Table Cheese

"Ugh!" Rae spat a mouthful of liquid into the kitchen sink. She sat back at the table amid the snickers and chuckles of her friends. "Wine is disgusting. How can any of you drink it?!"

"Simple. We open our mouths and swallow it," Daniel retorted, taking a big gulp of his pinot grigio for emphasis.

Rae visibly gagged. "You're making me sick. Pass the brie, please."

"So, you'll eat our cheese but won't drink our wine?" Lyddie asked in mock disgust. Rae put a bite of apple slice and brie in her mouth and snapped it shut at her friend in reply. They both giggled at an inside joke they were reminded of.

"Wine is definitely an acquired taste," Rob said, swirling his glass and frowning down into the ruby liquid. "It took me a long time to learn to appreciate it."

"Life is like wine, sometimes," mused Daniel. "It can be bitter and rotten; but once you swallow, it becomes sweet and full of taste."

Rae clapped her hands in sarcastic applause. "Thank you, Philosopher Dan, but I much rather prefer the idea that life is like fine cheese. It has a tough rind, but inside it is creamy and delicious." She popped another slice of Gouda in her mouth and closed her eyes while she chewed.

"Hmm, I have to agree," nodded Lyddie. "Besides, if life was like wine, we would have to suffer through the aftermath that is a hangover."

"Yes," exclaimed Rae, her eyes coming open with a snap, "and since cheese is technically comfort food, you will have a comfortable aftermath if life were like cheese."

Daniel shook his head. "It's amazing that you two can live and operate in the grown-up world with such adolescent minds."

"We just understand that life doesn't have to be complicated like wine; it's really simple, like cheese," Lyddie explained.

"Amen," Rae said, toasting with a chunk of mozzarella on a round of salami.

Bethany Bachman writes in Philadelphia and would prefer cheese over wine any day.

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