One Knife to Rule them All
Flash Fiction Friday is BACK
07 February 2025 prompts from
Write about learning to use a new tool
like leaden echoes
“It’s all I had”
The type of character who likes causing trouble
"It's all I had." Nell looked at the smashed and shredded boule of sourdough that John had brought in from the farmer's market. "I wanted to make sandwiches for lunch."
John took his hand away from his mouth and surveyed the decimated loaf. "Darling," he said, trying to sound sincere, "have you never heard of a bread knife?"
Nell looked at him blankly. In her family, everyone used a switchblade for everything: cardboard, meat, fishing line, and anything else that needed cutting. She'd had a switchblade in her back pocket since she was six. She didn't see any need for a different knife for different purposes.
John knew when he married Nell that she was a diamond in the rough, but he had no idea just how rough she was. He saw inside her eyes a fire and a desire to be more than the person whom fate had destined her to be. John planned to change her destiny, but not her agile mind, her willing spirit, or her independent confidence. He knew that he loved her from the moment he saw her at his uncle's feed store two years ago. It had taken all that time to meet, court, and marry this girl who was unlike anyone else he knew. "One blade to rule them all," he muttered with a smile. "Okay, love, let's learn a new tool."
Nell liked tools. She could fix anything, and the shiny new tools in the shed begged to be used. As she moved toward the back door, John touched her shoulder. "Not those. This is an indoor tool." Nell shrugged, eager to learn.
Nell understood that, compared to John, she was backwoods and backwards. She still didn't know quite why he'd married her, but her Pap was ready to get her out of the cabin in the woods and into "civlizashun." Her Mam looked at John with suspicion, as though John's plans included making Nell an amusement for a traveling circus. Pap ruled the roost, so with her hair braided and wrapped around her head like a real lady, Nell put on her best dress and went to the courthouse, where a judge pronounced them "man and wife."
John pulled his bride into the kitchen. Pulling away the damaged part of the boule, John was able to find a place to begin again. He started pulling knives from the block. "This one," he said, is for fileting fish. See how flexible it is? It separates skin from meat and meat from bones quickly and easily."
Nell had cleaned many fish with her switchblade. It worked just fine. It may not have been pretty, but fish tastes like fish no matter how you cut it. But she didn't argue with John. She could see he was trying to show her some skills that she couldn't get in the woods. He pulled out another massive square blade.
"This, my dear, is a cleaver. It's Damascus steel and sharp enough to cut through hides. It's heavy enough to cut bone." Nell examined it. It looked like Pap's hatchet, but was much shinier with an interesting pattern across the face. She nodded in understanding.
John worked through the other knives: paring knife, chef's knife, Santoku, peeling, and carving knives. Nell was more than a little overwhelmed at the idea of so many knives with singular purposes, but she made a point to remember each one. Finally, John pulled out a long blunt knife with scalloped edges. "This, my love, is a bread knife."
"Are you tellin' me there's a knife just for cuttin' bread? Why not use one of these other ones if they're sharp?" It made no sense to her. How was a scalloped edge supposed to cut anything?
John grinned at her. "It's magic. It doesn't seem like it should cut, but not only does it cut cleanly, it does it without smashing or tearing the loaf." He pulled Nell in front of him, placing the knife in her right hand and then covering it with his own. He showed her how to gently hold one side of the loaf and then move the blade back and forth through the bread without any pressure. When a perfect slice fell over, Nell gasped. And then laughed.
"Well I'll be. Don't that just beat all? A knife that doesn't look like a real knife cuts a perfect slice of bread." She cut the next one herself before turning to John. "Which knife do I use for the tomatoes?"
One slice at a time cuts through the middle to have the biggest bite.
This was fun!