The Mother Curd
Not sponsored by Culvers
Carlie awakens and feels something greasy binding her arms to her body. What…? She looks down to see what has captured her. Is this a… a cheese curd? It, in fact, was a cheese curd. Squeaky cheese rolled in flour, eggs, milk, and salt, deep-fried to perfection, and now, she found herself inside. She tries to lift her arm, but has no success. Next, she tries to wiggle her leg, point her toes, and bend her knee, and eventually, her patella pokes through the cheesy crust. From there, she rips away the cheesy bits piece by piece until all that’s left is the shredded remains. She slowly finds her footing on the bits and extends her legs to see the world she is now in – a world of giant cheese curds.
Am I in heaven? She thinks to herself and tosses her hair to the side to wring the grease out of the strands with her fingers. As she gazes into the golden brown abyss, something catches her eye. This something bounces from cheese curd to cheese curd and falls from its final bounce. She quickly, well as quickly as one can move over giant balls of fried cheese, makes her way over to what fell. She finds an about 2 feet tall, fluffy, burnt orange creature lying on its back and grinning up at her. Her eyes widen in surprise, but then her expression softens, and she smiles and bends down and says in a gentle tone, “Hello there, little one.” She reaches out her hand, palm up, as a greeting. The creature stands on its two stumpy legs, revealing a small puff of a tail, and wraps its small paw around her hand, nuzzling its cheek into her palm. She chuckles softly to herself, “How cute,” she whispers. It smiles and lets go and begins to bounce away on the cheese curds. It looks back at her and motions for her to follow with a big grin and a wave. The girl straightens up and brushes the crumbs off her knees and calls after it, “Wait up!”
She finds her footing and begins to climb over curd after curd, her hands and feet slipping occasionally from the grease. At the top of the mountain of curds, the creature waits for her, jumping up and down excitedly. She chuckles through her heavy breaths, “I’m coming, I’m coming.” She makes it to the top, ruffles the fur on the creature’s head, and catches her breath. The creature points to the center of the curd world, and her eyes follow and enlarge with what she sees. At the center of the curd world sits the largest cheese curd to ever exist. Surrounding it are hundreds of the small burnt orange creatures, dancing and grinning, worshiping the largest cheese curd. The small creature at her side tugs on her pant leg and says in a soft, but gravely voice, “The Mother Curd,” as it points to the scene in front of them. The girl stands, shell-shocked as she whispers, “Holy curd...”
By Rebekah Fingerson