Word meanings: creative fiction 5

Best Peanut Brittle in the Universe

1. I’m minding my own business playing basketball when suddenly, a blinding light shines down on me like a massive flashlight.
2. Moments later, the light dims and I can see again, but I’m no longer on the basketball court—I’m in a spaceship! Several enormous, one-eyed aliens are peering down at me. Panic overtakes me as their . . . mouths? . . . curve upward revealing razor-sharp teeth.

3. “Are you Jeremiah Richardson?” the tallest one probes.
4. “Yes,” I manage to whisper, wondering if my clock had ticked its last tock.
5. “Let’s get to the point,” the tall one says quickly. “We tasted your father’s champion peanut brittle at the county fair, and we desire the recipe. However, he refused to share it with us.”
6. Peanut brittle? This is about candy? I can hardly believe it! I start to laugh, but the aliens look dead serious.
7. “I wish I could help but I can’t,” I explain. “I don’t know the recipe . . . I don’t even like peanut brittle.”
8. The aliens chuckle. “Don’t try to be funny, Earth boy. Everyone in the universe loves peanut brittle—it’s a delicacy, very pleasing to eat. You can’t leave until you show us how to create it.”
9. They present me with a variety of ingredients, so I just wing it—mixing this and that, adding peanuts by the handful, and then using some high-powered zapper thing to cook it. The aliens watch me with anticipation until I finally announce, “It’s ready!”
10. They eagerly grab the triangular treats and shove them into their mouths. I hold my breath and wait.
11. The aliens smile and say, “Thank you, Jeremiah Richardson. This is delicious—even better than your father’s. You should share your recipe with him!”