Louisa's food.

A backpack flies through the kitchen. That’s Louisa coming back from school. As always, from Monday to Friday, she’s alone at home, her parents finishing working around 7pm. She will have a snack and then wait for Michelle, the neighbour, to come to pick her up. She will do her homework with Michelle’s daughter, Tyfaine and wait for her parents to come back from work. 

Starving, she makes her way to the fridge, looking for the little snack her mother prepares each day. Always waiting on the third shelf, in a glass recipient, a note sticked on it. She hopes that it won’t be a bowl of chia seeds macerated in almond milk, her mom’s new obsession, she dislikes it very much. According to Louisa, it doesn’t have any taste, so sometimes, she doesn’t even touch it. But she knows that today, she won’t be able to leave it on the side, she will have to eat it. Yesterday evening, her parents sermonised her, she didn’t finish her plate of vegetable stir-fry. Because apart from pasta, ham, yoghurt and chocolate, there aren’t a lot of stuffs she likes to eat. God knows that her parents tried to make her eat from everything, from the youngest age. But yet, she eats almost nothing. Nothing seems to taste as good and to be as comforting than pasta, ham, yoghurt and chocolate.

She opens the fridge and notices the glass recipient with the note pinned on it. 

“You didn’t want to eat anything yesterday, so I thought that you would still be hungry enough today to finish your plate. Tip: reheat it in the microwave.”

Louisa frowns and opens the glass recipient. She discovers, with horror, the rests of yesterday’s stir-fry. This time, she won’t be able to walk out from it.

**

Sitting at the table, she eats the vegetables painfully. The taste and the texture of the green beans turn her stomach. Looking at her plate, she starts to separate and to place each legume on a different corner of the plate. The onions over there, green beans there, peas on the right side, carottes in the middle. Sadly, she realises that there aren’t any potatoes left, that’s the only thing she ate yesterday. 

After twenty minutes of chewing each legumes individually, the torture is over. She looks at the clock: 5pm. Michelle should be here in ten minutes from now, which leaves her enough time to go and play with her new figurine. She just got it today, after exchanging it with one of her schoolmate against a doll she got at her latest birthday. 

In this warm evening of April, she decides to put on her jacket and to head for the balcony to play with her new toy. She starts playing but quickly notices something new, laying on the edge of the balcony. It looks like a wooden trunk. She comes nearer and observes it an instant. She notices a banner hanging on it:

“For Louisa’s food. ps: do not leave it open.”

She wonders what it could mean. That’s also when she remembers what her father said yesterday. He said she couldn’t keep on wasting food this way. And one day, she would need to understand that not everyone has the chance to have something to eat at each meal. He even added that if she was keeping this attitude, they will be better off giving her food away to people in needs. 

A harsh shiver pass through her back. She thought that her punishment for wasting yesterday’s food was the snack in the fridge. But what if this was only the beginning of it? Would the real punishment stand in this truck?

Slowly, she approaches her hand towards the box’s handle. She needs to see what’s coming next for her. She’s about to lift the trunk’s lid when suddenly, someone knocks at the door.

“Louisa! It’s Michelle. Are you coming to do your homework?”

She leaves her hands on the handle a few seconds and then removes it. After all, she’s not sure she really wants to know what’s inside.

**

- Maybe they want to lock you up inside the trunk until you finish your food? Or maybe they will keep all your unfinished plates in there? suggests Tyfaine.

- I don’t know. I think I just don’t want to know right now. 

I will apologise this evening and finish my plate as fast as I can. Who knows? They might take the trunk off the balcony. And like this, I will never have to know what’s inside.

- Really? You don’t want to know what’s inside, at all? It might be something good you know. Like chocolates or candies.

Tyfaine’s eyes starts shining, imagining a trunk full of chocolates waiting for her at home. 

- I don’t think so, my mother is quite against white sugar in general, she wouldn’t do that. We rarely have some chocolates at home.

- Oh, come on! Let’s go see what’s on it then. Tell me you really don’t want to know?

Louisa thinks an instant, then gasps, annoyed:

- It’s too late to go see now anyway. My parents are coming back soon, and your mother won’t let us leave the flat. I’m telling you, it doesn’t matter, leave it.

- Of course she will! We can say that you want to show me your new figurine that you forgot at home.

- Do you think she will buy that? I took it with me when I came here. 

- Of course she will, she hasn’t even seen it I’m sure, you had it in your bag when you arrived here. Look.. MOM!

Tyfaine was right, her mother agreed on letting them going back to Louisa’s flat. The only thing she asks is to be back in fifteen minutes, otherwise, she will come downstairs herself. The two girls agree and run downstairs to the second floor.

**

Both stand on the balcony and observe the trunk without a word. 

- Your box looks weird, it looks like a bin to me, comments finally Tyfaine.

- A bin? Of course not, we already have two in the kitchen.

- Do you have a torch? It starts getting dark, I’m afraid we won’t see what’s inside otherwise.

Louisa goes to her bedroom, looking for the torch she carries with her on summer camps. She comes back proudly, showing her friend the torch she finds and two paires of gloves. 

- We never know, you said it might be a bin.

They put on the gloves and slowly approach the trunk. With her index, Tyfaine signals to Louisa to not speak. She brings her ear against the trunk and then nods, all seems clear. They can engage on phase two: opening the box. 

Louisa places her hand on the handle, gasps and turns to Tyfaine:

- Really, I’m still not sure I want to see what’s inside, maybe we should leave it as it is for now.

- Come on Louisa, don’t chicken out. We need to see what your parents are up to. It’s probably nothing more than an empty box anyway.

