Breadcrumbs in my lunchbox

During the first class, I opened my bag and thought to myself- “well, here goes my nothing at lunch.” Appa has forgotten to give me my lunchbox. I had no money for the canteen so I dug out the nut-chocolate bar thing most children ate in this country. At least I have this. The rest of the day went by the usual, except my stomach gnawed on my brain stopping me from focusing on anything.

As soon as the bell rang for the school to be over, I ran to the subway to get the earliest subway home. Hurrying out of the subway, I ran all the way home thinking about the food which will be waiting for me. I couldn’t wait to eat something.

I opened the door, changed into slippers and ran towards the kitchen hoping to get some early snacks or even best, the lunchbox appa forgot to pack.

The kitchen was empty.

I looked around the house and even shouted for appa, maa and my sister, hoping someone was home. I received no answer.

Thinking that maybe they went shopping, I went to look for some food in the kitchen. Otherwise, I am not allowed to touch the food before dinner or without permission, but today was a special case, right? I rummaged through all the Tupperware and containers which were not in the cabinets but did not find a single morsel of food. Appa usually cooked rice for the dinner by this time.

“Where did they go?”

Hunger won over and I opened the top shelf, otherwise banned from touching without permission and took out a jar of cookies. The nut chocolates are my current favourites. The melting chocolate in the city’s summer and the crunchy nuts giving ASMR vibes are perfect for snacking.

After devouring almost half a box of cookies, I was afraid but angry at the same time. First, they forgot to give me the lunchbox and now they left me alone at home without any food! What were they expecting? I was ready to fight till bed. To bed, because I needed my lunch tomorrow. “I wish appa makes pork cutlets with the spicy, creamy sauce for tomorrow.”

By the late evening, I got worried for my parents and sister. “Where were they?” I tried calling amma’s cell phone using the landline but there was no answer. I was hungry again.

‘Thud’

I heard a noise from somewhere in the house. Where they in the house the whole time! I looked everywhere, not able to locate the direction from which the sound came. I waited for the sound again but heard nothing for the next 10 minutes or so. I opened the main door and sat on the porch waiting for them to come.

‘Thud’

I jumped at the sound and ran inside. Looking here and there, I decided to search the whole house. Starting with the kitchen, I even checked the cabinets. After that, I looked around all the rooms and bathrooms, but I still have not found anything. Baffled, I even braved checking the attic and backyard alone to find the source of the sound. Still, nothing.

I ran outside to check the roof. There was nothing there as well.

‘Thud’

Confused, I slowly went inside and heard the sound of laughter coming from the kitchen. I looked inside and there were my parents and sisters laughing while preparing dinner. The smell of pork cutlets wafted in the kitchen as I saw amma preparing the rice for cooking. The soup was boiling on the stove. I could tell, it was chicken soup with a special blend from appa's recipe book.

Bewildered, I entered the kitchen and they stopped at the sound of me entering and looked at me. Appa smiled at me and asked me where I was since the afternoon. Amma hit him lightly and asked me to come to sit for dinner.

“Where were you all the whole afternoon?”

Sister looked up from her grinding the spices for soup and gave me a stink eye- “We were here the whole time. Appa and amma waited for you after school with snacks. You are late. Stop shouting.” I watched appa and amma’s faces slowly fall after I shouted. I accused appa by saying- “You did not pack my lunch today. I had to eat the choco bar for lunch.”

Appa- “What are you talking about? I gave the chicken sandwiches for lunch today!”

I shouted- “I did not. I checked my bag in the first class. There was nothing.”

Appa said- “I am sure I gave it to you. Check your bag.”

I ran to my room and brought my bag to the kitchen. I opened and dumped the content of the bag on the kitchen counter. To my surprise, my lunchbox fell with a ‘cling’ on the counter along with books and other items. I opened it hurriedly and found it-empty, filled with bits of crusts.

“I did not have lunch today. I was hungry all the time. Trust me. I remember it very well.”

Appa looked at me and sighed heavily. Amma looked at me mournfully and reached out for the cabinets with the cookie jar in them. She opened the box and showed it to me. It was full. I was shocked. The empty lunchbox and the full jar of cookies all were proof that they were right. I raked through my brain for looking for any proof to support my side of the story, but nothing came up.

Tears welled up in my eyes and soon after I was bawling my eyes out repeating that I did not eat lunch today. Amma and appa came running and tried to calm me down while my sister just rolled her eyes and told me to stop with my antiques. After a full fest of crying, running nose and shouting to prove my story, my parents were finally able to calm me down to hiccups. Amma ran to bring water and gave me some while patting my back. After some minutes I was calm and my stomach started to grumble loudly. I internally cursed my childish unreliable memory for putting me through this embarrassing situation. I went through the whole day and still could not find any proof to check if I ate the lunch and cookies.

“Maybe I was wrong.”

I sat down as appa doled out fresh and crispy pork cutlets and hot soup in bowls. Amma brought the rice in bowls and we started eating. Sister was still making fun of me for crying for nothing. Amma and appa rebuked her for making fun of me and told her to eat her dinner quietly. She immediately shut up and I had to stop myself from scoffing at her.

After dinner, amma and appa took me to my bedroom to get ready for bed. I brushed my teeth and changed into night pajamas. Appa kissed me on the cheeks and said good night. They closed the door of my room and I heard their receding footsteps.

Sister was waiting for amma and appa at the kitchen counter. She smiled at them and reached for the pill bottle she had in her hands. Amma smiled at her and placed the bottle in the top cabinet. They cleaned up the packet of cookies they had emptied earlier into the jar. Appa took the lunch box from the counter and laughed loudly looking at the breadcrumbs. He cleaned the lunch box and emptied the breadbox of pieces of bread it had taken to make the breadcrumbs.

All three of them walked toward a portrait as the sound of a ‘thud’ came from behind it. The painting turned into a door and the trio entered a dark room. The painting closed behind them.

‘thud’

‘thud’

‘thud’

I slowly and as soundlessly as possible opened the main door and ran onto the street.