°•~Happy Reading~•°
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Surti looked at the salt scattered on the kitchen table. She had just spilled the salt she bought from the traditional market near her house. She sighed and reached for the broom to clean up the salt.
He remembered his mother's words, "Don't waste salt, kid. Salt is precious. It can save your life."
His mother always said that every time Surti cooked or ate. Her mother always reminded Surti about the importance of salt, about how salt can preserve food, add flavor, and prevent dehydration.
Her mother also told Surti about her childhood, about how she and her family had to struggle to get salt. She told him about how she had to walk for hours to exchange rice for salt at the nearby market, about how she had to be careful not to be arrested by Dutch soldiers who banned the salt trade, about how she had to hide the salt under bamboo mats to prevent it from being stolen by hungry neighbors.
Surti always listened attentively to her mother's stories, but she never really felt the hardships her mother endured. For Surti, salt was something easily available and cheap. She could buy salt anywhere, whether in a traditional market or a modern supermarket. She can choose from different types and brands of salt, from ordinary kitchen salt to luxury Himalayan salt. She can use salt as she pleases, without fear of deprivation or oppression.
Surti never considered salt as something precious. To him, salt was something ordinary and trivial.
But today, Surti feels that something has changed in her. She felt something awakened in her heart when she saw the salt scattered on the kitchen table.
She felt guilty for spilling the salt that she bought with her hard-earned money. He felt sorry for wasting salt that he could have used to cook or feed his family. She felt ashamed that she had ignored her mother's advice and stories.
She felt that she had wasted the salt.
He put the broom beside the table and reached into his pants pocket. He took out his cell phone and dialed his mother's number.
"Hello, Ma? I'm Surti."
"Hello, kid. What's wrong?"
"Ma, I want to apologize."
"Apologize? Why?"
"I just spilled some salt, mom."
"Salt? Oh, it's nothing, kid. Salt is cheap."
"But Ma, I remember what you said. Salt is precious. It could save my life."
"..."
"Ma, I want you to know that I value salt. I appreciate everything you do for me. I appreciate all your stories."
"..."
"Ma, I love you."
"..."
Surti heard the sound of sobbing from the other side. She smiled and held back her tears.
She knew that she had just given his mother something more precious than salt.
She had just given her mother love.
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••°°THE END°°••
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LIFE IN ONE PAGE
Short Story[Warning English is not my first language] This is a collection of flash fiction stories that "The Weekend Write In" organizes for each week. This story tells about daily life in an Indonesian country. First Chapter: Friday, 20 October 2023. Last Ch...
