreed to cater the wedding of a young couple who had won the promotional contest that accompanied the release of his new line of consumer cookware. People from all over the world wanted to hire Hop-Sing for their events, and Jackie and Jenny Jensen were the beneficiaries of one such rare appearance.

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” the pilot said, his voice crackling over the loudspeaker. “Unfortunately, a thunderstorm has descended over the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, and conditions are too difficult to attempt a landing. We’re being diverted to Chicago-Midway, where the airline will assist you in making alternative arrangements to get you to Minneapolis once the storm has cleared. I’m told that should be tomorrow morning or afternoon at the latest. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and the delay.”

No!

The wedding was tonight! Hop-Sing had sent his handpicked team of TWENTY-EIGHT sous chefs and line cooks ahead of him, to make the appropriate preparations while he squeezed in one last stop on his book tour in CALIFORNIA. And now it looked like he wasn’t going to get there at all!

Hop-Sing gritted his teeth. He had never failed to make a personal appearance, and he certainly wasn’t going to start now! Jackie and Jenny Jensen were depending on him, and he was going to make it, no matter the cost!

The minute the plane was on the ground, Hop-Sing darted through the airport, trying every airline and finding none willing to fly to Minneapolis before morning. He next tried all the rental car agencies, but his fellow passengers had procured the last of the rental vehicles while he had been trying the airlines.

Hop-Sing gritted his teeth. He could not allow these deterrents to prevent him from making Jackie and Jenny Jensen’s big day the biggest and most delicious day of their lives!

Rushing out to the curb, he hailed a cab. Clocking in at 400 miles, this was going to be a monumental fare, and he had no trouble locating a cabbie willing to collect. They sped along Interstate 90 and were a few miles past Janesville when Hop-Sing saw the sign posted under the driver’s name that read “Cash Only.”

Nervously, the celebrity chef checked his wallet.

“Excuse me, sir.” Hop-Sing said, knocking on the dividing glass. “I only have a hundred and sixty dollars with me. Can we stop at an ATM?”

“There won’t be another stop for thirty miles.” He pointed to the meter. “And you just hit $160. I’m not spotting you for thirty miles.”

“So how can we resolve this?”

The tires screeched to a stop.

Hop-Sing stood on the side of the highway and watched the cab drive off. He gritted his teeth and started jogging past a sign that said “Next gas, 30 miles.” As the storm approached, his face was set with determination, even as the first of the RAIN began to fall.


Arriving at the nearest gas station with a running time that would make marathoners jealous, Hop-Sing, soaked to the bone in his embroidered chef jacket, approached the ATM. He withdrew the maximum and held it up in the convenience store.

“Three hundred dollars to anyone who can get me to Blaine, Minnesota!”

All heads in the store snapped toward the stack of twenties he was waving around. A nearby man snatched the cash out of Hop-Sing’s hand and waved him toward the parking lot.

“I’m parked just over here.”

Hop-Sing followed the man outside, surprised when he noticed they were heading out to a crop-duster parked in a field behind the convenience store.

“You’re a... pilot?”

“You betcha. And no one’s going to get you to Blaine faster than me.”

At last! A stroke of luck. There was still a chance he would make it to the WEDDING on time. As the plane took to the air, Hop-Sing relaxed for the first time.


Then the rain started again. Thunder rolled and lighting cut across the sky as the THUNDERSTORM returned with a vengeance. Within a few moments, it was nearly impossible to see the ground. They were flying blind and the weather was getting worse.

Hop-Sing shook his fist at the heavens, as if they were taunting him, daring him to defy their divine design.

“I’ve got some good news and bad news for you, partner.” The man said, leaning toward him from the pilot’s seat. “The good news is that we’re over Blaine now. The bad news is that I can’t land. I can’t even see the ground. We’re going to have to get out of this storm before we can touch down.”

Hop-Sing gritted his teeth.

This.

Was.

Not.

Happening.

He moved around, vainly trying to see the ground, or someplace they could land, when his foot nudged something at his feet. Peering down into the compartment, he found an emergency parachute.

Hop-Sing tapped the pilot on the shoulder.

“Does this thing work?”

“Well, yeah, but you’d have to be crazy to even think about—”

Hop-Sing grabbed the pack and stood up in his seat, the wind whipping around him as he strapped on the parachute. He reached into his chef jacket and handed him two pieces of paper.

“Thank you for the ride, my friend. The next time you’re in New York, please accept these coupons for a complimentary appetizer and dessert with the purchase of a full-price entrée at my restaurant. I am forever in your debt.”

And with that, he leapt from the plane and plummeted toward Blaine.


As he emerged from the cloud cover, Hop-Sing could see the town of Blaine approaching. He waited as long as possible before pulling the chute and slowing his descent.

In the distance, he saw the church. He angled toward it and, as he got closer, he could see the Jackie and Jenny Jensen, together the twenty-eight members of his kitchen staff, watching the dark roads from the church windows with growing disappointment.

Then, someone pointed to the heavens. Like an ANGEL descending from heaven, Hop-Sing floated into the courtyard of the church, feet lightly touching the ground as he detached the parachute, letting it blow away as he strode toward the kitchen.

The guests gasped in awe at the sight of such a grand entrance.

“Well,” the head sous chef told the bride. “I guess we should get to work.”

“That was amazing,” Jenny Jensen breathed. “What an entrance!”

The head sous chef bowed humbly. “Nothing but the best for one of our clients. A Hop-Sing experience should be unforgettable, no?”

The eager bride and her new husband excitedly returned to their guests as the cooks moved toward the kitchen. The rest of the kitchen staff breathed a sigh of relief.

The head line chef looked at the head sous chef.

“I really thought he was going to miss it this time. That storm is nasty out there.”

“Have faith, young Horatio. Hop-Sing never misses an event. Even if he does occasionally run a little late.”