UPDATE
This story got Overall Winner.

🙂

I’m quite keen on the #satsuntails flash fiction compo, which uses a phrase and an image as prompt.

This week’s stories need to be 150 words and embrace the idea of “understated caramel” and the following image:

Researching the phrase came up with pretentious descriptions of beer and flavoured vodka (who knew?), which lead me to the idea.
Here’s my entry, but please check it out in its original location (to read other entries) too:

“A Glass Half Empty”
by Dr. Mike Reddy (@doctormikereddy)
[150 words]

“Look I get it. I thought ‘whine tasting!’ was a typo. We’d get sloshed. Meet some adults. Have conversations. Get out of the house for the first time in eight months!”

Jake squeezed his wife’s hand “Ok, Jill. The babysitter’ paid for. We’ll give it a try.” He led her nervously into the restaurant.

A buffet at the far side remained untouched, as numerous couples, dressed to the nines, stood attentively listening to the ‘whine tasting’ coach sermonising. “Like fine liquor, there’s an ‘understated caramel’ here. A soupçon of emotional blackmail.” he judged a recording of a nest of hungry chicks. Several onlookers nodded agreeably. Others tilted heads to catch the nuances. “Now we move on to a baby’s cry. A hint of saddle…?”

“Oh my god, this is such bullshit!” Jill blurted out. “Fifty Pounds each! For this?”

The whine tasters turned, stared, and applauded. The coach sighed happily.