It is the end of a day at high school; Sheryl goes home. Homework time is approaching. Sheryl has the luxury of doing her homework
at home or elsewhere. Sheryl, of course,
chooses to do it elsewhere. She is eager
to take her homework assignments with her to the house of a missionary named
Miss Eliot. But according to a story in The Talking Palm, it is not for the
reason you may be thinking of. Sheryl
really wants to go to Miss Eliot for her food.
Miss Eliot
also gave me fresh crisp coconut cookies and toasts that brought joy to my
forever-hungry belly. Her bread was always so flat and soft, while the outer
crust of the bread my father made and those I bought were round and rough. Although our local bread was delicious too,
especially when freshly baked, hers seemed to taste more buttery and more
refined and gentler on my tongue.
Whenever I went to her home to study, and before I could do any serious
studying, all I concentrated on while my head was seemingly planted in my
science book was how long did I have to wait before that tea and … bread
came. (104-105)
The thought of eating the toasted sandwich lures Sheryl to the neighbor’s
house more than the desire to do homework, especially after she comes from high
school hungry. When she arrives, she
can’t even think about work. She is very
hungry, and her mind is captivated with the smell and taste of the delicious
food she is expecting to come her way.
In her mind, her father’s bread does not look or taste as nice as the
neighbor’s. Even though it did, things
on the other side sometimes look better than what we have.
By Esther Jno-Charles
