I woke up in bed, covered with a heavy and thick blanket wrapping my body. Sunlight penetrating through my window, noises of nail scratching from the outside of my room giving me a hint it's my cat begging me to feed its morning meal.
I felt miserable, as if something had left from my life. I sat and stare at the corner of the room, pondering what's missing? What could it be? Why can't I remember, or, do I know what had gone missing? For half an hour I sat in my bed not moving an inch thinking of it so deeply. It was all in my head, and I got more lost in my sea of thoughts. Knowing nothing would ever change if I stayed at the same place, so, I decided to get up from my bed and step out of my room.
I fed the cat, of course. My instincts are telling me something had gone missing from the fridge, mind that I am alone. The feeling of suspiciousness grew heavier. By muscle memory, I grabbed the fridge's door handle and swung it open viciously. No worries in the way of how the fridge's situation afterwards (The fridge door broke). There! I have finally gotten the answer to my question..
MY PICKLES ARE FINISHED!
All there's left is a jar filled with greenish and yellowish water. The lid are loose and particles swimming in the jar. I frowned. Without pickles.. I can't make a sandwich.. Without pickles.. I can't enjoy it freely when I want to. I wanted to flip my frown upside down so I put on a cardigan, grabbed my purse, took the car keys and slammed the door shut as I left the apartment.
Inserted the car key into the keyhole, twist it up and the engine revved, pull the brakes and hit the pedal. Here we go, to the groceries store! Drove about 10 min with songs blasting from the radio, then annoying ads I'd hear everyday. Gripping onto the steering like there's no tomorrow and surpassing the speed limit. I didn't care, all I wanted was to reach the groceries store and buy my most wanted item. Then, I arrived and parked my car at the nearest entrance. By the entrance, there's a guy wearing a suit dancing for customers while giving them handouts. He tried to give one to me but I declined his offer and went straight to the aisles like a lost child finding their mother.
I have seen heaven on Earth. I have heard the angles singing from above and witnessed the light purifying me. I have found.. jars of pickles. My hand is like an infant, grabbing whatever I could with my hands. I took three jars of pickles and held them in my arms so tightly. Walked fast enough to the counter to proceed with my purchase and ran out of there. The man who was by the entrance stopped me because my purse dropped. Such kind act of him, we were both bending down trying to take the purse. It was like slow motion as our eyes met and his fingers brushed against my hand. Everything else froze as if I was in a movie, I didn't know what to feel or think about at the moment but I could feel my heart skipped a beat.
"Is this love at first sight?" my mind questioned. It all happened so fast. I thanked him for being attentive to customers and flashed a smile at him. Nervously, he gave me a handout and offered a help since I was holding three jars of pickles. We walked to my car and he placed the jars carefully into the boot. He mentioned that in the handout, there's his phone number if I ever wanted to call.
I went back home and so fast, I opened the lid off the jar with enough force because it's tight and digged my hands into the jar picking one pickle and putting it in my mouth. Every bite's like the first time as I was wonderstruck. The soury juice and the crunch of a pickle never gets me bored. I have been craving for this. Whimpers slipped from my lips and rocking back and forth in my chair with my eyes closed enjoying pickles. But, I came to a realisation that I have to save some for later. So I finished one jar.
By nightfall, I sat in my chair tapping my foot against the floor contemplating if I should call his number or not. Not long enough I came to my senses and just, "Fuck it, I'll call him". Surprisingly, he picked up the phone and recognised my voice. We talked for about a good two hours and quarter. This happened everyday for months and I finally had the courage to confess to him. It was mutual. He told me to meet him by the beach the day after tomorrow at 6pm.
He knelt down, and opened a box of ring asking if I'm willing to marry him. Evidently, I said yes and now I'm a mother of three and my husband works at a pickle factory.
