A Bottle of Wine

She had just finished dressing for work when she heard the doorbell ring. Wondering who would call this early. She went to the front door and peered through the peephole. She saw no one. She opened the door. A wooden box lay on the doormat with the words, “Wine for You from the Bacchus Cursed Winery at 666 Blackwood Avenue” stenciled on each side of the box, Stepping outside, she looked up and down the street. No one was in sight. She picked up the box and brought into her townhouse and placed it on the kitchen table. She got a screwdriver and pried open the lid. Inside was a polished walnut case, on the top was an etched inscription that read: "One sip changes all." Her curiosity was piqued. She cautiously opened the case. Nestled in the golden straw was a bottle of wine.

Fancying herself a connoisseur of fine wine. She placed the bottle aside and thought she would enjoy it that evening with dinner.

At dinner time she made herself a salad and her favorite angel hair pasta with Ragù Bolognese sauce. She poured herself a glass of wine. She sniffed. She thought a fine bouquet and rolled the glass, seeing the wine had legs, and then took a sip, as she swished and swallowed...chaos ensued.

She looked over at her goldfish, and it was spy hopping like a humpback whale in its bowl. Her cat climbed onto the table and did pushups in rhythm with the spy hopping fish. Her mynah bird kept chanting, chug, chug, chug. She turned the bottle. The back label read, “Once sipped, fate flipped. No returns.”

Despite the chaos, she felt a pleasant sense of serendipity with her surroundings and she danced with the cat and then they both fell asleep on the floor. When she awoke, all had returned to normal. The goldfish swam in and out of his castle and the cat was asleep in his usual corner.

Did she imagine everything that had happened? She decided to go to bed. In the morning, everything seemed normal. She invited a friend to dinner to share the wine. As they sat down, she poured the wine and said, "Would you like a taste of serendipity?" offering her friend a glass.

“I certainly wouldn’t mind.” The woman chuckled. The two clinked glasses, and both took a sip again. As the evening before the goldfish spy hopped and the cat did pushups, the mynah bird chanted chug, chug, chug. The ladies finished the wine, got up and danced about, twirling like whirling dervishes, until they were exhausted and fell asleep on the floor. The friend said to her hostess when they awoke, “What winery did you say that wine came from?”