AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That’s super rude, by the way!” a voice yelled behind the flower curtain. “I can smell that deliciousness all the way from my bed.”
“Sorry!” Jack yelled. “Can’t share. Don’t know what drugs you’re on.”
“I’m allowed whatever I want,” another patient yelled. “Go on, share!”
“Ah, damn, but would you look at that!” Jack shouted. “All gone. Our shipwreck survivor just inhaled every bite.”
Cracking a smile, shocked once again that I could do such a thing, I did exactly what he said.
I shoved the french fries so fast into my mouth, I choked.
“Easy,” Anna admonished. “There’s plenty more. We bought two of everything in case you hadn’t eaten in a while.”
Neri never looked away as I finished the fries in a few massive mouthfuls and raised the burger to my mouth.
I bit into it.
She grinned as I groaned.
Whatever the sauce was, it was divine.
How long had it been since I’d eaten?
A day? Two? Three?
We’d nibbled on bananas and rice balls on the long journey from Indonesia, but that was barely enough to sustain us. A full month since I’d left Turkey, first by plane, then by boat, leaving behind everything I ever knew for a reason I wasn’t told until we were at sea and unable to turn back.
No one spoke as we focused on eating.
I lost myself to chewing and swallowing, slowly feeling more and more alive with every bite.
It might’ve been a month since I’d left my home, but we’d been on the run for almost a year. A year of looking over our shoulders, hiding in earthquake-cracked villages, and relying on the kindness of strangers.
Tears sprang to my eyes as I finished my meal, and Anna passed me another burger without a word.
Her caring attentiveness reminded me of my own mother.
My mother who was now a meal herself for every creature under the sea.
My appetite fled.
I felt sick.
With trembling hands, I pushed away the unwrapped burger and shook my head. “I...I can’t. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologise,” Jack muttered, wiping his hands with a napkin. “You’ve endured something not many people have. It will take time to move past it.” Taking two soft drinks from the cardboard holder, he kept one and passed one to me.
I nodded my thanks and raised it to my lips.
I shuddered as icy sweetness hit my tongue, suffocating me, all over again, with memories of my mother’s addiction to sugary tea.
I sucked on the paper straw, my mind sinking deeper into sadness.
I couldn’t stop it.
Couldn’t swim back to the surface where these people were so incredibly kind.
Whatever lightness Neri had granted blinked out, and I sighed heavily. I cursed the crushing pressure of a sob just waiting to crawl up my throat.
