Quark Soup

Quark Soup

Forty days and forty nights of rain without end, and now the third day of clear skies. The old man had been right so far, but when would they find land? As far as the eye could see there was nothing but open sea.

There was despair among the crew. They avoided going to the hold where the animals were. Even thinking about it made him salivate until he had to swallow to prevent himself from drooling. They were almost out of food, something had to be done. It was up to him, after all he was the cook.

Four thousand five hundred years later.

There was tremendous excitement at the archaeological dig. A large stone jar had been discovered among the rotten ruins of an ancient ship.

Professor Loh was hurriedly led to the amazing discovery. His assistant pointed to the contents within, “Sir, there seem to be some cuneiform tablets inside.”

The professor carefully inserted a small camera attached to a laptop. After making sure a record was saved within the computer, he gently extracted the tablets.

Blowing off the dust to reveal the wedge-shaped cuneiform writing, he read with a shaky finger following each line. “This is a record written by a crew member, his name was Qu. He says that it rained for forty days and forty nights and his ship’s cargo contained all the beasts of the world. They’d been told to prepare for the end of the world.”

His assistant's eyes bulged, “Sir, it’s the Ark!”

Professor Loh's forehead beaded with sweat, “He further says that they had run out of food and were in danger of starving when he created a soup. He seems to be quite proud of it and writes how the crew loved it.”

The professor suddenly adjusted his glasses, “My God! There’s even a recipe.”

The assistant rubbed his hands in excitement, “Sir, may I suggest a name, QuArk Soup, in honor of the chef. And sir, let's be the first to have it since the Bronze Age.”

Professor Loh looked disgusted, “I’ll pass, the main ingredient is rat.”