Glenn Munsen sat at his family’s Thanksgiving day table feeling nauseous. The bowl of Aunt Mary’s cranberry-apricot casserole sat directly in front of him. It was this side dish that last year made him violently ill hours later into the evening, after Thanksgiving had ended. “Not THIS year” Glenn thought to himself, as other plates of food were placed down on the table around the turkey in the middle. His family began to fill up their plates with his Aunt Mary sitting a few seats down away from him on the opposite side of the table. Glenn could ignore taking some of Aunt Mary’s dish, luckily she was out of sight’s range. Glenn loved his Aunt Mary dearly, but not her cooking. Apparently, he was the only one in this conviction. No one else who had eaten that same dish last year got sick- just Glenn. He also kept his illness to himself. The gossip among this close but nosy family was lethal enough to sometimes split them apart. The great “returning of Aunt Rosa’s Christmas gift” from years past was enough for Aunt Rosa to boycott talking to the family for months. Vomiting after Aunt Mary’s beloved entree would quarantine her for all holiday meals going forward. It was just better for Glenn to remain silent.
Exactly ninety-three minutes later, the remains of days of prep work and hours of cooking now sat on the table. The family all sat there satisfied and tired. Glenn in particular had enjoyed the raisin stuffing, a dish that he had thought was made by his cousin Sandra. Almost all of Aunt Mary’s dish was gone, making Glenn feel just a tad guilty.
“Sandra, that stuffing you made was delicious! Nice touch with the raisins” Glenn said to Sandra, who was sitting directly across for him. She smiled back at Glenn.
“Uh, Thanks Glenn…but, I didn’t make the stuffing. We all made something different this year. Aunt Mary made the stuffing”
Glenn’s face luckily remained frozen with that slight still satisfied smile. He slowly turned his head away from Sandra and looked down at his dear Aunt Mary.
“Why, Thank you Glenn honey.” Aunt Mary warmly said, her eyes lighting up behind her glasses.
“And those weren’t raisins in there, they were cranberries. The same ones that I used in my famous cranberry casserole, which your mother did an excellent job in copying this year. Now, wheres my royalty check, Helen?”
Everyone burst out laughing. Glenn sat back in his chair, eventually forcing out a small chuckle. Just the mere idea of eating anything that Aunt Mary had cooked was already starting to make him feel queasy.
“Maybe, I’ll be alright” Glenn tried to reassure himself. But, he kinda felt in his gut (and stomach) that he was in for yet another long Thursday night after this Thanksgiving was over and the bathroom was waiting.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!
The Magic Shop 
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