- Yes, but still..

- Come on, we’re almost there, we don’t have much time left!

Louisa takes a deep breath and lift the trunk’s lid. Tyfaine stretches out, the torch in one hand, to see what’s inside.

Soil.

- Soil? What is it, a garden? says Louisa, surprised.

- Wait a minute, it seems that there is something else inside.

Tyfaine grabs a stick and thrusts it inside the box. 

She lifts it back up when suddenly, both start screaming at the view of what’s hanging on its edge. 

- WORMS!!!! 

Frightened, the girls rush back to the living room, slamming the patio door. The stick and the torch still lying on the balcony’s floor, the trunk wide opened. 

- Do you think they want to make me eat worms? asks a panicked Louisa.

- Probably. I saw on a documentary one day that some people eat this kind of things, so it would make sense.

- But I don’t want to eat that, continue Louisa, crying.

- I understand, I wouldn’t eat them either. Your parents seem to be very tough on you.

- What am I gonna do?

Tyfaine stays silent, looking at the balcony. 

- I have an idea. Each day, I will keep a portion of my dinner that you can eat on the following day, while we do our homework. You can then tell your parents that you’re not hungry because you ate too much at the canteen.

Louisa’s face lights up. This sounds like the best solution for now. Her parents won’t make her eat worms, this is not happening. Once they see that she doesn’t eat anything, they will probably stop feeding her insects. And they might as well go back on giving her vegetables and other normal people’s food.

- Let’s do that. But for now, let’s go back at your place before your mom comes down.

**

*Dring*

- Oh, Louisa, that must be your mom coming back to pick you up.

The young girl, miffed, looks at her friend with despair. Her mother enters the living room and approaches her daughter to give her a kiss. Louisa turns her face and refuses it. 

She looks at her surprised but then starts discussing with Michelle.

Tyfaine gives her friend a hug and whispers a “Good luck” while slipping a pack of chocolate biscuits in the pocket of her coat.

**

Once arrived at their flat, Louisa’s mom asks:

- Everything’s okay? You haven’t said a word and didn’t even want to kiss me when I came to pick you up.

- Everything’s fine. I go to my bedroom.

- Was the day at school okay? Did someone bothered you? insists the worried mother.

- No.

- I have a surprised for you today you know! she continues, cheerfully. 

- No thank you, I don’t want to know about it, I don’t like surprises anyway.

- Of course you do. Come here, come see on the balcony.

- NO! I said I don’t want!

She looks at her daughter concerned, not understanding her attitude. 

- What’s wrong with you today? I can tell that something bothers you. 

Louisa glances at her mother, furious.

- What bothers me is that my parents want to make me eat worms as a punishment for not finishing my dinner! I saw your trunk on the balcony with written “Food for Lisa” on it. You’re the worst parents, who can give this kind of punishment to their daughter?

Gaping, she stares at Louisa an instant. She then starts laughing out loud. She laughs like this for a few seconds.

Louisa feels upset. She observes her mother laughing, and wonders what’s so funny about the situation.

- Louisa, come on, her mother finally manages to say, between two hiccups. We are not going to make you eat worms. No one eats worms. 

- Some do, Tyfaine told me she watched a documentary where people were eating worms.

- Of course but the worms you saw outside are not here to finish in your plate. And on the banner, it’s written “For Louisa’s food” not “Food for Louisa”. Come with me, I’ll show you.

Her mother makes her way to the balcony. She sees the torch, on the floor, still on, as well as the stick.

- It has been a great moment of panic from what I can see there, she says, with a mocking tone.

She sees the worm, let on its own on the floor, she grabs it on the tip of her fingers, gently. She comes near the trunk, Louisa follows her, making sure to stay a bit behind while her mom puts back the worm inside.

- This is called a vermicompost bin. For sure, with your father, we want you to stop wasting food. Yet, we don’t want you to think that wasted food should go in the bin. That’s the last place it should go, for many reasons. So we thought of that. Every time you don’t finish your food, you will bring the rests in there. The little worms are then going to do their job and eat them for you. Slowly, they will create something called compost, that we can then use as plant’s food.

- Plant’s food?

- We also call it organic fertiliser, it will keep them in good health. In the compost, we can also add coffee grounds, vegetable’s peels, egg shells. All food waste becomes useful.

Louise feels relieved but yet, still suspicious. She comes nearer the box and sees, still disgusted, the worms gesticulating inside.

- Michelle and Tyfaine have a lot of plants on their balcony. Do you think we could give them some of our compost too?

- Of course we can. We will probably make more than what we need anyway.

- Great! I got scared you know. I didn’t want to eat these worms.

Her mother looks at her, softly and amused at the same time. 

- Of course not. I hope you understood your punishment with your snack today, though? You really need to stop acting like that, you cannot be eating pasta and ham all the time.

- But if I eat everything, then the worms won’t have anything to eat, isn’t it?

- Nice try! But don’t worry for them, there are enough peels for them to eat, and as I told you, we don’t need to have too much fertiliser. This is just a solution to reduce food waste, not a reason for you to keep on not finishing your plates.

**

On that same evening, Louisa is looking at her plate, she almost entirely ate it. Only two slices of courgettes left.

- Can I please don’t eat my last courgettes and bring them to the worms for their dinner?

Her parents glace at each other, smile and acquiesce. Louisa runs toward the balcony, plate in one hand and opens the vermicompost bin.

- Hi little worms, I have a few courgettes for you today. Tomorrow, I’ll introduce you to my friend Tyfaine, I believe we all started on the wrong foot.