“I need to get out. I need to get out. I need to get out.”
Have you ever been trapped in an empty food court? After the mall has been closed? Because that’s where my story starts. Not with finding out that a mobster was turning my town into a prison. Not with fire nation attacks.
No.
My story begins on a drab weekend where I decided to go to the food court. I was craving a Subway, okay, and thought getting out was better than sitting in the same pajamas I had been wearing for over a week.
“Perhaps this is karma,” I said to the empty chair in front of me. If I didn’t speak, I would go crazy after all. How long had I been trapped here?
Had it been months?
Were search parties out looking for me?
What about my parents? My little sister?
What sin was I being punished for?
No internet in an empty food court with lights that sizzled and the smell of rotting food. And why was so much food left to rot in bins?
Couldn’t they compost it?
Wait…compost.
Maybe that’ll get me out. An act of good…decreasing food waste and all.
Yes. I will do that, I decided, marching towards the first bin. Except…there was no way I could compost that.
“Who even mixes wet and dry waste like that?” Throwing up my hands just seemed logical.
“Seriously, bitch,” I screamed at the ceiling, “why am I stuck here? And that too during the most wasteful time of the year. That should be the fucking carol, assface!”
“Screaming at God now, are we?”
“Okay. I am hallucinating.”
There was no way I was in my right mind. Standing in front of me, someone a cheek grin on their face was the elephant-headed god from Kyra. A hand on their belly, and another holding, of all things, a compostable bag filled with…of course, it was chocolates.
“Hmm… you could be, but won’t you feed a hungry hallucination?” The god asked, taking a seat at the table and digging into one of chocolate squares. Talk about an out of the world experience.
“Well, what would you have? Our specials tonight are…oh wait rotten everything! Delicious. Feel free to take whatever you desire.”
Yes, I knew my mom would have my head for talking to a God like that…but I had been stuck here for hours, I was cranky and hungry. Plus, if God could give their devotees an endless amount of food, I am sure my friend here could forgive some cheek. Why, they might even appreciate it.
“Delightful,” the sound of their voice broke me out of my thoughts and I looked around surprised…half of the well, food, was gone. And there was the Kryan god, suddenly I was remembering all the folk tales of my childhood, digging into a pizza.
“Wouldn’t you like something better, my lord?” I asked, suddenly terrified of how I had offered a celestial being trash. What curse had I brought upon my family? Would he defecate all over my apartment now in punishment? Or was it going to be worse?
A loud burp from my divine guest was the only sound accompanying my racing thoughts. Curse, my cheek.
“That was good,” the Kyran deity said a while later rubbing their stomach while I stood frozen in horror.
“Good? I am glad you liked it, my lord?”
To say I was running my mouth because I was at a loss of words would be the understatement of the year.
“It was lovely…though fresh food is always better.”
“I could try and look for something?” Curse, my inability to wipe up something in the back kitchen of a mall food court. If mum were here, she would have had chole bhature ready by now.
“Ah. That would be nice, yes, but you haven’t eaten anything yet! Come, sit, eat with me first.”
Horror filled me. There was no way I could ignore a command from god but…all the food here was rotting! I meekly stepped forward, trying to steel myself to say something, when I saw him place a chocolate sqaure on a plate of chole bhature. Where had that come from? Oh yes, the God of Plenty.
“Thank you, my lord,” I said as I bowed and then sat down to eat. Food. After so long. I could just shove it all in me…but gluttony? In front of a god?
“There is no shame in eating what you body needs,” the deity said, as they too dug into another chocolate bar, “after all you’ve to sustain yourself.”
“Yes, but look at me my lord. I am…fat.” The words spilled out and I clapped a hand on my mouth. What had I said?
“Ah, yes, fat. You know, I’ve a friend. In his culture, gluttony is a sin…and why not. While my mother can give you endless food, you humans can only grow so much on our own. So, I can see why someone eating more than their fair share would be unfair…and it’s unhealthy too…but fat? I am fat. Is that bad?”
“No?”
“Exactly! Food is one of the things in life to enjoy. It’ motivation to work, it gives you joy and strength to contribute to your community! There is a reason why my mother gives food, my friend…not for it to rot,” the god said looking around the food court, “but for it to nourish, not just you…but your community. Emotionally, bodily, and more.”
“So…we eat?”
“Not endlessly, no. But never feel guilty for enjoying food…for wanting more of it or sharing it. After all, I wouldn’t be here without my endless appetite now would I? As long as you leave enough for everyone else, as long as you table always has space for guests, as long as your food isn’t wrongfully stolen from another’s plate- why should you be ashamed of eating your fill?”
“But I will fall sick!”
Yes, by now, I had forgotten that in front of me was a god.
“If you eat too much? Unfortunately, you humans tend to. But again, if you are eating with enough shared between your community- not just friends, family, and colleagues, with those you help too- then you will never eat too much! That’s why we have large tables, my friend.”
Taking another bite from my bahutra, I smiled at the god, wondering what to do with the remaining chole on my plate. I wasn’t one to throw prasad, but suddenly I was too full. And giving my jhuta to others wasn’t sanitary. Though, I had heard of a Kryan saint…and with that I pushed the plate towards the diety.
“My lord? Would you like a taste?”
“Ah yes! Chole bhature, what a delightful brain you’ve. But only some, our conversation has me quite full.”
In front of my eyes, the plate emptied…but was that the smell of compost? Was this also the God of Composting and I just didn’t know?
“Ah, no. All of us gods, owe it to the Earth Mother…see, we are given so much prasad and while we eat it all…for you humans, when you can’t eat or share, we recommend you return the food- when possible- to my mother or even the Earth Mother…so that it can return as fresh food again. Like I said, fresh food is always better.”
“Why are you here, my lord?” I suddenly felt like I was in a lesson and couldn’t understand why. Why was a Kryan deity discussing community, composting, and sins with me. a non-Kryan Garsi girl? I was no saint, I rarely prayed, even to Gars the Great…if anything, my mom or even the priest in the temple deserved this divine visit more.
“Because you are my friend, not my devotee. And I help my friends.”
And with that, I was alone in the food court once again. Only this time, the door was open and the court empty of any rotting food.
Author’s Note: Just a short story with no intention to hurt anyone. Hope you enjoyed, if you did, please share this work and your thoughts! To read more of my work, please head to Muses_Saga.
For sustainability content, you can follow me on RealisticSustainableDiaries.
