![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmNRUxNAvNBB8PxVHh4jWnUkfVm21Kf21h6aNV47MHaWgq/hunting_midnight_e6p16.png)

<center>This is Episode 6-16 of a serial urban fantasy & paranormal story.</center>

### <center>[◀ Prev](https://ecency.com/hive-199275/@jfuji/hunting-midnight-ep-6-part-44ef8c73e6592) • [ [All parts](https://ecency.com/scholarandscribe/@jfuji/hunting-midnight-a-serial-story) ] •  [Next ▶](https://ecency.com/hive-199275/@jfuji/hunting-midnight-ep-6-part-3169a29131e85)</center>
&nbsp;
![hunting midnight divider v1 (1).png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/jfuji/48FDqNidwXzxXq7K8gChm7zJG53weDwBWYQvanykckejr2w2JKk7JQNJJMBs5Q9KJe.png)

# <center>Part 6-16: Autocannibalism</center>
*I don’t see her again for a few weeks. Part of me is secretly hoping to add her to my stagnant list of regulars, but only Gary proves consistent through the wispy thread of patronage.*

*Once, in a rare fit of bravado, I sit down with the old-timer and ask him why he keeps coming back. After some time, he says, “It’s quiet.” I am not inspired.*

*I start an Instagram, and I start standing outside the shop and beaming niceties at passerby. Both acts are extraordinarily uncomfortable. I am quick to quit the social media since the stand-outside-and-smile tactic actually doubles business, but it isn’t mentally healthy. For one, despite the mess of tangly brown hair that lives on my head, apparently I get more customers if my ratty hairnet is disengaged—which means once I lure some poor soul into the shop I have to refit it, which is awkward and weird and I hate it.*

*For two, when I’m inside the shop I can’t be outside the shop, and I end up paying more attention to the foot traffic I could have lured, versus the paying customer in front of me, which I’m sure damages my repeat business probability. Despite the promising tactic, I am still fatally short of my sales targets and am also socially exhausted.*

*I wish that I could hire someone like Deluxe to handle promotional stuff. Reality check though: I don’t know how much financial analysts are paid but I assume it is between ‘significantly’ and ‘astronomically’ more than a soup shop greeter.*

*She is free of any visible animals upon her third visit, arriving during a highly common slow period, whereby only Gary-the-Constant is present. She promptly drops a curtsy at me.*

*“Where’s Lobster?” I ask, prepared for something weird.*

*She delivers by yanking a bag of water out of her skirt pocket. There is nothing inside, as far as I can see. I know better though.*

*She hops up to the counter and motions me closer to her upheld pouch of liquid. There is some gunk at the bottom of it. Undeterred, I say, “Why hello, Lobster!”*

*She is wise to my ruse, apparently, and rolls her eyes. “They’re baby sea urchins! So it is ‘hello Lobsters,’ if you please.”*

*Struck by an insane thought, I ask, “Do they reproduce asexually?”*

*“Sometimes, but they typically have up to five gonopores.”*

*“Oh.”*

*“Love holes.”*

*“…Oh.”*

*Gary snorts, and I watch Deluxe with growing anxiety. Not knowing exactly what to say after this, I steer it back to relatively comfortable territory. “Are you here to discuss autocannibalism or purchase bread?”*

*It is a little rude, perhaps, but at least it is something. To my relief, she takes a seat (and puts away her sea urchins). I feel a tiny surge of satisfaction: two patrons, sitting inside, were a good advertisement to the folks outside.*

*“I think both,” she says, “and I’ll try some soup. Carrot medley?”*

*I turn to look at my menu, sure that ‘carrot medley’ was fiction. Indeed, I have not written that anywhere. But this is a game I am well prepared to play.*

*“I think I can help you out there,” I say. “What size?”*

*“Largest, please. How much do I owe?”*

*“Oh, it’s on the house,” I say as I locate some ingredients. “So long as you can help me with some ideas for the shop.”*

*“What sort of ideas? New names you said?”*

*“Oh, those are mostly puns.”*

*“Such as?”*

*I am chopping carrots, bereft of my notebook, so I recite a few from memory. “One was Bisquey Business.”*

*“Four out of ten.”*

*“Thanks. Another was Basic Bisque.”*

*No response to that one. I glance over my shoulder as I dice up some celery. She seems confused.*

*“You know,” I explain, “like ‘basic bitch.’ But bisque. It’s supposed to be sassy, c’mon.”*

*“Is your bisque basic though?”*

*“How about The Baroness of Bisque?”*

*“That’s not a pun.”*

*“No. But you know, I don’t think it’s the name that’s going to help grow business.” I set a pot to boil. “It’s the product.”*

