Author's Notes:

Uhm. An attempt to write the point of view of a little kid (namely, me). This really did happen, more or less; hope it makes you smile. Everyone needs smiles in their days. ^_^

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Shrimp

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Eew. I stared at the fried rice, scrambled egg, shrimp, peas, and bits of beef Mama put into my bowl, covering the pretty blue fishie design at the bottom. Omi (Granma) made nasigoreng for dinner. Again. It's too spicy. And there are nasty shrimp thingies in it. And random squishy stuff too. I picked at it a bit and tried not to make a face. Opi (Granpa) must've seen it anyway, cuz he put down his fork and stopped eating. I'm going to get lectured again about being too picky, and how I should be grateful cuz there are lotsa kids in the world who don't have anything.

"Do you know where I earned to eat everything?"

I shook my head.

"During World War II, I was put into an internment camp along with some other young men by the government. We were only given one meal of a little bit of rice and some leftover fish a day, and the drinking water was next to the toilet."

Opi paused to eat some more. The big bald spot on his head was shiny with sweat; he liked nasigoreng really spicy, and then he'd add sambal to make it even spicier. We always joked he's have to glue chicken feathers to his head to cover it up.

"Trying to live, and being so hungry, some of us began eating the slugs that crawled near the toilet. It wasn't enough; most of the other men died and those who lived were barely more than skeletons. At least I learned to eat everything."

I considered what he said. It made a lot of sense. But there was still no way I was eating those yucky shrimp. I carefully picked them out, pushed them to the side of my bowl with and took a deep breath. Staring at the nasigoreng on my spoon, I took a bite and chewed slowly; it's not so bad after all... Then I promptly reached for my glass of water. It's really spicy! But at least there aren't any shrimp in it. Dinner passed without further incident, the cheerful conversation of my parents and grandparents a comforting buzz in the background.

I'm not as picky as I used to be. I still won't eat shrimp, vile pink stuff that it is. The smell of lasagna and macaroni still make me feel sick. But I've tried sushi and les escargots, so I must've learned something.

~~~end

Heheh. Les escargots aren't that bad; a bit too rubbery and not enough garlic for my taste though.
-Kazuko