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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