*“That’s true enough. Which brings us back to the autocannibalism.*”

*“I was waiting for that, believe me,” I call out from the freezer, fishing out some prepared veggie stock. I return to the counter area (which is also my cramped kitchen), wiggling the plastic stock container at Deluxe. “Would you eat something named Carrot?” I ask.*

*“Not if she were a lobster.”*

*“So you’re a financial analyst who is also an animal rights advocate. I’ve met some of each, never one that’s both.”*

*She tilts her head at that, and something sad comes into her eyes. She peers out the window and says, “It’s not so much about rights, I don’t think. We made rights. Not them. Lobsters don’t care about rights.”*

*The phrase ‘our planet, our rules,’ dances its way onto my tongue, but I have a feeling that is not going to win me any favours. A silence settles, and my soup gurgles as I stir. I wonder which nerve of hers has been touched. She is still looking out the window, like she is hoping someone who has long been lost to arrive.  *

*I am about to ask something awkward about her sea urchins when Gary blurts, “So what is it all about then?”*

*“Efficiency,” she says.*

*It is at this moment that a fellow with a sawed-off shotgun kicks in my door.*

&nbsp;
![hunting midnight divider v1 (1).png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/jfuji/48FDqNidwXzxXq7K8gChm7zJG53weDwBWYQvanykckejr2w2JKk7JQNJJMBs5Q9KJe.png)
&nbsp;
<center>*Continued in Part 6-17*</center>
### <center>[◀ Prev](https://ecency.com/hive-199275/@jfuji/hunting-midnight-ep-6-part-44ef8c73e6592) • [ [List of parts](https://ecency.com/scholarandscribe/@jfuji/hunting-midnight-a-serial-story) ] •  [Next ▶](https://ecency.com/hive-199275/@jfuji/hunting-midnight-ep-6-part-3169a29131e85)</center>
&nbsp;
<center>
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<th><center>🔖 Collect episodes or parts as NFTs</center></th>
</tr>
<tr></td>
<td><center> <a href="https://jfuji.cent.co/">Free NFT Bookmarks on Polygon</a> OR <a href="https://nftshowroom.com/jfuji/gallery">Commemorative Hive NFTs</a></center></td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>


</center>
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><center> 📚 Get on (or off) the readlist by asking in the comments</center></td><td><center>🔮 Read <em><a href="https://ecency.com/hive-199275/@jfuji/the-childseeker-s-war-chapter">The Childseeker’s War</a></em>: a full fantasy novel on Hive</center></td>
<td><center>👻 Check out <em><a href="https://ecency.com/hive-199275/@jfuji/starlight-spectre-part-1-no">Starlight Spectre</a></em>: a horror novella on Hive</center></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><center>✒️ Learn about the <a href=
"https://ecency.com/hive-199275/@hive-199275/scholar-and-scribe-community-guide"
>Scholar & Scribe writing community</a></center></td>
<td><center>🍕 Join the <a href="https://peakd.com/c/hive-185582/created">Hive Pizza Guild</a>: a community of creatives</center></td>
<td><center>🗺️ Worldbuilding project (<a href="https://ecency.com/created/hive-19999">Sneak peek!</a>)</center></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;


## <center>📚 Readlist 📚</center>
<center>*These users get pinged on new parts & earn occasional token airdrops!*</center>


<center>@relf87 • @jonimarqu • @wrestlingdesires • @cescajove • @gwajnberg • @yeckingo1 • @twicejoy • @pero82 • @candnpg • @emaxisonline • @olaf.gui • @emrysjobber • @thinkrdotexe • @thoth442 • @leemah1 • @henruc • @alex2alex • @arc7icwolf • @susurrodmisterio • @mavericklearner • @seki1 • @alessandrawhite • @grindan • @samsmith1971 • @shadowspub • @lisamgentile1961 • @stevermac1966 • @engilhramn • @joseal2020 • @oblivionlost • @treefrognada • @alicia2022 • @slothlydoesit • @iskawrites • @hhayweaver • @jhuleader • @wanderingmoon • @ivanslait • @acidtiger • @ganjafarmer</center>


![jf_divider.png](https://images.ecency.com/DQmPJxkm2fUCoxX8BWSu56K5A3TEtUK4JKxyrvFB31dPuNj/jf_divider.png)


<center>*Thank you for reading. I own the license for all images in this post. Episode 6 cover art was made with a Canvo Pro license & a Midjourney AI art prompt. Follow me or the #huntingmidnight tag so you don't miss new parts! I can also @ tag folks to alert you, just ask in the comments to join the readlist.*</center>