The winter was rough as cold wind pushed aggressively against my kitchen window. Glancing over to the thermostat, it was a chilling 13 degrees outside. Though the darkness of the night, the snow floated through the rageful breeze, adding to its overgrown collection on the ground below.
The flames of the candles around my apartment danced as the dim light guided me over to my cabinet. The power had been out for a while, and I was stranded within my house for the foreseeable future. There wasn't much food for me to eat, as I had foolishly believed that the storm so many people were ranting about would not come to pass. I mean, through the past several years, we've had the threat of all kinds of terrible natural disasters. Last summer a tornado was supposed to roll through, tearing the town to shreds. Yet nothing even close happened. Then, the town was supposed to flood a few months ago, only to result in a few puddles of rain sprinkled about. So, the snow storm wasn't exactly something I would have believed to happen.
Looking around my bare cabinets, I stumbled upon a single box of ramen noodles. Did I have a way to cook these? I wondered.
It didn't take long for me to find a battery-powered portable stove. I hadn't bought it too long ago, maybe three months at most? You never know when the power might go out. Nonetheless, I powered it on, grabbed a pot, filled it with water. Somehow the water was still running? I dunno, it felt odd to me that the water still worked when the electricity was out.
I let the water boil for a bit before adding the noodles. They eventually cooked, leading me to add them to a bowl. My stomach growled as I grabbed the sauce packet from the package on the counter. I felt the liquid sauce sloshing around as I squished the package on varying sides.
Blindly, I turned the packet upside down over the noodles and dumped the sauce in. As the sauce dripped in, something was off. The sauce was supposed to be a dark, brownish-black color. Why was it so transparent? As I finished pouring in the last few drops, the smell of cleaning solution stung my nose. I tried to ignore it, choosing to believe that maybe they changed the recipe for the sauce. Maybe the smell was coming from somewhere else. Maybe this is all normal.
As I stirred the noodles, the smell of cleaning solution only grew stronger.
I ignored it and took a single bit of the noodles and instantly spit it back out. It tasted like bleach.
I slammed my fork down. "Are you kidding me?!" I shouted, my voice echoing off the walls.
I had heard of factories messing up on food products, cans of cranberry sauce being filled with water, chip bags with no chips inside, soda cans with the wrong flavor within. Even things like dead rats in frozen pizza. But bleach in the sauce packets?
With a heavy heart, I threw the last of my food out the back door and returned it to the sink to clean for the night.
And there I sat in silence, a bitter rage building inside of me. I had no more food in the house. I had to hope and pray that I might be able to get more tomorrow, if I'm not completely snowed in...
The flames of the candles around my apartment danced as the dim light guided me over to my cabinet. The power had been out for a while, and I was stranded within my house for the foreseeable future. There wasn't much food for me to eat, as I had foolishly believed that the storm so many people were ranting about would not come to pass. I mean, through the past several years, we've had the threat of all kinds of terrible natural disasters. Last summer a tornado was supposed to roll through, tearing the town to shreds. Yet nothing even close happened. Then, the town was supposed to flood a few months ago, only to result in a few puddles of rain sprinkled about. So, the snow storm wasn't exactly something I would have believed to happen.
Looking around my bare cabinets, I stumbled upon a single box of ramen noodles. Did I have a way to cook these? I wondered.
It didn't take long for me to find a battery-powered portable stove. I hadn't bought it too long ago, maybe three months at most? You never know when the power might go out. Nonetheless, I powered it on, grabbed a pot, filled it with water. Somehow the water was still running? I dunno, it felt odd to me that the water still worked when the electricity was out.
I let the water boil for a bit before adding the noodles. They eventually cooked, leading me to add them to a bowl. My stomach growled as I grabbed the sauce packet from the package on the counter. I felt the liquid sauce sloshing around as I squished the package on varying sides.
Blindly, I turned the packet upside down over the noodles and dumped the sauce in. As the sauce dripped in, something was off. The sauce was supposed to be a dark, brownish-black color. Why was it so transparent? As I finished pouring in the last few drops, the smell of cleaning solution stung my nose. I tried to ignore it, choosing to believe that maybe they changed the recipe for the sauce. Maybe the smell was coming from somewhere else. Maybe this is all normal.
As I stirred the noodles, the smell of cleaning solution only grew stronger.
I ignored it and took a single bit of the noodles and instantly spit it back out. It tasted like bleach.
I slammed my fork down. "Are you kidding me?!" I shouted, my voice echoing off the walls.
I had heard of factories messing up on food products, cans of cranberry sauce being filled with water, chip bags with no chips inside, soda cans with the wrong flavor within. Even things like dead rats in frozen pizza. But bleach in the sauce packets?
With a heavy heart, I threw the last of my food out the back door and returned it to the sink to clean for the night.
And there I sat in silence, a bitter rage building inside of me. I had no more food in the house. I had to hope and pray that I might be able to get more tomorrow, if I'm not completely snowed in...
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