Eli's restaurant was empty despite it being the nighttime rush. And this was not the first time this had happened. Ever since he had opened his restaurant it had consistently been empty, and the customers he did get often asked for a refund since his food was so terrible.
"Maybe I should not have decided to become a small business owner," he thought. "After all, I do not know how to cook at all and my restaurant is on the verge of bankruptcy."
But this was Eli's dream he had ever since he retired from weightlifting.
It was now closing time, and as he was about to close up a hooded man walked in.
"I have heard you need some help with your restaurant," the stranger said. "I am a master chef who can help you, but it will cost you."
"What will it cost?" asked Eli.
"For everyday I work here you must give me 1% ownership of your restaurant until I own 50% of the restaurant. "I will handle the cooking and you will handle the business side."
Eli was hesitant to accept the offer as this was such a strange request, but seeing as he had no other choice he agreed.
"What should I call you anyways?" asked Eli.
"Just call me Snake," replied the man.
Like Snake said, he was able to help save Eli's restaurant. But he didn't just save it; in the first week of working there Snake had turned Eli's restaurant into the most popular restaurant in the state of California. And in two weeks it was the most popular restaurant in the world!
However, something bugged Eli. He never actually knew who the man was. The man always wore his hood down and Eli could never get a good look at his face, but despite this there was something familiar about him. However, Eli never pressed Snake on his identity. After all, the restaurant was the most popular restaurant in the world.
Then 50days had past and Snake asked to speak with Eli.
"As you know I now own 50% of the restaurant according to the deal, and I would like to reveal the plan I had all along," said Snake.
With that Snake took off his hood and it was David, Eli's old weightlifting rival, underneath. David spoke before Eli could.
"While we were weightlifting rivals I often thought about what a good team we could be," David said. "And like you I decided to open a restaurant, but it failed due to me not knowing the business side. And when I heard about your failing restaurant I knew that I could use my naturally good cooking skills and your naturally good business skills to create the best restaurant in the world. I am sorry for deceiving you, but this was the only way I could think you would work with me. Will you continue to work with me?"
Eli sat there in silence for a minute and finally said, "Yes I will, friend."
David and Eli shake hands
Author's notes: This story is a sequel to my week 2 deadlifting world champion story. This story is based on The Frog King's Folly from the book Indian Fables and Folklore. In the story a snake tricks the frog king into letting him eat all of the frogs he ruled over, and then the snake ended up eating the frog king himself. In this story I decided to make the snake Eli's old weightlifting rival David, but in the end I decided to have the rivals reconcile the past and become friends to make the greatest restaurant in the world.
Bibliography: Indian Fables and Folklore by Shovona Devi, 1919
Hi Caleb,
ReplyDeleteThis is such a cool story! I love how you recreated The Frog King's Folly in such a unique way by relating it to weightlifting. It made me want to read the first part about deadlifting! Is that a big part of your life? It would be fun to see how you made that connection or what made you think of it in the author's notes.
Hi Caleb, Great job on your story. The ending was definitely not what I expected, so you did a good job of building up suspense and then having a twist. I hadn't read the story this is a sequel to, but I appreciate that it was still easy to follow along with without having done so.
ReplyDeleteHi Caleb,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all I want to say just by looking at your story it looks very professional! I love how you incluse a good amount of dialogue in your stories. In doing this the reader almost feels as though they understand the characters on a personal level. Overall, great job and keep up the good work.
Hi Caleb,
ReplyDeleteI love that you did a sequel! It makes it so enjoyable to read and adds some anticipation for future stories! I liked how this story had so much mystery in it. And how it showed someone could trust a person they barely knew and not ask questions if the person can help them. I think it would be cool if you kept with the sequels!