For Regilee:

She sat to my left, enjoying a sumptuous feast of mushrooms, veggies and tofu-presented-in-every-way-imaginable-and-tasting-nothing-like-“just-tofu”. She dropped the goodies into the boiling pot, flavored with spices found –- or at least used –- mostly in this part of the world. Thin slices of mutton and beef joined the pot.

The contents of the pot cooked until they reached a rolling crisis of preparation. She used chopsticks to manipulate the tasty morsels, landing them on a bed of sauce for one final coating of goodness. Then they were consumed, along with good conversation. Stories. Song.

I pulled out the secret weapon. A weapon so secret even I did not know it was... secret, a weapon: The fish-y half of the hotpot array. Try one of each of the un-recognizable-s –- including little lump-like rolls of who-knows-what. Not bad.

One lucky squid joined the menagerie on my plate. Those treats jumped into my pot like skydivers exiting the plane, anticipating exciting adventure. Not really.

The pleasant scent of the steam in my pot turned seafood-y. The squid changed color. She shrank from the smell. “Gotta try everything once!” Gone the green, pink and purple un-identifiable-s. Gone the rubbery squid. Gone the juice and ice-cream. Gone the good times.

Just that one, that is: There will be other times. There will be other good. There will be other squid. Tender. Tasty. Tempting.

[Happy now? :D ]

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