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Beauty of the Beast copyright 2001, by Little Starling
1 of 9 l 2 of 9 l 3 of 9 l 4 of 9 l 5 of 9 l 6 of 9 l 7 of 9 l 8 of 9 l 9 of 9 PART 1 In a small but elegantly furnished apartment, a man is quietly making lunch for himself, carefully choosing his ingredients while enjoying the warmth of the late afternoon sun on his back. He reaches for a sharp knife, and finding it intuitively, proceeds to deftly slice four cherry tomatoes, which he then arranges by the side of a cornflower blue china plate. Still using the knife, he then lifts three slices of smoked salmon, careful not to tear the delicacy, and places them beside the tomatoes. Lettuce is arranged meticulously by hand, and sprinkled lightly with a balsamic vinaigrette. Two large oysters, chilled and salty, are also arranged on the plate, along with a few leaves of watercress and a generous slice of freshly baked herb bread, unbuttered. The overall effect is mouth-watering, and the chef surveys his creation with satisfaction, before taking the plate with him onto the correspondingly diminutive balcony. Moments later, he returns to the kitchen and reaches into a high cupboard, extracting a delicate wine glass. This is soon filled halfway with Batard Montrachet, the bottle of which has been sitting undisturbed on the counter for a few minutes now, and has begun sweating in the balmy heat. Noticing this, he wipes it down before replacing it in the refrigerator. Then he sniffs the glass of wine elegantly and finding it satisfactory, returns to the balcony to enjoy his meal. The city view is nothing short of spectacular, and Dr. Lecter pauses for a moment to admire it, in all of its chaos and contradictions. Grotesquely vulgar and terribly volatile, the metropolis both draws and disgusts him; for a moment, he finds himself nostalgic for Europe. It passes quickly, however, as he considers again the possibility of contacting an old friend, one whom he has not seen in over a year. Her proximity was coincidental to his visit, but perhaps he would call on her anyway. A dinner invitation, perhaps, would be most appropriate. After all, he does pride himself on his culinary expertise. FIN Part 1 of 9 copyright 2001, by Little Starling 1 of 9 l 2 of 9 l 3 of 9 l 4 of 9 l 5 of 9 l 6 of 9 l 7 of 9 l 8 of 9 l 9 of 9 |