Our last day in Thailand you spot the dish on the menu. Clap your hands, bounce in your seat like the baby we can’t have. My lip curls. It’s served in a banana leaf, but I imagine the peel. See myself slip-sliding away. Yesterday’s rice arrived in the shape of a teddy bear. I order a margherita. Say I’m not hungry.
You explain the dish is prepared with coconut milk, coloured with dried flowers, creating a super-sweet, super-tasty, super-food. I close my eyes, await my drink. You can talk non-stop about almost any little thing. I want to give you a super-kick. Say holidays aren’t substitutes.
The rice arrives. Each individual grain holds fast to the other, creating shape, substance. The taste is satisfying, surprisingly good, something like scented semolina. Sweet and blue can work as a combination. I reconsider leaving you.
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First published online with Grindstone Literary in their ‘Dirty Dozen’ micro competition in August 2019.
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