Starved!

   "Tick! Tick! Tock! Tock!” the tickling sound seemed to become louder and louder. Wait, it was only half past eleven in the morning! However, my stomach kept growling and pleading to be filled. My stomach was so empty that I could eat a horse. It was an unpleasant cacophony and my mouth began to water, too. It baffled me. Since when had I such haute gastronomy that my tummy became a bottomless pit? I just had two pieces of "roti canai" that morning!

     I did not care. I just wanted to eat.

     I gingerly tiptoed to the kitchen when my mother had just finished cooking. The wonderful, appetizing aroma of fish curry with hints of spices diffused in the air. Yummy! Yummy! Fish curry was my favourite. At that instance, my tummy growled louder and raved like a wild animal. I was about to reach for the spoon when my mother stopped me.

     “No, Mae. Rice is not ready yet.  Just wait for another ten minutes. It won’t take you long.

     What? TEN minutes? Gosh, ten minutes was like ten years at that time. I would really go berserk if I was supposed to wait any longer! I was about to reach for some snacks but wait, mom will KILL me if I got caught snacking between meals! I shuddered at the thought of not being allowed to eat out as a punishment. Yet, I could think no further to calm the wild animal in my tummy. I saw mom leaving the kitchen to get the table ready. That was it!

     I crept stealthily to the pantry. I opened the cupboard and in no time, I returned with a large packet of Loacker’s waffle biscuits and Bournville’s dark chocolate. The refrigerator was  another “food heaven” in my house. In a jiffy, I got a large box og yoghurt and a tub of strawberry ice-cream. I would not wait for my slow mom. I was going to snap open the chocolate and indulge those treats in gusto. What about the utensils? Of course, I had my crystal ice-cream bowl and teaspoon ready, too!

     By the time I was ready, my hands were very full and I was about to walk out of the kitchen. However, I was carried away by the thought of having such a large tub of creamy ice cream drizzled with chocolate sauce and overflowing milk, munching waffle biscuits straight out of the package and having chocolate melting in my mouth. What a heavenly treat! The saliva began to flow straight out like a waterfall when…

     “CRASH!  WHAM!”

     I was stunned. What? There came another bang. My head, oh my goodness! It hurts! My forehead was bleeding profusely. The Loacker’s, Bournville and all… My dreams were gone. The gravy of the curry was overflowing all over the table. This time, I would be having  “curry chocolate with ants”.  Yucks!

     Mom stormed into the kitchen upon hearing the commotion and noise. She was red with anger and her veins had almost protruded her skin. That was the moment that all hell broke loose.

   “Mae, what on Earth are you doing? Now, my RM200 crystal bowl is broken! The curry feast is over! I will have to start from scratch! Enough is enough! Don’t ever touch my food until lunch is ready. Now, clean up this place! I don’t want flies or ants to visit this house.

     Not only I had not satisfied my intense hunger, I had to clean the kitchen again and had lunch late. Friends, if you do not see me in any restaurant for two months, you should know what the cause were. As the saying went, “More haste, less speed”!