Silent Graves

"And then he picked up a great big rock and threw it at the bad guy, knocking him over and shattering the rock into millions of tiny pieces, which rained down like fthmp fthum pthew, and then pwsh thw it finished off the evil army, and the day was saved, and then--"

"Sounds like a very exciting book," chuckled Sunday Brunch, smiling at her son. "You'll have to ask Smooth if you can borrow it again, and I'll have you read it to me. You can ask him when you go on your camping trip."

The little colt's mood suddenly soured. "Aw, mom, do I have to go on that trip?"

"Yes, Pine Spike, you do."

"But it's boring..."

Brunch set down her knife and walked over to the dining table. "Now, now. You know how hard your father works. He's out there every day providing for us, and most of the time, he only has a few hours to spend with us. This weekend, he's finally free to spend a few days not working. He has free time, and he wants to spend it with you."

"Can't we just sit on the couch together and play video games?" he whined. "I hate camping."

"Do you love your dad?"

"...Yeah..."

"Is your love for him bigger than your hatred for camping?"

"...Yeah..."

"Well, there you go. Don't think of this as a stuffy old camping trip, but rather a fun weekend with your father. I'm sure he'd be very happy with you if you afforded him this trip, and he may even be willing to play video games with you another time. How's that sound?"

"Fine..."

Brunch smiled. "Good. Now stop grousing, and prepare for lunch." She made her way back over to the counter and picked up her knife. With deft, smooth motions, she chopped up some carrots, celery, zucchini and onion, tossing them into her wok. She also shredded three quarters of a head of white cabbage and a quarter head of red cabbage, setting them off to the side and tossing them together. She also added some sliced radishes to that.

As she stirred the vegetables with the longer cook time, she popped open the fridge. There was a box in there that always had edible mushrooms in it. Shitake, portobello, and wine caps were commonly found in there, but today it was empty. This was an uncommon occurrence, as her husband was always keeping them supplied with the best he could find, but they did eat a lot of mushrooms.

She opted to just make her stir fry without mushrooms today. It wasn't the end of the world. She'd done it several times in the past, and it had worked out just fine. It wasn't as good, but it was okay.

"Mail's here!" came a call from the other room. "I need the key to the mailbox!"

"Just a sec, dear." Turning off the fire under the wok, Brunch walked out to the living room. Yesterday, her husband had brought in the mail, so he had the keys. She fished around in his coat pockets, looking for them. As she was searching, however, she found a plastic bag. Pulling it out, she saw that it was mostly full of wine caps. He'd picked them, but apparently, he'd forgotten to move them to the fridge. They'd be just fine, the wine cap was fairly durable. Besides, these were only a day old or so. They even smelled fine.

She found the keys in the opposite pocket, handing them off to her son. As he rushed outside to grab the mail, she went back into the kitchen, quickly washing and slicing the mushrooms as she tossed the cabbage and radishes into the wok. As she stirred the whole thing around, she heard the front door open and close.

"There's a notice from the Department of Power and Water, a letter from uncle Mike, and a large envelope marked 'Top Secret' from MQ."

"MQ?" Brunch was about to be very angry. MQ was a lewd magazine marketed to single stallions, and her son was too young to be seeing that. She grabbed the envelope out of his hooves and took a closer look. Her temper turned to a simmer as she realized what had happened. It was supposed to be delivered next door.

"Is something wrong?" asked Pine, concerned.

"Yes, something is wrong," she smiled. "This was put in the wrong mailbox. Just leave it on the table, I'll deliver it after lunch."

Into the wok went the mushrooms, along with the salt, pepper, and herbs. Those wouldn't be more than five minutes out. While those were cooking, she washed her knife and chopping board in the sink, and pulled out some plates and forks. By the time the table was set, the stir-fry was done, and she served it up. A large helping for her, and a small one for her son.

"We have mushrooms?" asked Pine. "I thought we were out?"

"I thought we were, too, but your dad just forgot to put them in the fridge."

"No, I mean I thought I ate them all last night."

"Pine! Why would you eat all of the mushrooms?"

He lowered his head and shrugged. "I was hungry, and I didn't want to wake you up."

Brush let out a sigh. "Well, I suppose it's better that you ate something healthy. I'm glad you didn't just fill up on junk food, but next time, maybe have a stalk of celery, or a few carrots? It's important to have a balanced diet."

"Okay..." He was still pouting a bit, so she reached across the table and began tickling him. Immediately, the frown disappeared as he began squirming. She didn't cease her assault until his knee hit the bottom of the table. It had put him in a better mood, and the two ate their lunch quickly, happily munching and crunching their crispy vegetables.

Once they were done and the dishes cleaned, the remainder was put away in containers in the fridge. Brunch made her way next door to chew out the neighbor for objectifying mares, and when she returned with no magazine, Pine Spike had already set up his game console, so they faced off against each other in Tekhidzume VS Equine Kombat for several hours.