Gerald McCracken sat down at the dinner table, alone again.
He had every utensil placed in the exact same spot as always. A knife, fork, spoon, napkin, plate and glass set in their usual spots. Never one even slightly out of place. Gerald wouldn't stand for that. He sat quietly, waiting for his meal to be completely cooked. Cooked just the way he liked it. There he sat, motionless, the candlelight glowing dimly all around the room.
Gerald looked at his watch. 6:02. His supper would be ready in a matter of minutes.
Suddenly, something happened that Gerald could not comprehend. His shiny, silver spoon, which had been placed so perfectly on the table, moved.
Gerald, being the sensible 35-year-old man that he was, did not believe what he saw. He rubbed his eyes, but when he glanced down again, he saw something even more ridiculous: the fork was eating the spoon.
The metal prongs had evolved and were now a wide, gaping mouth, with the end of the spoon sticking out of it.
Gerald jumped out of his seat, his eyes almost as wide as the dinner plate that still remained on the table. Without thinking, he grabbed the fork and yanked on what was left of the spoon. But it was too late. The poor little spoon had been swallowed whole with one enormous gulp. Gerald quickly pulled his hand back. But it had not been quick enough. The fork bit his left index finger.
Gerald let out a yelp.
He jumped back and raced into the kitchen to try to find something to fight off the fork, which was now chasing him. He opened the oven and threw the roast beef, which he had been making for dinner, at the vicious fork. But this did not help. It only slowed the fork down. It stuck itself into the roast beef and ate all of it with three giant swallows.
While the fork was busy munching, Gerald ran back to the dining room. Then, suddenly, everything went black. Gerald felt something clasp onto his face. He grabbed whatever was attached to his face and threw it across the room. He looked around and saw the white napkin that he had owned for so many years, crawling up the leg of the table. But there was something different about it now. It had an evil face stitched to the front of it.
The napkin continued to climb up the leg of the table. Gerald hastily grabbed the knife, which hadn't moved, and stabbed the bloodthirsty napkin.
Gerald was terrified. He heard a loud crash. The fridge had fallen over and killed the fork, which had been on its way to the dining room. He could not believe this was happening to him.
All the thoughts of how, and why, this was happening were rushing into his mind like a tidal wave.
Just as Gerald was starting to calm down, he felt a sharp pain in his back.
He fell to the floor.
The last thing Gerald McCracken ever saw was the reflection of his own body in the dining room mirror ... with a knife in his back.
Dinner is over.
Dinner is one of seven winners chosen from 1,126 entries in the 2008 Starship Story Contest. Authors receive $100 and a Starship 30th anniversary backpack.
