Snow Soup

Snow Soup


"Didn't I tell you, the weather guy said a big storm was coming and that folks should be prepared?"

Edgar looked up from his book.  "Yes, dear."

"And didn't I tell you, you should get to the store, before it was too late?"

"I was going to go this afternoon."

"Well, now it's too late!" exploded Penny.  "There must be three feet of snow outside and nobody's going anywhere for at least a couple of days!  What are we going to eat?"

There were a few seconds of silence, then Edgar ventured, "How about that leftover chicken?"

"We ate that last night, remember?"

"Right.  Well, how about-"

"There's nothing to make a meal with!  No rice, no bread, no milk, no cereal - nothing!"

Edgar couldn't remember seeing Penny this mad before, and he'd had plenty of experience with her being mad.

"Well, sweetie, you always said you could make a meal out of anything.  Don't we have anything at all?"

"All we have is some salt, some pepper, and whatever's left in the sugar bowl.  And water, unless the pipes freeze up."

"If that happened, we could always melt some snow."

After almost a whole minute of Penny's full-strength glare, Edgar finally came up with a suggestion.  "Well, can't you make some kind of soup or broth or something?"

"Fine."

Twenty minutes later, Penny watched Edgar raise the big mug to his lips and take a sip of the steaming brew.  "Well?" she demanded.

"It's a little salty."

Ten minutes into Penny's tirade, Edgar reflected that his judgment had been poorer than usual.

[265 words]