Caught in the backyard rat trap of two adventurous and skilled culinarians, Mister Squirrel had sustained a broken front leg.
His days were numbered, so we decided the most humane thing to do was to eat him.
Skinned, gutted, and quartered, I covered the rodent’s haunches with salted water in a restaurant steam pan.
I squirted Mister Squirrel with a few shakes of house-made mango habanero hot sauce, figuring the anti-microbial properties wouldn’t hurt.
After a long, steamy jacuzzi session in the convection oven, I sunk my teeth deep into Mister Squirrel’s hind leg.
His flesh was lean, with a slight herbal note from months of gorging neighborhood acorns and berries. I soon felt the capsaicin kick from the hot sauce.
I felt somewhat guilty, then scraped the flesh off his ribcage with my front teeth and swallowed.
My first meal with my new roommate, hopefully the first of many.
[150 words]
by Damien Rigol
Table Tales - 150 word stories 