Gary's Caesar Salad Mess

SpongeBob came home from work at the Krusty Krab, tired and ready to relax.

"Hi Gary! I'm home!" SpongeBob called out.

But instead of Gary's usual happy meow, SpongeBob heard crashing sounds coming from the kitchen.

"Gary? What are you doing?"

SpongeBob walked into the kitchen and gasped. Gary was on the counter, surrounded by ingredients everywhere. There were romaine lettuce leaves scattered across the floor, a block of parmesan cheese with bite marks in it, a box of croutons spilled all over, and multiple bottles and jars knocked over.

"Gary! Are you... are you trying to make a Caesar salad?"

Gary meowed proudly and gestured with his eyestalks at his creation.

SpongeBob looked closer at the mess. Gary had apparently tried to make Caesar dressing from scratch! There was an open bottle of olive oil dripping onto the counter, a jar of minced garlic with the lid off, a container of anchovy paste squeezed everywhere, fresh lemon halves (one on the floor, one stuck to the wall), a bottle of Worcestershire sauce tipped over, and an egg that had cracked and was oozing across the counter.

"Oh my Neptune, Gary! You tried to make homemade dressing?!"

Gary meowed enthusiastically and showed SpongeBob a bowl where he'd somehow mixed olive oil, lemon juice, minced garlic, anchovy paste, Worcestershire sauce, and raw egg together. It was lumpy and separated, with oil pooling on top.

"And the parmesan!" SpongeBob noticed the cheese grater on the floor with shredded cheese everywhere - on the counter, on the cabinets, even in Gary's slime trail.

The romaine lettuce had been torn into pieces, but half of it was on the floor. The croutons were crunched and scattered like someone had stepped on the box.

"Gary! Look at this mess!" SpongeBob said, his voice getting higher. "There's anchovy paste on the cabinet handles! Olive oil is dripping onto the floor! How did you get Worcestershire sauce on the light fixture?!"

Gary meowed apologetically and slithered behind his messy salad bowl.

SpongeBob took a deep breath. He was tired, he was hungry, and now his kitchen looked like a Caesar salad had exploded in a tornado.

"Gary, I appreciate that you wanted to make me a nice homemade dinner with fresh dressing, but snails shouldn't use the kitchen without supervision!"

He grabbed a mop and started cleaning. First, he swept up all the lettuce leaves and crouton pieces from the floor. Then he wiped the anchovy paste off the cabinet handles - it was sticky and smelled fishy.

Next came the olive oil, which had dripped everywhere and made the counter slippery. Then he had to clean up the egg goo, pick bits of parmesan off every surface, and wipe lemon juice splatters from the walls.

"How did you make this much mess from one salad?!" SpongeBob muttered, scrubbing the Worcestershire sauce off the light fixture with a stepladder.

Gary meowed sadly from the corner, his eyestalks drooping.

After thirty minutes of serious cleaning, SpongeBob finally got the kitchen back to normal. He was even more tired than before and smelled like anchovies.

He looked over at Gary, who had his head down and looked very sorry.

SpongeBob's heart softened. "Oh, Gary. I know you were just trying to do something nice for me. And you even tried to make the dressing from scratch with olive oil, lemon, garlic, anchovies, and everything!"

Gary meowed softly.

"That's actually really impressive that you knew all the ingredients!" SpongeBob sat down and looked at the salad Gary had made. The dressing was separated and lumpy, there was way too much of it, and the lettuce was unevenly torn, but Gary had genuinely tried his best.

SpongeBob stirred the dressing to mix it together, then took a bite of the salad. "Mmm! You know what, Gary? This is actually pretty tasty! The garlic is a little strong and it needs more whisking, but you got all the right flavors!"

Gary perked up and meowed happily.

"Next time though," SpongeBob said with a smile, "how about we make the Caesar dressing together? I can help you emulsify the oil and egg so it's smooth, and we can use a whisk instead of... whatever you used."

Gary meowed in agreement and nuzzled against SpongeBob's leg.

"And Gary? Thank you for going to all that trouble. Homemade Caesar dressing is hard to make! That was very sweet of you."

They shared the messy but heartfelt Caesar salad together, and even though SpongeBob had to clean up a huge mess, he was touched that Gary had tried so hard to make him a nice dinner from scratch.

The End.