literature

Burger Queen - Intro

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Heather grimaced at the thought of ordering a greasy fast food burger, but being a poor, working-class young girl meant having to make a few sacrifices every once in a while.  Heather was a slim 26 year old brunette with shoulder-length hair and piercing blue eyes which were encased behind a pair of thick-rimmed hipster glasses.  She weighed around 110 pounds and was proud to have withheld that weight since high school.  Heather came from a generally thin family who was enthusiastic about proper diet and exercise, so she rarely frequented fast food restaurants due to the lack of healthy options.  But today, due to a combination of an empty fridge, an upcoming rent payment, and a paycheck that hadn’t yet cleared, Heather was forced to break her healthy eating regimen and indulge in a cheap, processed calorie bomb.

“It’s only one meal,” She thought to herself as she eased her beat up silver Civic through the drive-through line.

“Welcome to Burger Queen, can I take your order?” crackled the voice on the speaker.  

Heather noted that not all of the voice’s cracking was due to the speaker breaking up, and she imagined the pimply-faced high school kid that was probably taking her order.

“Yeah, I’ll have a number one combo, no cheese or onions, with a Diet Coke,” Heather replied after a moment of contemplation.

“That’s a single patty Whammy burger meal with no cheese or onions and a Diet Coke.  Would you like to Whammy size that for a dollar?” sputtered the voice.

“No thanks, small is fine,” Heather said resolutely.

“That’ll be $5.25.  Please pull forward to the second window, and have a royal day!”  The voice cracked almost mockingly.

Heather pulled around to the second window as instructed and gave the kid a $10 bill.  She noticed that he wasn’t nearly as pimple-faced as she’d imagined, but the rest of her fantasy was accurate.  He was probably sixteen years old and was probably working a summer job here to pay for video games or whatever else the kids were buying these days.  Heather found herself chuckling to herself over her daydream, when she was interrupted by the kid at the window trying to get her attention.

“Ma’am, I’m sorry, but you’ll need to come inside,” he said before closing the window.

Heather, being a little put-out by the kid’s bluntness, parked her Civic in the nearest spot and went inside to get to the bottom of this foolishness.

Once inside, she was greeted by a balding, pot-bellied man in his mid-forties who appeared to be the manager.  He had a huge smile on his face and was holding something in his hands that appeared to be one of those giant checks from Publisher’s Clearing House.

Before Heather could speak, the man chimed in:

“Hello, and welcome to Burger Queen!  I’m happy to inform you that you are our one millionth customer!  What’s your name?”

“H-Heather,” she replied.

“Well, Heather, for being the one millionth customer at this location, you have won free meals for life at any of the Burger Queen restaurants around the country!  Anything on the menu, as much as you want, any time.”

“Uhh, thanks,” Heather was unsure how to respond.  She knew she would probably never use the prize, and wondered jokingly to herself if there was a cash option instead.

After shaking the hands of all of the staff and taking a few pictures while wearing the “Official Burger Queen Tiara”, Heather was given her meal (free of charge, of course), as well as the envelope containing her prize and sent on her way.  The manager got her permission to frame one of the pictures and mount it on the wall in the restaurant so everyone would know that this restaurant had crowned their new queen.  Heather agreed and signed on the dotted line, and the manager gave her a copy of the picture as a souvenir.

Once she arrived back at her apartment, Heather quickly scarfed down her now cold burger, as well as a handful of the fries before opening the envelope to take a look at her prize.  The enclosed letter read as follows:

Dear Customer,
Thank you for being a loyal member of the Burger Queen family, and congratulations on being the one millionth customer!  As a newly crowned queen or king, you are now officially entitled to the perks befitting your title.  Enclosed in this envelope is the Queen Card, which can be used in any of our over 850 restaurants nationwide.  The card can be used as often as you’d like, and will cover the cost of as many of our delicious menu items as you’d care to order.  So enjoy, and as always, have a royal day!

P.S. – A proper King or Queen should be able to provide for his/her family and friends, as well, so we’ve included three additional Queen Cards to distribute as you see fit.  Thanks again for your patronage!


Heather then emptied the contents of the envelope, and sure enough, four shiny golden cards toppled into her lap.  The cards looked like credit cards, but were a bit heavier than Heather thought they should be.  Metal-plated, perhaps?

“Maybe this won’t be so bad,” Heather said to herself out-loud.  “Even ice cold, that burger tasted pretty good.  Plus I’m broke, so free meals are actually pretty tempting.  Just a couple of meals a week won’t hurt anything,” she rationed to herself as she finished the last of her fries and washed them down with her soda.  

Heather didn’t really drink sodas, and she had forgotten how much she hated the taste of diet drinks.  She made a mental note that she should just get a regular drink next time.
Here goes nothing.  Another long lost gaining tale from my archive.  Let me know if you enjoy it.
© 2014 - 2024 crazypicklehead2002
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Forcedlactationlover's avatar
Good start, both of the tale itself, and for Heather. She may soon discover that there is a cost for those 'free' meals, it's just not monetary.