What Is That Sound?

[marval]

A woman’s cooking had always been the target of family jokes.

One evening, as she prepared dinner a bit too quickly, the kitchen filled with smoke and the smoke detector went off.

Although both of her children had received fire-safety training at school, they did not respond to the alarm.

Annoyed, she stormed through the house in search of them.

She found them in the bathroom, washing their hands.

Over the loud buzzing of the smoke alarm, she asked them to identify the sound.

It's the smoke detector, they replied in unison.

"Do you know what that sound means?" she demanded.

Sure, the oldest replied. "Dinner's ready."

[excelsior-1]

sounds all too familiar