Nan and Pops cafe

Come try the tastiest chocolate cake, the crunchiest cookies and the most full bodied milkshakes in town read the sign.

It was a fairly basic looking café on the outside but once inside everyone agreed it was worth a visit. The owners, affectionally known as Nan and Pops , had inherited the café many years ago and run it ever since. It was perfectly placed , in the corner of the town and by the main road. So locals and passing vehicles could enjoy the varied fayre.

Some how, despite advancing years nan and pops opened everyday, nan dealt with the customers and the coffee, pops cooked whatever needed cooking. The other reason it surprised many that they stayed open is that recently they didn't seem to like each other very much.

They started playing married sweethearts when they took over, carrying on those personas till just a few weeks ago. It was always possible it was an act to draw customers, the gossips would surely want to find out what was happening.

Then again it could be real, stress of being open every day and spending every sleeping and waking hour with the same person must be hard. If anyone checked if all was ok Nan would just repeat the mantra" all's fine with Nan and pops."

What nobody knew for sure was that the answer for them or just for the characters they seemed to be playing. They inherited a small apartment above the café , therefore it was almost impossible to catch them apart.

Word of mouth and repeat business had kept them going for many years, recently though business had become slow. Apparently a big coffee chain had opened a shop a few miles down the main road, so the passing traffic did just that, it past. The chocolate cake was still there , just it seemed to go slower then normal. The coffee pots were refilled less.

This was when the bolder signs appeared. Things like "we put our heart and sole into every mouthful " and "the thickest milkshakes for the cleverest people"

Most people in town would say they were worried about the café publicly, privately they just wanted it open. They got their wish, until one day they didn't. The closed sign stayed up, the lights stayed down and no shutter moved. People tried to peer through gaps in the blinds, tried pushing the door and generally staring in disbelief.

For some people the fact they couldn't get their morning coffee was too much to compute. They needed caffeine, home was too far to go home and work wasn't near any other coffee shop. The slice of chocolate cake for lunch was another staple some couldn't survive without.

Then almost as soon as the panic slowed, the café reopened. The difference was that pops wasn't there. The notice on the door apologised for the slightly smaller menu but items like cakes, coffees, meat sandwiches and milkshakes would stay avaidible.

When people started to notice the café being open they slowly started to return. Any questions were answered with the usual "All's fine with Nan and Pops" Though one of the towns chief gossips said they heard Nan say Pops was under the weather.

The other change noticed was the window between the kitchen and the serving area was shut, Pops would usually put anything he prepared through the window for Nana to serve. If Nan needed anything from the kitchen area she went through the door usually used to take dirty crockery through.

Within a week or so most things returned to normal, the smaller menu was accepted and the only question was Pops location. Nan was generally her usual genial self but on occasions she seemed stressed. It seemed that certain orders were more stressful then other, any offers of help were politely turned down.

The situation was beginning to worry some of Nans older customers, they could see her struggling but knew how stubborn she was. Then the inevitable happened, Nan was rushing to fulfil an 0rder, slipped on a spillage and landed in a heap. As people rushed to help , one of her regulars went to the kitchen to find a first aid kit and a phone to call help.

What he found meant an extra ambulance was needed. He found Pops at the long metal table in the middle of the room. At least he found most of him. The remains of one leg was in the meat slicing machine, the blood was in a series of bowls on the floor and other bits appeared to be missing totally. His screams before he fainted caused another old friend to see what was up, she managed to stay conscious and summon police and ambulance help.

When Nan came round fully and was patched up the police wanted answers, she gave them as best she could. They almost needed another ambulance as one officer struggled to stay upright but he managed it.

"Things haven't been good between us recently because we have been arguing, Pops wanted to retire. He said he was getting more tired and kept saying his chest hurt. We couldn't go the doctor as the shop was open every day.

Last month he came to start burning everything on while I finished getting ready for the day. When I came in the shop he was virtually where you saw him, collapsed on the table. He was already blue and I knew nothing would help him. I just decided the café needed to survive and for me to make money for his funeral.

The problem was he arranged the orders for ingredients and they were running low. We said we put our heart and soul in to every bite, at least hsi heart and soul and a few other bits. We had some new knives recently and it was fairly easy . The blood thickened the milkshakes and added some vitamins, the sliced leg meat once cooked and seasoned tasted fine and a couple of crushed bones worked perfectly for the cookies crunch.

Obviously I should have said something but he wanted to retire, so I helped him in a way. instead of being cremated and spread around he was eaten and so spread much further. "

The officer taking the statement sat, stunned. Then remembered the cake and coffee he had in the café recently, he ran outside and vomited . Once cleaned up he went back inside and arrested Nan. He just had a problem deciding how she would be charged and what with exactly.