The Lunch Machine

By Zhenyi Tan

Once upon a time, in a small village, there lived an eccentric inventor. This inventor was known far and wide for his strange and wonderful creations. One day, he unveiled his latest invention—a lunch machine that could cook anything you asked for!

“Dragon steak!” a villager would shout, and the machine would whir and buzz, producing a sizzling dish that, while not exactly dragon steak, had the appearance of a steak that could have come from a dragon. The villagers were thrilled. They lined up every day to try out new and exciting dishes.

However, not everyone was happy. The village cook, known for her delicious and heartwarming meals, found her restaurant empty. The cook tasted the food from the machine and found it bland. “It lacks the love and care that goes into a home-cooked meal,” she said. But the villagers didn’t seem to care.

One day, the cook discovered a shocking secret. The inventor had stolen her recipes to create the machine! She revealed this to the villagers, but they didn’t understand why she was upset. They were too enamored with the novelty of the machine.

With a heavy heart, the cook packed her bags and left the village to find a better living. The villagers continued to live happily, oblivious to the true taste of lovingly cooked food they had lost.