Author's note: Ohla guys! This is an essay I had to do for one of my classes, and I thought that maybe you guys would like it. :D I had to take out my name though... so when it says Leeland it's referring to myself. My true name for now, will remain a secret! Enjoy.

Purple Plum Sauce

Sitting there listening to the hum of conversation and small talk, my head reeled as I realized what was happening. I saw the black vested, bow tie clad waiter coming with a steaming shielded platter, or rather, my down fall. My stomach seemed to lurch very slowly as he placed down that platinum monster. All talking ceased as he lifted the lid to reveal what was left of a certain feathered bird. Makaela leaned over and giggled in my ear.

“Aren't you excited, Leeland? Your first time eating duck, and it's on my birthday!” I tried to swallow the cotton that formed a lump in my throat. “Yeah... I'm really excited,” but I was thinking something totally different.

“What if I end up seeing this stuff a second time?”

Makaela, my best friend in fourth grade, had invited me the previous night to sleep over at her house for her birthday. That next morning her mother asked her where she wanted to go for the day,and Makaela had happily said, “Ohhh! I wanna take Leeland shopping in Chinatown! I know she'll love it!” She looked to me for confirmation, and I smiled in return. She grinned widely back.

“Then it's settled,” Mrs. Angela, Makaela's mother, replied. “We can go shopping and take her to that restaurant you enjoy.”

Makaela gasped in excitement, “You mean the restaurant that has duck?” She squealed, but I was taken aback.

“Duck?” I thought, “Who would eat poor little ducks?” I didn't say it out loud though, I knew it wouldn't be polite. Instead I said, as Mrs. Angela and Makaela waited for me to respond,

“Sure! Sounds like fun.” And it was. They took me to little Asian shops that supplied some of the most interesting things I've ever seen.

After Makaela had gotten her fill of walking around, we went to that restaurant she had been so excited about. It was called, “Taydo”, a Chinese and Vietnamese restaurant, that apparently served duck.

We met Makaela's father, brother, two sisters, grandparents, aunt and uncle, and a couple of her cousins. I felt a bit out of place, but Makaela stood by me, busily chirping about how excited she was.

“Oh, Leeland! I just know you're going to love it! Oh geeze! I'm glad you came!” I giggled and smiled at her. “I'm happy too! I've never been to Chinatown before. I had so much fun!”

We were waiting outside as Makaela's parents confirmed the reservations for a table. The two of them came out satisfied just as Makaela and I had stopped laughing about a joke we heard earlier that week. They announced that we could come in to be seated and Makaela and I rushed inside the building.

I was definitely impressed as we walked inside. On the ceiling hung a gorgeous light fixture. Then on the outside of the fixture was a eight pointed star that had been built into the ceiling. There were also many different paintings on the light yellow walls of geisha, koi fish, and even cats. But the two things that caught my attention the most were the gold, green, and red painted dragons at the right end of the building. I was so in awe that I hadn't noticed Makaela tugging on my arm impatiently.

“C'mon Leeland! Everyone's sitting down!” I quickly snapped out of my trance as we started scurrying to the table where her family was waiting.

As I sat down next to Makaela and grabbed the large menu in my lap, I inhaled all the smells that filled the room. A family behind us slurped some wonton soup, the smell of broth floated thickly over to where we were seated. Other smells like the sharp zing of teryaki sauce and the eye-watering aroma of Chinese mustard filled the room too. All the smells made the excitement buzzing inside me hum.

Our waiter came out with fried wontons and his little notepad for writing down our drink orders. Makaela and I ordered first, and immediately after, started munching on the fried wontons. As the waiter left, Mrs. Angela spoke up.

“I say we all order decent portions of rice and lo mein for side dishes and then order one large main course of duck. That way we can all have a little bit of everything and split the bill easily.” As everyone started agreeing and conversing, I felt my stomach leap and do a back flip.

“Again with the duck?” I thought, “... I don't really mind trying it but-” my thoughts were interrupted by Mrs. Angela.

“Oh! I forgot Leeland's here with us! Everybody, this is Leeland, Makaela's friend and guest for her birthday.” All eyes landed on me and I was bombarded with “Hi”'s and mumbles. I smiled awkwardly.

“Um... hi.” Some of them laughed at my shyness, while others smiled or giggled. Mrs. Angela continued.

“Does our plan for food sound okay to you, Leeland?” I took a deep breath.

“Just agree with it Leeland!” I thought, “You don't even have to eat all of it!” But when the duck, lo mein, and rice had been served, all my newly found courage disappeared with the sound of the metal platter hitting the wood of the table.

A mad rush of hands started bomb-barding the food an I was losing my chance of getting any. Luckily, and unluckily, for me, Makaela's father came around from his seat and served the two of us. He noticed the worried look on my face as I stared at the duck and chuckled.

“You don't have to eat the duck by itself. That's what the sweet bread and plum sauce are for.” I looked at him in confusion.

“Plum sauce? Sweet bread?” He reached across the table and, low-and-behold, was a deep purple liquid and these small whit rolls.

“Makaela, why don't you show Leeland how to wrap the duck in the sweet bread and drizzle the plum sauce?” Makaela nodded, and grabbed two sweet rolls and poured some of the plum sauce on a small plate that was on the table.

“Here Leeland,” she said, gently opening one of the rolls, “all you have to do is open the roll, stuff some duck inside, and take a spoon and 'drizzle' it on. I like having a lot of plum sauce though.

She smirked at me, and I sheepishly smiled back.

As I followed through Makaela's steps, I too, decided to put plenty of plum sauce on the duck. I swallowed a big gulp of my drink through its slim straw to moisten my throat as I brought the roll to my lips and let my teeth take a tiny bite.

Savoring it, I tasted the sweet bread and then the strange but satisfying taste that was the duck. But the last flavor I noticed was the bitter, tangy, and sweet taste that was the purple plum sauce. It seemed to melt my fear of the duck away and instead gave it a satisfying flavor like salt does to potato chips.

After having a few more duck-plum-rolls, lo mein noodles, rice, and a birthday cake Mrs. Angela brought Makaela, I realized that trying new things wasn't so terrifying as I thought. Instead, it was exciting, and I ended up discovering a new and wonderful food to enjoy.

Since then I decided that I would do my best to try new things, including foods. And it's all because of my fear of duck and that purple plum sauce.

AN: Hope you guys enjoyed it! I may post some of my other essays on here too, but we'll just have to see...