Word Salad #2

For the ‘rules’, please see Word Salad #1.

For the random word generator, please see the site.

THE RANDOM WORDS

• dinner ideas: Slow Cooker Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
• anything: east
• act of kindness: have lunch with a homeless person
• letter: J
• number: 398
• phrase: yada yada
• adjective: famous
• name: Mallory White
• verb: attract
• noun: bedroom
• word: bet

THE STORY

Mallory White didn’t particularly like the view from her bedroom window, at least not at six in the morning when the sun rose in the east – and directly into her eyes. Night owls and sunrises don’t really mix.

Growling into her pillow, she pawed around until she found her phone on the stack of books that counted as a bedside table. There was a text from J, reminding her that they still owed $398 for the DSLR camera they’d bought to film with on their YouTube channel. It had been Jen’s idea. Mallory had argued that without income from said channel, yet, it might be best to stick with their old camera.

She replied with the only thing she thought was appropriate for that hour of the morning.

YADA YADA, CHILL. I HAVE $20.

No doubt Jen would not like that answer, but it couldn’t be helped.

Since it was stupid o’clock, Mallory decided to do the thing that was most responsible and go for a run. The running paths were less likely to attract creepy people so early in the too sunny morning.

A few hours later, still wearing running clothes that were not to sweaty, thanks to running before it got hot, Mallory found herself wandering around town in search of lunch. The $20 was in the waistband of her running shorts, so a decent lunch was an option.

“I bet you’ve never had Slow Cooker Chicken and Wild Rice Soup like Sue’s Diner has.”

She jumped at the voice, pivoting to find herself face-to-face with a bearded fortysomething man who was climbing out of a tiny tent. “Sue’s Diner?” she croaked. “Are you talking to me?”

“You’re the one who was standing there saying ‘lunch lunch lunch’ to yourself,” he countered, gesturing across the street to a place called Sue’s Diner. “Not all homeless guys talk to themselves, you know.”

Mallory blushed tomato red but decided to avoid acknowledging that she’d talked to herself. “That actually does sound good. Do you know how much it costs?” She blushed again.

And it must have been even redder because he chuckled. “No offense taken. And I do. Costs $4 for a bowl that’ll fill you up good.”

He seemed like a regular, as much as he could be, so Mallory decided to do a strange, but good, thing and have lunch with a homeless person. “Can I buy you a bowl?”