Member-only story
Quiet Hunger
The Burrito
You are what you eat…and that’s not a good taste waiting for Stephen as he unwraps his prized meal of the day.
Stephen unwrapped the burrito, doing his best to ignore the irritating and grating sound of the wax paper crinkling as he unfurled it. Possibly, the prize under the wrapper was worth the moment of agitation that paper created.
But, the gift was anything but a gift. Stephen gazed at the pasty white tortilla with the bland refried bean and shredded American cheese oozing from a tear near one end of it.
He sighed at the sight of the no frill bean and cheese concoction. His mind protested. He knew this insult of a meal wouldn’t satisfy him, taste-wise. Nevertheless, his stomach sent him hunger pangs. The stomach, not the head, spoke loudly at this moment to remind him that he needed it to satisfy his hunger.
Another deflated sigh escaped from his mouth. He slowly wrapped his hand around it, but hesitated to hoist it up, even as his stomach growled and intensified the pangs. He stared at it. The funny thing was not that he was eating something he felt no appeasement for; it was the fact that he had no choice.
His back end felt the indentation of the plastic milk crate he used as a chair.
