10 April 2026, Freewriters Community Daily Writing Prompt Day 3069: analyst of what?
As protective as he was of his grandchildren by nature, Capt. R.E. Ludlow realized that all eight Ludlow little ones and their friends needed to explore the world and learn things that way, so, he sometimes caught himself before interfering in a learning moment – like a whole truck of not-well-secured snacks losing a box on a pothole that did not exist before Hurricane Mneme.
“Papa! Free snacks!” nine-year-old George Ludlow shouted – the two were out on their weekly walk.
“We must first offer to return them,” Capt. Ludlow said as the truck stopped a little way up the road.
“Nah, man, keep those – we can't even sell that box now,” the driver said as he looked at it. “I'll have to take that on the chin for being in a hurry – but y'all enjoy.”
Capt. Ludlow and George smiled and thanked the driver, and between them took the half-cracked box back to the Ludlow house. As they were going up the stairs to the porch, the box gave way and the captain saw those snacks.
“My immediate reaction was, 'Ain't no way I would have bought this flavored air to give to my family,'” he said to the laughing Mrs. Ludlow, “but you see that 16 hands and the 10 hands of their friends have decided all that!”
The little Ludlows, and their friends the little Trents and younger Stepforths (because Tom was 16, but his nine-year-old brother Vertran shared with him like they were peers), barely let all those snacks hit the ground before they were spread out, snatched up, and enjoyed … sorta.
This was where all of them being in houses that cooked and bought good food kicked in.
“We thank God for blessing us with snacks through people in a hurry,” eleven-year-old Eleanor said, “but while God is good, people really aren't measuring up.”
“This is why he didn't mind losing that box,” George said.
“Which is all a polite standard English way of saying this ain't it,” eight-year-old Gracie Trent said.
“Where is the seasoning?” nine-year-old Milton Trent said. “I mean, I'm looking at this chip and I just see potato!”
“Where is the love?” five-year-old Lil' Robert Ludlow said as he sat down in a heap.
“Because, no!” ten-year-old Glendella Ludlow said as she flopped down by him.
“I remember that brand name – that's a whole bag of nope,” six-year-old Grayson said as he put his bag down, unopened, and his big brother ten-year-old Andrew just shook his head.
“George, you weren't with us yet,” Andrew said, “but when Papa is trying to return stuff, he is trying to protect us.”
“Maybe they didn't use enough oil and the flavor is at the bottom of the bag,” seven-year-old Amanda Ludlow said, and then closed her little bag and started shaking it up before getting out another chip and concluding, “Nope. At the bottom of the bag is just bag.”
“This is a crime against food fashion!” eight-year-old Edwina said. “Good snacks are supposed to have you mad because you are getting flavor prints on your clothes – but nothing is happening here!”
“These fools are about to be in the Lofton County Free Voice, this is so bad,” Tom said, “because these are the ones available on the poorer sides of every town down here and enough is enough.”
“Yeah, I'mma hafta do a review video about no,” Vertran said.
“I gotta get some hot sauce – in fact, y'all bring your chips and stuff and we're gonna fix this,” eleven-year-old Velma Trent said. “Vanna, I need some of your best popcorn seasoning because folks are throwing unseasoned snacks off the back of trucks to bore us!”
18-year-old Vanna Trent came and looked and then picked up one of the bags to look at the brand name.
“Oh yeah, these things,” Vanna said. 'Y'all might as well be eating puffed cardboard – and y'all give me that granola before you start eating more cardboard. We gotta doctor up all this stuff. I'm going to turn the granola into dessert for y'all, but you'll have your chips back in five minutes.
So Vanna went into her collection of spices and sauces and cheese powder and put all the chips and crisps and puffs in a big pan and got busy – and came back with a masterpiece.
“See, you should be the analyst of food fixing,” George told her when he tasted what she came back with.
“Analyst of what?” she said.
“Food fixing,” George said, right before Lil' Robert plowed into her in a running hug.
“Thank you – I taste the love now and I love you too!” he said.
“I'm going to mess up my clothes now and be happy about it!” Edwina said.
“See?” George said. “Food fixing fixes everything – Edwina is happy and that takes some doing!”
“Nah,” Vanna said. “I'm not about to be fixing this mess – it's time for me to get my popcorn out there and put these fools out of business at least locally. It is a sin and a shame that folks make people buy these leftover starches and stuff – there weren't even any whole potatoes sliced to make a chip in there. We're not gon' do this – hey, Pop-Pop, I'mma have that popcorn business plan to you this week.”
All the little ones cheered, and Mrs. Gladys Jubilee Trent, Vanna's paternal grandmother, smiled.
“Right on, granddaughter,” she said. “We don't fix injustice – we end it, in food fashion style when necessary.”
“'Bout time,” said Mrs. Velma Stepforth, Vanna's maternal grandmother. “Got a whole billionaire granddad ready to help out – 'bout time to change the snack scene because I would have backed my car over that brand. They have been out here having people pay to bore their tastebuds with their substandard products long enough!”
“Ain't it the truth, Velma,” Mrs. Jubilee Trent said, “Ain't it the truth.”