Short story: Olives ‘n Blessings
Here’s another story I wrote based on the prompt: Write a short story that includes the sentence “He had just started eating his salad when he realized there were no olives in it.” Enjoy. :)
There once lived a little family in a cottage situated near a swift flowing river in the midst of a woods. The family worked hard to garden and raise cows for food, but it wasn’t easy in the forest. The soil was hard and rocky and the shade of the trees didn’t help either.
Everyday through the summer the family toiled in their garden, hoping something would grow enough to eat.
This year, they happened to be able to grow salad—and lots of it. It was a nice, plentiful crop and this meant that the family could do something they rarely could—eat from their garden everyday.
One of the children, a little boy named Sam who was about the age of 6, actually liked salads. But although he liked the fresh greens of the salad, he admittedly mostly liked the toppings.
The toppings were wonderful. He loved the homemade cheese, the fresh tomatoes, the crunchy, fire-baked croutons—but most of all, he loved the olives.
Oh, the olives! The juicy, large, black olives sliced to perfection were his favorite. The olives were the one topping on his salad he couldn’t miss.
One fine sunny day, Sam sat at the dinner table. He had just started eating his salad when he realized there were no olives in it. He looked down at his plate. Yes, it was true. Not a single olive. Not even one slice.
He spit out his mouthful of salad in horror. “There’s no olives in my salad,” he moaned loud enough that the youngest of the children, Ann, a four month old baby, woke up from her nap and began to cry. Their mother came running to comfort the baby in her arms.
“There’s no olives in my salad,” Sam complained, repeating the phrase like it was the worst thing ever.
“No more olives today, Sam,” his mother said gently, rocking Ann in her arms.
“But I WANT olives,” Sam grumbled loudly.
His mother shook her head, “We have been blessed with cheese, tomatoes, and croutons to put on our salads. With food and clothing we are to be content.”
Sam made a face, staring at the plate. “I have to have olives on my salad or I won’t eat it,” he demanded.
With a huff he leaned against his arm, the movement accidentally shoving his plate of salad right off the table. The plate fell with a crash and splintered across the floor in a dozen pieces.
He stood staring for a moment before leaning down to clean up the mess.
His lips parted in surprise when he saw that there on the floor beneath the salad, were olives.
“I’m sorry, Mom,” he said genuinely as he swept up the salad and shards of the plate.
From then on, Sam was careful to look for the olives in his salad.
Sometimes we don’t look hard enough to see the blessings we have been given.
THE END