At that moment the guy came out of the back room carrying two plates. With a smile and a flourish he slid them in front of us. Vegetables. Asparagus, carrots, celery, a few sliced tomatoes, and part of a cucumber, artfully arranged on a bed of what looked like grass.
“Wonderful,” Glenda said, smiling at the man with her biggest and most alluring smile. “I hope we can find a way to repay you for this feast.”
The guy had the common decency to blush. “I’m sure we will work something out.” At that he beat a hasty retreat to the bar. Fingers seemed to be the preferred method of getting the food from the plate to the mouth, so I picked up one piece of celery and bit into it. It was soft, not fresh, and had a faint taste of horsedung.
I hope I managed to swallow it without looking too insulting to anyone who could see me.
Glenda tried a piece of cucumber. I could tell it wasn’t good either from how slowly she chewed and then forced herself to swallow.
“We’re in a vegetarian dimension,” I whispered as Glenda gave the bartender an okay sign that the food was good. “What do they do with all the cattle you claim are here?”
“I have no idea,” Glenda whispered. “But if I have to eat or drink any more of this garbage I think I’m going to be sick.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“Pretend to eat and I’ll see if I can get some answers” she said.
She stood and moved over to where the man stood behind bar. I couldn’t tell what she was saying, but after a moment he laughed and looked at me as if I were the brunt of a joke. I pretended to bite and chew on a asparagus spear and just smiled back.