Last night
Mum had her flamenco classes,
Dad was working late
and my sister Simone was at netball
so
I was alone
and I’d told everyone
I was cooking my own dinner
and I promised to clean up afterwards,
no worries.
I looked in the freezer –
frozen pizza,
chicken wings
and yesterday’s leftover stew.
I checked the fridge –
eggs,
bacon
and the last slice of Simone’s cheesecake.
I searched the cupboard –
cans of minestrone soup,
baked beans
and an unopened packet of Tim Tams,
Mum’s favourite.
I stood in the kitchen for hours
trying to decide.
I was so hungry that I wanted everything . . .
but where to start?
To give myself time to choose
I sat in front of the television
with the remote,
flicking from channel to channel –
Discovery had a virtual trip to the moon
and there were cartoons on both Disney channels
and soccer,
cricket
and rugby league
on the sports channels
and there was a Simpsons hour
starting in five minutes
and I didn’t think that was enough time
to cook anything
so I switched off the television
and turned on the computer
and surfed the net
to see if I could find the games site
I was on yesterday
and I got caught up in a chat with my mate Alex
but he couldn’t talk for long
’cause his mum had just called him for dinner
which reminded me
I still hadn’t eaten
so I went to the kitchen
and placed two slices of bread on a plate,
then held the honey jar high above the bread
and squeezed,
great dollops of liquid gold dribbled over the bread
(and the plate and the bench . . . and the floor).
I promised myself I’d clean it up
before anyone got home.
But first, the sweet dinner!
I sat on the bench
and lowered the soggy bread into my mouth,
chewing and smacking my lips, eyes closed.
A honey empire and I was King!
After eating
I went to the lounge,
put my feet up
and stuffed lots of pillows all around me
before switching on The Simpsons.
That’s all I remember.
This morning I woke up in my own bed
so Dad must have carried me in
and I missed The Simpsons
and I didn’t cook anything
and I didn’t play any computer games
but, most importantly,
I didn’t open Mum’s Tim Tams
and eat them all!