Greg was excited about visiting his aunt and her family. It had been years since he last saw them. He began his journey to Treeville, the town where his aunt, Margaret, lived.
Greg arrived in the town by afternoon. Trees were everywhere. The sun was bright but friendly, the streets were scanty with only a few kids running around. He was very hungry. He looked for where to get something to eat quickly before trying to locate his aunt's house. He couldn't find where to get food close by. Everyone he asked kept referring him to a particular restaurant.
"They serve the best dishes" the people kept saying.
Greg found it strange that that was the only place one could find anything edible . Greg managed to locate a branch of the restaurant.
"Kenny's delight" the billboard in front of the restaurant read.
"So this is the restaurant everyone is talking about. I really hope their food is great" Greg said to himself.
He went into the restaurant and saw a crowd of people. He had never seen that number of people at a restaurant. They were all desperate to get food. It wasn't like they were getting it for free, they had their money, and they all wanted the food so badly. It all seemed unusual and weird.
Greg took his time observing things, it was as if the entire Treeville was there to get food. He saw people fighting over food.
"There must be something in the food" Greg said to himself.
Out of caution, he chose not to eat there anymore. He had his doubts about the restaurant, and was eager to get to the bottom of it.
Greg finally got to his Aunt's house.
"My boy, you finally made it. You've grown so big. Welcome" his aunt, Margaret said, as they hugged.
"Thanks Aunt. It feels good to be here. Where are my cousins?" Greg asked.
"Richard and Henry went to get some food at Kenny's delight" Aunt Margaret replied.
On hearing that, he got worried. Even his aunt's family ate food from that restaurant. It was like everyone in Treeville had been brainwashed or under some kind of spell.
"I saw everyone getting food from there. What's special about their food anyway?" Greg asked his aunt.
"They have the best dishes. Nobody bothers to cook their own food anymore. There really is no need to cook at home when you have Kenny's delight there to serve you"
Greg couldn't believe what he had just heard from his aunt. Something fishy was indeed going on in that town.
That night, Greg refused to eat the food. Rather, he ate some apples he plucked from an apple tree nearby. Greg was deep in thoughts. Then he got an idea. He wondered if his aunt and his cousins would come to their senses if they didn't eat food from Kenny's for a day. He decided to lock the door of the house and hide the key, so they wouldn't get access to the food for that day.
The next morning, they all woke up to find the door locked. They couldn't find the key. Greg also pretended like he didn't know where the key was. He joined them in searching for it. After about four hours, Greg watched how his Aunt and his cousins became uncomfortable. It was as if they were going through withdrawal from drug addiction. Only, in this case, it wasn't drug addiction. They were sweating and restless. They needed to eat. The urge to eat food from Kenny's restaurant was driving them crazy.
All of a sudden, they were fine. It was as if something had left them. They came to their senses.
"What happened?" Aunt Margaret said with confusion on her face and that of her kids.
"You all have been enchanted all this while. This entire town has been enchanted by Kenny's Delight. I believe they have been putting something in their food", Greg said.
"That explains why we haven't been able to eat food from anywhere else. We didn't even realize it" Richard said.
"Somehow, it brainwashes you. The enchantment doesn't let you become aware that something is wrong", Greg said.
"This is obviously the doing of Kenny Edwards. He's the owner of Kenny's delight and the richest man in the town", Henry said.
"This explains why he got so rich so fast. He has the entire town wrapped around his fingers. We need to do something", Richard said
"We're going to expose him. First we'll go to the town's leader and then, we'll free more people from the enchantment." said Aunt Margaret.
Greg took out the key from where he hid it and opened the door. He and his aunt paid a visit to the town's leader, Mr Wilson.
"Good day sir. We have something urgent to report to you", Aunt Margaret said.
"What is it?" asked Mr Wilson.
"We have reason to believe that Mr Kenny has enchanted the entire town with his dishes" Aunt Margaret said
"Look, Margaret. You have just made a serious and ridiculous allegation. I don't want to hear it, and I don't want you spreading such lies." Mr Wilson said.
"But I'm..."
"Margaret, I said I didn't want to hear such a thing" Mr Wilson said, interrupting Margaret.
Aunt Margaret and Greg left Mr Wilson's house. It was obvious he was also under the enchantment. He couldn't see things clearly.
There was only one option left. They had to release the town from the enchantment individually. They began persuading people to go some hours without eating food from Kenny's delight. It wasn't easy, but they were able to convince a few people, and they got free from the enchantment.
Within two days, there was a snowballing effect. One person who became free tried to free up as many people as he could. The entire town was free of the spell, and they became aware that Mr Kenny had enchanted them all the while.
It was discovered that Mr Kenny used a magical powder for the enchantment. He put it in every food made. The workers, who were also under the enchantment, were obligated to put it in every dish made, and they couldn't tell anyone.
Mr Kenny designed the perfect plan to enrich himself, and silently became the most powerful person in the town. On discovering what he had done, the people of Treeville captured him, and he was banished from the town, never to return again.
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This write up sounds like a movie I have watched, the restaurant enchanted the whole community and Greg saved them all
Greg became the hero. Thanks for reading.
What an interesting story, and an original concept, @trexane. We love to see fresh story lines that haven't appeared before in The Ink Well. Thank you for sharing your story in The Ink Well, and for reading and commenting on the work of other community members.
Thank you
Wow Mr Kenny really went too far, thanks to Greg for liberating the entire town.