12 June 2026, Freewriters Community Daily Writing Prompt Day 3132: buffet for one

“OK, the great thing about being grounded is that I have a lot of time to come up with great ideas, and so I wanted to bounce this off of you … .”

At the end of this conversation, eleven-year-old Velma Trent went to her father, Sgt. Vincent Trent, and said, “Dad, I know that grounding Milton is part of the discipline you have for us, but have you thought about the danger to the world there is at leaving Milton by himself to come up with ideas all alone without us to bounce off of and calm his mind down?”

Nine-year-old Milton Trent had bounced a revolutionary restaurant idea for the pandemic off his sister...

“So, instead of restaurants being closed for the pandemic, they ought to reopen them for speed runs – a buffet for one at a time, and time how fast people can get through there, fill plates, get the food down, and get back for more in fifteen minutes! They also can get extra excitement points if they let folks do it on roller skates!”

Velma had listened to this and said, “But Milton, they gotta air out the restaurant between people coming through, so, they wouldn't be able to get through more than two runs per hour.”

Milton thought about this, and said, “They just gotta invest in retractable roofs, first.”

Sgt. Trent heard this report from Velma and noted that Velma and Milton's grandmother, his mother Mrs. Gladys Jubilee Trent, was laughing in the background, because she remembered what the sergeant had been like at nine years old … and now he understood.

“So, Milton needs active grounding,” he said to Velma.

“I don't know how that exists, Dad,” Velma said, “but you're the smartest man I know beside of course Jesus, so although you can't save the world, you might want to invent active grounding to help it last a little longer.”

“This is how young men end up in the military,” he said, and smiled as his mother laughed even harder, “but Milton is a little young for all that, so, let me think about it, Velma, and, you enjoy the rest of your day.”

“OK,” Velma said, and went back outside into the sunlight.