By: John,
on 5/14/2012
Rebecca Sugar writes some of the best songs for Adventure Time, and she also writes some of the best stories for the show. This is an earlier work of hers that demonstrates the further depth of her brilliance.
(via Cartoon Brew TV #21: Singles | Cartoon Brew)
Image via Wikipedia
In a fast food restaurant in the city, two young women are chatting while they wait in line for their fried chicken orders. One of the women is a young mother with her daughter. The child appears to be around two or three years old. The first lady tells the mother that she has recently gotten married. While they’re talking, the child swings around a rope that is connected to a brass stand creating a maze for the customers. The little girl, bored, climbs up and down the metal stand and pulls the rope down each time she goes under it. The mother sees but says nothing.
The woman with the child responds to the other.
“I don’t want to get married. There’s not enough money in the world for me to put up with the same man every day.”
The first woman still has rice in her eyes.
“I couldn’t be happier. We’ve got a little house near the waterfront.”
A handsome man with muscles bulging through his shirt walks up to the register and places an order. The mother’s jaw drops.
“I need me a son,” She says loudly. “I got my two girls. I don’t want to get married. I can take care of my children myself.”
The newlywed, unaware that the dynamic in the restaurant has changed, tries to appeal to the mother’s common sense.
“I don’t mean to overstep, but you’ve got two children already by two different dads and…”
“You just crossed the line. No one has the right to say anything about my kids. I’m a damn good mother!”
The bride tries to explain herself.
“I only meant that it’s not easy for a single mother with two children. You’re saying that you want to have another child. What kind of sense does that make?”
The mother is insulted.
“You’re saying I’m stupid?”
“No of course not, I’m just saying that a third child will only make things more difficult. Your older daughter is what…four? This one is two, right?
“What are you trying to say?”
“Look. I don’t want to argue with you.”
“I don’t want to argue with you, either. If you say one more word, we’re through talking.”
Everyone standing on the line is silent until the man behind the counter walks over with a large plastic bag and calls a number. The mother had ordered her food after the other woman, but somehow her food is ready first. She hands her receipt to the man, snatches her bag and walks off the line without a word to her friend. As an afterthought, she looks back and calls her young daughter.
Stomping through the dining area, she approaches her older child who has been waiting at one of the tables. She nearly comes to a stop.
“Let’s go.”
The woman and her children leave the restaurant.
At the counter, the other woman breathes a sigh of relief. She exchanges her receipt for a bag of food when her number is called. She exits the restaurant. Outside she finds the woman waiting for her.
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Image via Wikipedia
In a fast food restaurant in the city, two young women are chatting while they wait in line for their fried chicken orders. One of the women is a young mother with her daughter. The child appears to be around two or three years old. The first lady tells the mother that she has recently gotten married. While they’re talking, the child swings around a rope that is connected to a brass stand creating a maze for the customers. The little girl, bored, climbs up and down the metal stand and pulls the rope down each time she goes under it. The mother sees but says nothing.
The woman with the child responds to the other.
“I don’t want to get married. There’s not enough money in the world for me to put up with the same man every day.”
The first woman still has rice in her eyes.
“I couldn’t be happier. We’ve got a little house near the waterfront.”
A handsome man with muscles bulging through his shirt walks up to the register and places an order. The mother’s jaw drops.
“I need me a son,” She says loudly. “I got my two girls. I don’t want to get married. I can take care of my children myself.”
The newlywed, unaware that the dynamic in the restaurant has changed, tries to appeal to the mother’s common sense.
“I don’t mean to overstep, but you’ve got two children already by two different dads and…”
“You just crossed the line. No one has the right to say anything about my kids. I’m a damn good mother!”
The bride tries to explain herself.
“I only meant that it’s not easy for a single mother with two children. You’re saying that you want to have another child. What kind of sense does that make?”
The mother is insulted.
“You’re saying I’m stupid?”
“No of course not, I’m just saying that a third child will only make things more difficult. Your older daughter is what…four? This one is two, right?
“What are you trying to say?”
“Look. I don’t want to argue with you.”
“I don’t want to argue with you, either. If you say one more word, we’re through talking.”
Everyone standing on the line is silent until the man behind the counter walks over with a large plastic bag and calls a number. The mother had ordered her food after the other woman, but somehow her food is ready first. She hands her receipt to the man, snatches her bag and walks off the line without a word to her friend. As an afterthought, she looks back and calls her young daughter.
Stomping through the dining area, she approaches her older child who has been waiting at one of the tables. She nearly comes to a stop.
“Let’s go.”
The woman and her children leave the restaurant.
At the counter, the other woman breathes a sigh of relief. She exchanges her receipt for a bag of food when her number is called. She exits the restaurant. Outside she finds the woman waiting for her.
