The Stories Julian Tells

While his mother is out shopping, Julian and his younger brother, Huey, watch their father, Ralph, make lemon pudding. As Ralph cuts and squeezes the lemons, lemon juice accidentally squirts in Julian’s eye. Ralph asks Huey to clean up dropped lemon seeds and spilled cream and asks Julian to add the sugar.

Ralph stirs the mixture on the stove until it’s bubbly and thick. Then he whips egg whites, stirring them into the pudding. After quickly cleaning up, Ralph takes a nap, warning the children not to touch the pudding, which is for their mother.

Huey is first to taste the pudding, dipping his finger into it and repeating his father’s remark, “It tastes like a whole raft of lemons […] It tastes like a night on the sea” (7). Next, Julian takes a taste. Jealous of Julian’s larger taste, Huey takes another. When Julian sticks his hand into the pudding, it spills, and he quickly cleans it up. They smooth out the pudding, hide it in a cabinet, and run to their bedroom.

In their bedroom, Julian starts to calm down by counting, like his father taught him to do.