A year to remember

He grabbed the silverware off the tray and climbed up the chair. It was his father’s dining chair, a large and decorative piece of furniture. He laid the spoon down, and took a closer look at the fork. The graver had a sense of humor, putting a pair of tiny notty bunnies on it. Normally it would have made him laugh, but it was his birthday and he felt uneasy about the passing of time.‘Those little things, ephemeric like a mayfly is what they are’, he thought. And there he was almost believing that using the guest dining room was a smashing idea. It did not make him feel better at all.‘Well, maybe the food will’ he thought as the servants started bringing the plates. It was his birthday, so there was no place for pork. It was boar all the way, ovine cheese and really old wine. And brussel sprouts?He stood up.‘I hereof declare that I will no longer comsume beetlike vegetables!’ his voice echoed over the dining room, the servants stopping mid step to see their master’s angry face. Eric looked down on his plate, where a small insect, a spider maybe, was crawling up the the ligule of the lettuce leaf.‘Take this away!’ he ordered.