Mushroom Festival

“Good size. Nice heft. Pleasant and robust aroma. Vibrant color.” Nia studied the mushroom intensely. The vendor watched on with growing frustration. “Sturdy stem too. It’s an interesting product, sir.” “You gonna buy it or not, lady?” He said agitatedly. Nia was too busy gazing over the shrooms to notice his tone however. “I think I will. But just the one for now.” The man sighed. Nia passed him a few coins, then dropped the shroom into her basket. It was the third and final day of the mushroom festival. Nia had attended every day, from open to close, wandering from stall to stall looking for interesting varieties and new recipes. Seeing as mushrooms were the basis for almost every dish on her food truck, Nia was on a mission to become a mushroom expert. She studied the different regions, how the soil changed the flavor. She conducted experiments to test the difference between mushrooms with slightly darker shades of wider tops than their sibling fungi. Mushrooms were more than sustenance, they were her livelihood, her life. Myles had called her “obsessive”, but she preferred the term “foodie”. Ignoring the mush hats and plushies being offered by the game vendors, Nia made another lap around produce stalls. She thought she had examined every shroom available, but one could never be too sure. She took a deep breath and savored the earthy smells, sweet, savory, and spicy commingled in the evening air. One vendor turned to the vendor beside her. “That crazy lady’s gonna come back.” She said with an exasperated sigh. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and she’ll go bug Mack first.” He replied. The pair watched Nia standing in the center of the festival, sniffing the sky. Then she turned their way and started walking over. The female sighed again. “Damn.”