Fire Fly Feast Willow

Six zebras pull a gold encrusted carriage with blacked out windows though the parting crowd. When it finally stops swaying a chubby man in a purple cassock clutching an ornate bowl emerges, he is the high priest and the Fire Fly King's top food taster.

He waddles over to the podium, idly stabbing something in his bowl as the crowd kneels all around. Suddenly he catches one and stuffs it in his mouth, you hear a crunch like fresh carrot and then another jumps from his bowl, it lands on your arm and jumps off again to freedom!

It was a locust!

And the priest chews away obviously enjoying his little hopping treat. Everyone else is kneeling, so perhaps it would be best if you kneeled too?

(All kneel)

Then the high priest speaks, mouth open and chock full of mashed up locust, chomping away like a washing machine and begins to speak.

'I am the high priest, and it is my ordained task to preside over my lord, The Fire Fly King's dinners.'

'It is decreed' he says 'that The King must never, ever' and he waits a second before continuing, 'EVER eat the same meal twice, if he were to do so, then a terrible calamity would befall him.'

He pauses for a moment scanning the crowd, his tiny dark eyes deep set in a pudgy white face, looking like bright beads pushed into wet clay.

'YOU have been chosen as the King's sacred tasters' and he points at you with his chubby fingers.
'YOU have been trusted with the King's life.'
'YOU will choose a single meal which the Fire Fly King has NEVER tasted before.'

At each point he stabs at his bowl making the point that if you choose badly then you will be skewered just like one of his locusts!

'Chosen tasters' he says, 'all rise'

(Everyone stand up)

A ceremonial knife longer than your arm and encrusted with jewels from hilt to tip is placed in priest's hand.

With a lazy motion he raises it high and then brings it down onto a taught ribbon, this is the signal. Simultaneously a flag is raised, a bronze bell swung and an hour glass is turned with its sands beginning to pour from one chamber to the other, counting down the hour.

It is the signal you have been waiting for, so you pick up your notes and head over to the chefs and their kitchens throughout the arena. Your team must choose a dish of food which the King has never eaten before and then wonder just how on earth are you going to do that!

Now take your marking sheet and head out to the field kitchens to find something exotic as if your life depended upon it!

As you approach the stall the chef is cutting open a cake for people to take a look inside, there were two tables one a bit shorter than another, blood poured out of the cake and into a bucket on the lower table, from far away there is a number of paper daisies on it but when I got close they were hairy tarantula legs in the shape of daisies it is also red and soggy.
The blood tickling triple tarantula layer cake
The chef then did the most incredible thing he ate the slice of hairy, soggy, red layer cake, rubbed his tummy and let out a big "buuurrrp." Everyone ran over and took a slice then you go over but there was non left, a kind fellow walkes over to you "Here have mine," he handed it over you take it kindly and split it then pasted him the bigger half.

As you approach the stall you can see a tent and a minituare railway track going around the tent. Inside there was a minituare helicopter carrying a pot of sauce and you can see a bannister trailing behind it, it says 'spicy spider blood'. In the tent you also see a grill with cooked spiders on .Then the chef cut them up and throw them in a bowl .He grabbed a bottle and it said on the bottle frog Fanta and he tipped it in the bowl that had the spiders inside of it .you looked around the tent and you saw a sponge cake on the side.
Eventually he had finished and the helicopter dropped the pot of sauce 'spicy spider blood'snn you tipped it on the sponge cake and took a bite and it was like being in a cinema with no walls and no roof with coca-cola.

As you approach the stall.... I can see mini hot air balloons that owls carry down to the stalls with lots of food in them but the food is Custard but centipedes are jumping up and down on it.We call it centipede custard. There was a great cook who made incredible
Food. But who made the centipede custard?


Chapter two: centipede chef
Then the chef had the most incredible idea....

His idea was a new dish it was centipede custard. He rushed past his kitten called mist carrying on,he found some centipedes and made some lumpy custard for his new dish.

