His First And Last Smile In Years | Teen Ink

His First And Last Smile In Years

May 26, 2016
By OneTimeDarkness BRONZE, Hazelton, Pennsylvania
OneTimeDarkness BRONZE, Hazelton, Pennsylvania
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

A Japanese restruant setting takes place with a female waitress and a man named Shima.

Waitress: Welcome to Sayuki! May I take your order?

Shima: No..

Waitress: Would you like me to come back soon then?

Shima: Maybe I would.


The waitress leaves the scene leaving her customer Shima to flip through the menu.
He silently sits still with his eyes focused on one page. He sits like this for hours as
the other customers leave one by one, refusing to order still.  After so much time has passed the waitress returns
back to his booth.


Waitress: Sir, It's been awhile. Have you decided yet?

Shima: I can't help but admire the design of this table. It's distracting.. and so are you..

Waitress: Sir, What would you like?

Shima: Your head on a platter sounds like a good appetizer

Waitress: Aside from your jokes.. What would you like? Did you come here to eat?

Shima: Whatever makes you think I was joking? Why do you think I've been sititng here this long? My dinner has been serving customers all day..
I've been suffering here watching her

Waitress: I'm sorry sir but I'm not on the menu.

Shima: You're here. You're on the menu.

Waitress: Today's specials we have spicy crab meat with a side of garlic bread, shrimp salad with lobster tail, and miso soup.

Shima: I will have cream of wheat oatmeal.

Waitress: Thank you! I will get right on that.


In releif the waitress hands her note of the man's order to the head chef.
Shima sits impatiently at his booth. He pounds like a madman at the table as seconds pass by.
Spoons and forks at the table rattle. Helpless napkins fall to the dirty ground where over 400 customers a
day walk. After 20 minutes has passed another waitress returns with his hot cream of wheat.
She carefully sets down the bowl onto the table infront of Shima.

Waitress 2: Enjoy!

Shima: HEATH SHALL NOT DEVOUR SUCH TRASH! MAKE ME ANOTHER! THIS ONE IS DEFILED WITH BERRIES

Waitress 2: I'm sorry about that sir, I'll take the berries out for you.

Shima: NO, NO. THE SCENT OF THE BERRIES IS ALREADY PLASTERED IN THE BOWL. GO MAKE ME ANOTHER. I DID NOT ASK FOR ROUND
BLUE BALLS OF DISSATISFACTION!


The waitress fearfully takes the bowl away from the furious man as she goes to the chef to prepare him another
bowl of oatmeal. The man hiked his rectangle framed glasses up to his nose and crossed his arms with a grumpy frown
going across his face. His gray hair neatly combed behind his ears. He sits patiently this time until the first waitress
handed him his second bowl of cream of wheat without berries.

Shima: Ah! Thank you! Such lovely oatmeal you are serving here today!


With a bewildered expression the waitress bowed kindly before heading back into the kitchen.
A woman and her children who had arrived an hour ago could not help but feel discomforted by the man's
presence as they were sitting a booth next to him. The elderly man had noticed this but without a single care
he only hiked his glasses up once more without a single touch of his cream of wheat. As soon as his eyes met his oatmeal a
grin formed across his face and he began to laugh uncontrollably. His laughter filled the entire restruant alarming and disrupting
all of the other customers. Another waitress rushed to the scene.

Waitress 3: Sir, What's going on? Is everything alright?

Shima: THIS CREAM OF WHEAT!

Waitress 3: Yes, Is there something the matter with your food? If so, We can refund y-

Shima: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

Waitress 3: Sir?

Shima: NYYAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Waitress 3: Sir, I may have to ask you to eat your meal elsewhere. You are disturbing the-

Shima: NYYAAAHAHA AAHHHAAHH HAH THIS OATMEAL IS PRICELESS!

Waitress 3: Sir you haven't even touched it..

Shima: IT GOES PERFECT WITH THIS SUNNY DAY OUTSIDE!

The third waitress simply smiled and began getting back to her work only to hear the man grab onto his chest and heel over
from a heartattack without a single finger lifted to consume his dinner leaving it fresh on the table. Looks of horror
came over nearby customer's faces. The waitress witness this in both confusion and fear.

Shima: This is exactly what I've been longing for ever since my wife passed on 13 years ago. Those 30 years of
marriage I've had with her were a great collection of the some of the most happiest moments of my life;
and if this is the only way left to get them back then so be it.. I am happy..
We can finally be together again.. I can finally fly away to heaven with and be with her once more..
And tell her all about the story of how I passed on.. With a smile on my face.. A smile that hasn't come upon me
in years ever since she died.. But now that I know I am going to see her again.. I can finally smile again.
Her favorite dinner was oatmeal.. Be sure.. to have my untoached cream of wheat on my grave.. I want her to see it
with me.. Eat it with me.. That's if you believe in ghosts. AHAHAHAHA!!!!

The scene goes black


The author's comments:

The setting in the play was inspired by my favorite Japanese restruant "Mirakuya". The elderly customer Shima was inspired by my uncle losing his wife back in 2013. He has an interesting side to him, A humorous side. You could see the hurt in his eyes when he had lost her. Everyday he lives in humor, food, and movies until the day he joins her. 


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