Photo by: Vanessa Rodriguez
Tender Loving Care
Santino sat on the veranda overlooking the vineyard. At 58-years of age, his hands were calloused from labor. He enjoyed feeling the land, touching it, being it. Relaxing, he sipped his wine with unabashed pleasure.
His brother, Damiano, sat beside him. The merchant starman’s ship hovered effortlessly over the vineyard nearby on advanced gravity-repulsion units. Damiano said, “Why do you still do this, ‘Tino?”
“Do what?”
“Make wine the old-fashioned way.”
Santino winced. “It’s how wine is made!”
Damiano placed a bottle of Luna Amor 2024 — an old vintage — on the the table.
Santino grinned. “I gave you that.”
“No. This is a perfect copy of it. Replicated without back-breaking labor.” He poured a glass for Santino.
Santino sipped, grimaced, and spat it out. “You call that wine, Dami?”
Quickly, Damiano tried it. “It’s fine!”
A nearby hand ran to the cellar and retrieved Santino’s original. Santino poured a glass for Damiano. “Now, try this.”
Damiano sipped…and sighed. “My god.”
Santino grinned. “You see?”
“I don’t understand. My copy is a perfect replication, created atom by atom. What went wrong?”
Santino grinned. “You cannot replicate Tender Loving Care.”
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Written for the Flash Fiction For Aspiring Writers writing challenge. Each week, a photo is a offered as a prompt for flash fiction. Look here to see what other folks wrote: https://flashfictionforaspiringwriters.wordpress.com/2015/07/07/fffaw-week-of-07-08-2015/
EagleAye
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Replicated wine! What a dreadful idea! At least Damiano is now a convert to ‘real’ wine. Great story. 🙂
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He’d been cruising between the stars for so long, he’d forgotten what real wine tastes like. Now he’s seen the light. 😉 Thanks so much!
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Excellent story! I can see a clear market for the replicator in the fast food industry. Nobody would taste the difference… 🙂
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Haha! Yeah, in fast food it would work. I think they’re already replicating food in secret. They call it, “Chicken McNuggets.” Thanks so much! 🙂
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There’s nothing like the real thing – but the idea of replicated wine is interesting. I wonder whether it’s been tried? lol I hope not. It seems Damiano has a lot more experimenting to do in his replication work!
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Once nanotechnology becomes available, then yes, wine can be perfectly replicated. Will it taste the same? I don’t know. I remember people telling food cooked in the microwave tastes just the same. It doesn’t. Not by a long shot. For me, cooking food the old-fashioned way is still the best. I’ll wait and see what happens with “nano-cooking.”
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Thanks fo that. I agree about microwaved food, too. As for ‘nono-cooking’, that’s definitely a ‘wait and see’.
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I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the two wines. 🙂
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I probably wouldn’t either. I’m no expert on wines. But those wine experts that can tell you the grapes were picked by a one-armed man, probably could tell the difference. 😉
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TLC? Ain’t that the truth. Good one, Eric 🙂
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TLC makes all the difference in food. You can taste it. Thanks much, Lyn!
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Isn’t that the truth. You cannot replicate TLC with technology. Great story Eric, as always! Loved how it ended. I’m glad the wine couldn’t be replicated! BTW, how is that baby girl doing? When you have new pictures, be sure to share them with us.
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You really can’t copy it. Food made by a machine just doesn’t taste the same as food made by someone who cares about what they’re doing. I’m glad the ending worked for you. 😉 Thanks kindly! 🙂
I am collecting pics of Hannah and a few videos. I’ll be sure to share them soon. 😉
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Yay!!
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The easy way is not always the best way and in this case the flavor was sacrificed for “easy”…there’s a lot to be said about “tender living care.” Great story!
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Yup. Caring for the land, caring for the grapes, and pride in the final product. It makes all the difference. Glad you liked this. Thank you so much! 🙂
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Truly ‘awwed’ at the end. Very cute, and an important lesson in there too, I think.
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That’s great to hear. I like that. Thanks so much! 🙂
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So very true. Great tale enjoyed it.
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Thank you kindly. 🙂 I appreciate it.
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Everything always turn out better with the good old TLC. 🙂
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