Written By: Johnny Roque

Food sometimes runs out, but at some point a burnt piece of toast makes a feast. 

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://smirkfiction.wordpress.com/2022/01/04/burnt-toast-and-an-empty-pantry/

“Enjoy it while it last” applies to so many things that it often loses its meaning. Most often people use this phrase to refer to love or an unexpected good time like making love. It rolls off the tongue of a weary parent that knows all things in the world find an end eventually landing on the ears of a carefree child rolling in mud crying about chores. I heard this the last time the toaster forced the aluminum carriage through the top double slits that only held a single slice. A loud “shrush, clink, cha, ching” echoed in the kitchen, bedroom, restroom studio apartment of mine, but it sounded like “enjoy it while it last.”

In complete hunger that followed me throughout the night and haunted my dreams I reached to pick up the seven grains end piece of bread. I saw the back of it first. A nice brown curve that called my name to it in a sultry sizzle, more enticing then the women I pass walking home after midnight. The difference though, the curves on the bread made my mouth water and the curves on the women made me cross the street. I flipped the bread over to discover a blackness resembling a scab my knee grew on it after the last time I fell off the curb crossing the street after midnight.

Instinctually I grasp at a butter knife to scrap off the layer of crumbs. At first I thought the layer might only add up to a quick thin swipe, but after a second my hunger took over my hand. I saw each crumb flake off and felt like I tossed the first course of my meal into the trash. My empty pantry reflected my empty stomach. Each and every bite I took, I heard “enjoy it while it last”. At the beginning of the meal today seemed grim, but that last bite of enjoyment made tomorrow inevitably bleak.