Two eggs sunnyside up, greasy fries and plenty of ketchup. I’d cut out the red meat, doctor’s orders.

Thirty years I’ve been coming to Ed’s Diner for lunch.

The decor has stayed the same. Green leather seats, dirty orange ceiling, chipped fake marble counter.

Ed has aged along with the building, looking out through the hatch while he grills and fries the food.

Meryl was fresh-faced when I first ordered from her. Now she was looking forward to retirement.

Ed’s closes next week for refurbishment. New owners coming in. Ed and Meryl won’t be back when it reopens. Neither will I.

inside-the-diner

Written as part of the Friday Fictioneers challenge hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields (more details HERE). The idea is to write a short story of 100 words based on the photo prompt (above).

To read stories of 100 words based on this week’s prompt, visit HERE.

82 thoughts on “ED’S DINER”

  11. I see this story as a lovely tribute to quite a few places where I once dined. Sadly the only real alternative, is for the proprietors to die on the job.

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  14. The passing of an era, an institution. There was a pool hall here, Roger’s Rec, once Roger sold out it was never the same. You captured the spirit of the customer well, Iain. Good job.

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  16. I have to agree with everyone, Iain. Great atmosphere. I could almost smell the grease from the fried stuff! They just don’t make ’em like that anymore. And when they try to… they just try too hard! 😀

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  22. It wouldn’t be the same under new management, would it? Your story has a passing of generations as mine does while still being different. Great descriptions, Iain. I could see the place. Good writing. 🙂 — Suzanne

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  26. Dear Iain,

    Years ago I worked in a little hamburger place. It had been on the same corner for years, run and owned by Ed and Frances. The place was famous for cheap tacos and the best homemade onion rings in the world. (I made and ate plenty of them.) When Ed and Frances decided to retire and sell the place, a young man took it over and updated it. Within months he went out of business.
    Your well written story brought back these memories. I could smell the greasy french fries.

    Shalom,

    Rochelle

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  27. “New improved” is not necessarily how things are. I often dread seeing those two words on something that had nothing wrong with it in the first place. Refurbishments to establishments that have been there for decades have to be carried out with great sensitivity, if they’re not going to drive long-standing customers away. I guess that the owners of the business hope to attract a new clientele, but quite often a business goes bust because people go elsewhere whilst the place is closed, and don’t necessarily return. I’ve certainly seen this happen with shops. In fact, I’ve done an Ed and Meryl on one of my local shops recently.

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  34. I get a great sense of sadness from this – the ending of an era and none of the characers will be better for it, I fear. Loved the descriptions – ‘dirty orange ceiling, chipped fake marble counter’ – they say so much.

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