Dip him in the river who loves water … said the cook on the cooking show … Take the hearts of thirty ducks … and here’s the trick … You must keep them wet … the way to go … the way to go is broth … Okay … Broth of hearts of duck … I went to go buy broth stuff … a bay leaf … Oh said the grocer … With duck heart what you want is spice … Curry the thirty hearts he said … Back home … Hurrying … Okay, curry … The mailman smelled the place … Oh ho, he said … I smell blood … he opened the pot … Why if it isn’t 30 duck hearts … Of course you’re going to skewer them … ? Skewers … I had to … I had to go … I ran down to the hardware depot … Skewers … ? Well it’s not BBQ season … I persisted … I explained the meal … the populace … Meanwhile … customers were coming … buying out all the salt and shovels … for the blizzard … buying out all the fireworks … for the Fourth … buying out all the hammers and nails … for Hurricane Ross … Remained: some rope … I’d hang them … if I had to … It’s not thirty duck hearts is it … asked the clerk … I didn’t dare talk … To skewer the hearts of thirty duckers … he said … you need the beaks of thirty ivory-billed woodpeckers … Are those … rare? … As rare as they come, he said … Better give me 31 …
Ran home … the kitchen was smelling … Okay … Okay … Almost ready … The places set … Candles lit … The downstairs neighbor tuning her pipe organ … … 29 special guests filed in … Please sit … May I present … In the heart of each duck … there was a glint … majestic … They said, Is that … ? Yes, I said … Yes … each one swimming in sauce and broth … Oh, they said … Oh no no no … Had I … ? Were they … ? No, no no no no … Dip him in the river who loves water … Yes that’s the recipe I followed … That’s not the way it goes … anymore … they said … They said … each heart should be served raw … and drowning … in a sacred diamond-flavored fountain … I was so … I didn’t usually believe in impressing … But these guests! … Honestly … They were just … They were as hungry as I was … One especially kind … one offered to … to pawn the woodpecker skewers … I lied … said they were worthless … said, Oh they were free … Oh just papier-mâché … Oh found a ton of them lying around … down … where the river used to be …
from Madame XFind more by Darcie Dennigan at the library
Copyright © 2012 Darcie Dennigan
Used with the permission of Canarium Books.