The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Page thirty six

"Temporal Delicacies: The Cosmic Significance of Eating a Tomato
 'Last Night'"
**Last Night I Ate a Tomato**
Alright, dear interstellar traveler, before you go about flaunting your
 wild experiences at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, it's
 crucial to familiarize yourself with one of the most perplexing and
 often overlooked wonders of the culinary cosmos: the event of eating a
 tomato "last night." While this may seem mundane to the
 uninitiated earthling, within the sprawling, infinite reaches of
 space-time, such an experience can range from the utterly benign to
 the downright surreal.
To begin, it should be noted that the tomato itself (Solanum
 lycopersicum) is a fairly innocuous fruit, masquerading quite
 convincingly as a vegetable to most of the universe's inhabitants.
 Originating from a small, blue-green planet known as Earth (which, as
 we all know, was unfortunately demolished to make way for a hyperspace
 bypass), tomatoes managed to make their way across the stars due to
 their inexplicable appeal to a wide array of life forms.
Now, the phrase "last night" is where things get interesting.
 In the vast, incomprehensible tapestry of the cosmos, "last
 night" can refer to a multitude of temporal states and
 conditions, owing to the relative nature of time itself. For instance,
 "last night" could mean:
1. **On Earth (Pre-Demolition)**: The standard 24-hour day-night cycle,
 where "last night" might involve a quaint dinner involving
 the said tomato.
2. **On Folfanga**: Here, "last night" could easily stretch
 over what an Earthling might consider to be several weeks, given
 Folfanga's notoriously elongated nights.
3. **Near a Temporal Anomaly**: In these zones, "last night"
 could either still be happening, or it may never have come to pass.
 Time behaves more like a mischievous cat than a constant thread.
4. **In Hyperspace**: "Last night" is a concept so laughably
 irrelevant that even attempting to apply it would cause most
 navigation systems to chuckle disdainfully before promptly ignoring
 you.
The act of eating a tomato during any of these "nights" can,
 therefore, have vastly differing implications, contexts, and digestive
 challenges. It could be a comforting reminder of home for the
 spacefaring human, a delicacy to be savored over what feels like an
 eternity on Folfanga, a meal that might never end near a temporal
 anomaly, or an utterly nonsensical concept in the void of hyperspace.
Furthermore, it's worth noting the potential consequences of consuming
 an Earth tomato across the universe. Some beings have reported
 enhanced sensory perception, spontaneous manifestations of
 synesthesia, or an overwhelming compulsion to compose poetry about
 said tomato   effects widely believed to stem from the tomato's rich
 lycopene content and the existential dissonance it triggers when
 consumed in non-linear time.
In conclusion, "last night I ate a tomato" is not merely a
 statement of a meal past but a phrase teeming with hidden meaning,
 temporal ambiguity, and gastronomical adventure. It serves as a vivid
 reminder that even in the vast reaches of space, the simple things  
 like the taste of a tomato   hold the power to bewilder, delight, and
 transcend the boundaries of time and reality.
So, the next time you find yourself regaling tales at Milliways,
 consider sharing the saga of "last night" and your tomato.
 It just might be the most fascinating story a fellow diner hears in
 their current temporal existence.


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