As you approach the stall sitting on a stall a small boy is eating a banana. He peels it but inside the skin it appears to be a bird. Igroning him you talk to the strange chef inside a small blue tent who tells you he only has bug or bird related things. Then the chef did the most incredible thing......he tapped his hips then his upsidown triangle glasses
followed by some special movements and words and WA-LA .the ingredients flew into the oven bird beaks old flour and secret ingredient pig muck and all the other stuff.the oven cooked your meal !!!!!!! Suddenly the tray next to him flew to the oven picked up your cake came over and offered to you !!!!!!!!!! You see the beaks slop on top of the blood. As you take a slice you catch a sight of bird eyes. Hopefully you take a bite .suprisingly it tastes wonderful it feels like a ride on a roller coaster

you can see frogs with dedly black spiders.flower black hearts you see the spiders jumping up high.the10 frogs got the taibol redey he chop them up and frie them with frags.it taisdid lick sticky jammy donors with sprinkles on top.after all it wasn't that bad .

As you approach the stall you see flags with black spiders and heart balloons. You see Hairy spiders jumping about .

S,picky Spider

He crushed the Hairy spider legs,and mixed theam with spiders ' blood!

It tasted delicious !Like sweet haribos!

This would be a great food for the king.

Back at the podium the flag is lowered as the last grain of sand falls through the hour glass timer. The high priest is reclining on plump purple cushions looking fat and bored.

There is one long table set out in a line in front of him and you place your offering on it. As you do this three servants wheel over a small crane which they swing over the priest and begin to clip into his reclining cushions. At a simple nod they hoist him up until his feet begin to dangle then carry him over to the offerings, yours is last in line.

The first one reads 'Sticky Ant Pant Pudding' and a servant then puts a fork into the gooey cake and feeds the priest just like a baby, but the priest doesn't chew for long, he spits it out into a waiting copper dish.

'8th August, St Pucid the unfortunates celebratory dinner, second sitting' he says followed by the word 'execute.'

Is that the date the King gets to eat this you think? But no, the guards drag that team of sacred tasters away in a very rough fashion indeed!

Next up is 'Woodlouse Falafel' and again the same thing happens.

A fork of the food is lifted into the priests mouth, he tastes it for just a second then spits it out before saying 'the King ate this on the 6th September, St Leonids celebrations, fourth sitting.'

Then he says once again 'execute.'

Guards approach the quivering group as they begin to plead for their lives!

'Next' and the crane swings the high priest down the table, dish after dish is tasted, and after each a date and celebration reeled off when the King ate this before, followed by the terrible word 'execute!'

Next up is 'Wire Worm Waffles' it's the last one before yours and is a beautiful plate of mini waffles, drizzled with a glistening fiery sauce which is steaming nicely and looking rather appealing. The worms themselves are quite easy to see and the priest readies himself for more disappointment.

He sips a glass of water to clear his pallet as a fork of waffle is placed in his mouth. The crowd hold their breath, three chews is all it gets before he spits it out, and pronounces.

'19th July, St Alfred's feast, the King ate this as a canapé. . . . execute!'

The pudgy priest is then craned along the table to your offering, he peers at it but his clay features are really hard to read.

A fork is lifted and the priest is fed baby style once again.

He takes a bite, you just don't know what to do, if it's bad then you'll be executed just like all the others!

He begins to chew, the crowd is silent. . . . he then chews some more . . . then some more, and rather than spitting it out, he swallows, does that mean he likes it!?

'13th February, The Fire Fly Kings birthday celebrations.'

Oh no has the King has already eaten this meal?

But the priest continues, 'this will be a fitting dish for that date.'

Thank goodness what a relief, it would appear you have chosen wisely.

'Now that concludes this session, I suggest we reconvene at 2.30 for the second selection.'

Rather pleased you've escaped execution, you ask the person next to you what he means by second sitting. 'Oh later today you've got to go back out tasting again and find a new dish for the King.'

Oh no not again, you think to yourself, this is impossible, but there is no escape!