The Pepper Prowler

Audience: 16-30

Purpose: The purpose of this story is to reflect a normal everyday incident blown out of proportion. Ultimately, this piece is a literary form of showing the audience how trivial events can be portrayed as something important.

Man falls victim to Sunday Pepper Prowler

It happened yesterday just past noon, banging the restaurant table in anger, Steve lay victim to an undone pepper shaker. It had started off as a normal Sunday afternoon at Collegiate Lunch, a local diner, but all of that changed when Steve's food arrived. The cap flew off his pepper shaker and poured all over his breakfast. Someone had left the cap undone.

The culprit was never found, but Steve's disappointment was evident. He was a regular at Collegiate Lunch, coming almost twice a day whether it be for a meal or just a coffee. Yesterday's food however, turned out to be slightly over-seasoned. Almost in desperation, Steve had shook the pepper shaker with all his might, but what happened next was definitely not to his delight. Eggs, potatoes, and ham all smothered in pepper, Steve's breakfast was ruined. Table banging and swearing under his breathe were the signs of frustration that Steve let out.

"It all happened so fast... I can barely remember picking up the shaker and next thing I know my food's buried under pepper!" exclaimed Steve, still with a hint of anger in his voice.

One customer who witness the event had this to say, "It just sucks to see something like that happen to anyone. I just remember eating my food, and then I hear BANG. The guy must have been really mad, and rightfully so."

In all fairness, Steve did receive a complimentary replacement meal from Collegiate Lunch owners Minnie and John.

From Minnie's perspective, it really wasn't a problem at all, "He's a great guy, he comes all the time and helps us out when we have the occasional nut-case. Steve really didn't deserve this, so we were happy to cook him up another breakfast."

In the end, no one got hurt and Steve received a new meal from the owners and now his close friends, Minnie and John. The search for the Pepper Prowler is still going strong but all signs indicate that he or she will not be found.