This story is a response to the Muse on Monday prompt from June 22, 2026: Write a story about trying a new food.

Human Blood Worms

Embassy Report 8373929-34

It is my 11^th day on Earth. The inhabitants are respectful and are anxious to make me feel at home. The climate in the city where I am located, what they call Vaan Kuu Ver is pleasant and much warmer than back home on Tellegan.

Yesterday my hosts were pleased to share a human delicacy with me, a meal they called Spa’ Geh Tee. They said it comes from one region of the planet but that it has become popular all over.

We went to one of these communal eating houses they call a Rester Ont where people come together and have food brought to them. It seems to be the human way of pretending for a short time that they are emperors who are waited on. I find the practice endearing but also a little pitiable.

My hosts told me that Spa’ Geh Tee was a very mild food, which relieved me quite a bit. However, I was shocked when the food came. The plate was covered with a mass of pale worms. On top of that was a sauce that looked like blood mixed with brown chunks.

My hosts were looking at me expectantly, waiting for my reaction. I touched my head to show I was pleased but it was hard to keep my hand from shaking. When I asked what kind of worms these were, they laughed and said they were not worms but something else called Nu-Dals made of plants. Why anyone would want to make pretend worms from plants is beyond me. The sauce, they explained, was made of another plant and was not actually blood.

The brown chunks, I learned, were not made of plants. They explained that this was the flesh of an animal called Kau which the humans raise for food. My hosts took great pleasure in explaining how the flesh was crushed into tiny pieces to mix with this not-blood sauce. I can only hope the Kau was not alive when this happened.

Before we started eating, they offered me a white powdery substance to put on the food which smelled horrible, like something decaying. They said it was called Par Ma Zhan and was made from the aged secretions of the Kau. I did not dare refuse in case it was seen as impolite, so they dumped a large amount of the Par Ma Zhan on my plate.

I did not know how I was supposed to eat this mass of worms and apparently even the humans are not in total agreement. Many of them curl the worms around an eating utensil and put it all in their mouth at once. I finally succeeded in getting a few of the worms into my mouth and choked down as many as I could take.

I do not know how long I can hold out on this planet. My hosts told me that they wanted me to try Spa’ Geh Tee first to get used to human food before we try anything too strange. This is not filling me with hope.

Please send me a shipment of Byrh paste cubes as soon as possible to ensure I do not starve.

Sincerely,

Ambassador Kastich yn Logallin