My Fondue Surprise
Ok, here's the deal.  As some of you already know, I had placed an order for an advance copy of a novel quite some time ago.  Since then, I had kept in close contact with the novel's author, as he is quite the nice fellow. 

Well, as it would happen, this author complained about his German distributor.  The books weren't arriving as planned.  They were getting lost.  Quite simply, people were not getting their orders.

Now, imagine my surprise when I came home the other day to find a package awaiting me!  Little did I know that the real surprise was contained within the walls of the box!!!
I opened the box expecting a book, of course.  I caught a glimpse of something wooden inside.  Oh, it must be a SCROLL of some sort, I thought.  Boy was I wrong!

What I pulled out of the package were two long forks with wooden handles.  Are these FONDUE forks?!, I asked myself.  I was in awe.  Although my name was misspelled, the package was indeed addressed to me.  It even came from a German book distribution company.
Upon inspecting the inside of the box further, I found the remnants of a package from a food product called "Mini Fondue."  Although the writing on the package is in German and French, from what I can make out, it seems to have been a microwaveable fondue product. 

The cardboard was slightly stained.  The shipping box had tape on it indicating that my package was re-wrapped upon entering the United States, more specifically in Syracuse, New York. 

This led me to believe that someone had, indeed, shipped this product called "Mini Fondue," but it had broken open somewhere during its shipping. 
I began to wonder if this was some sort of joke or sick prank.  Was the book supposed to have arrived at the same time?  Is it the kind of book that is to be enjoyed with fine (or even microwaveable) fondue?

Was the fondue just sent to hold me over until the book actually arrived?

I was stuck!  There I was, with two perfectly good fondue forks, yet no fondue to consume!  Imagine how enraged I was!
Perhaps someday I will find a use for my new fondue forks.