The Shells of Chaos
Sundays began with the sweet smell of ragù invading the house, the whooshing of the open window waking me up, and the sun blinding my eyeballs. Me, I liked Sundays, but there I was, sitting on a table with people I rarely saw on Christmas or New Year’s Eve. Ignoring one another, laughing for their own things. They could, my sister and I could not.Outcasted; because living in a 15 minute away sea town clearly said: “We are different.”
The casserole’s lid warned to overthrow, the bubbling water to leave of the side pot. The plop of the tamable shells is allI heard, as the couch’s pests tug war with the scarlet Nintendo, greedy as wolf angry of blood. I walked to my gentle hostess, opened the lid, closed my eyes, relished the sea and salt scent of home. The arrogant mussel’s show-off their succulent amber pearl, when floating pasta shells caught my complete attention.Resembling a squishy plush seashell isn’t enough to deserve a spot close to the underwater immutable queen. Sour and drizzling, freckled with the green of land, the homemade tomato sauce bursting off the pan with my same frustration.I lowered the heat, back to the chair.
The plate presented couldn’t look more dangerous, side-looking to my sea-blood transmitter, the Italian trademark proud Parmigiano on top of it, the maroon skyscraper standing over us, the bread close to the delicate plate like the soul of the hostess. Flavoring the disgrace of the town with great accomplishment, I said grace, asking forgiveness to my ocean ancestors. Wretched inside for the lenient glances shooting me down.
Taking a bite, the window swung open, the wind crushed the plate, the cleaning was now over, the sand had taken over.
Alessandra Romano is a 19-year-old college student at Salem State University from Italy, Sicily. She moved to United States five years ago. She is a double major in English and Italian with a concentration in creative writing, a minor in psychology and she recently enrolled in the 4+1 English lit. program. She values her family, and traditions, above all, which shef irmly believes shaped her personality and hardworking attitude in both the education and work system. Her ultimate career goal is to become a professor and fiction writer who masters two or more languages.
"Mussels pasta淡菜義大利麵" by HoHoLin is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.
