Chapter 4 - Damn Those Sugar Cubes

Chapter 4 Damn Those Sugar Cubes

Sydney sat her mum down at the dining table, where her grandpa was making his way from the living room. He took the seat next to his daughter’s as Sydney rushed to the front door and took a few plastic bags off of Grandma’s hands.

“Thank the Gods for my granddaughter!” Her grandmother, Marjorie Cohen, huffed, and quickly stored her shoes into the cupboard. Sydney dutifully brought the bags into the kitchen where she unpackaged the goods and put them onto plates.

“We had quite a few leftovers today at the restaurant,” her grandma said, bringing the rest of the food into the kitchen. Sydney ripped a bag open. “It seems our new menu ‘gecko’s hut’ hasn’t been selling that well.”

Sydney immediately cringed as a brown, polka dotted house plopped down onto the plate. Without looking twice at it, she stuffed the gecko’s hut into the microwave and heated it up.

“My dear, maybe the problem is the name you’ve given it. ‘Gecko's hut’ doesn’t sound very appetising,” her grandpa pointed out. That comment earned him a scoff from his wife.

“What would you name it then? It looks like nothing but a gecko’s hut!” Her grandma said, stuffing all the plastic bags down a drawer.

“Well…” Grandpa started to say, then gave up. “I don’t know…”

“Exactly!” Grandma threw her hands down. When she passed Sydney, who was taking the food out from the microwave, she quickly thanked her and went to plate the sauces. Her husband walked up to her and dipped a finger in, giving one of her orange sauces an experimental lick. Marjorie Cohen swatted him away, but there was a smile on her face. Sydney gently put the plates of food on the dining table and brought her mum stacks of empty plates and cutlery. Ada Cohen gladly distributed them around the table and filled their cups with freshly brewed tea. When Grandpa finally stopped bothering Grandma, they helped each other carry the sauces over.

“Now watch, everyone, as the magic happens!” Grandma said, and poured the sauce over the gecko’s hut in graceful circles. Everyone let out amazed ooooh’s. When Grandma was finished, she gave a graceful little bow and everyone clapped, laughing and smiling as Grandpa pulled a seat out for her. She sat.

Reluctantly, everyone took a bite of the gecko’s hut. It only took them a split second before everyone started going ravenous over the dish. Sydney’s eyes lit up.

It was safe to say that no one was going to get diarrhoea tonight! Sydney scooped up another bite and gobbled it down. It was honestly one of the best dishes Sydney had ever tasted in her life. That was saying something, since her grandma owned a restaurant and she quite literally grew up with a frying pan in her hand.

“How was school, dear?” Her grandma asked as Sydney shoved the speckled window down her throat.

“It was weird,” she answered, making her grandma snort.

“What’s a world without a little weirdness in it, am I right?”

“You probably make up half of that, dear,” said Thomas Cohen, happily sipping his tea. Sydney almost choked on her food. Ada laughed, scooping some spaghetti into Marjorie’s plate to calm her down. The old lady immediately huffed and dug in. As a peace offering, Thomas Cohen offered her his spoonful of soup, and reluctantly, Marjorie took a sip of it and calmed down. Sydney laughed and exchanged silly glances with her mum.

“How’s the restaurant?” Ada asked, making Marjorie shake her head.

“Clearly, we have to come up with a new name for this masterpiece.” She gestured to the already half-eaten gecko’s hut. Sydney giggled.

“You could always use that name when Halloween comes,” Sydney suggested.

“Sweetie, Halloween isn’t for a couple months,” her mum said.

Sydney shrugged. “Never hurts to think ahead.” In her mind, she thought, Never hurts to be prepared. Clearly, today was the opposite of that.

“What if we named it…” Her grandpa took a moment to consider his answer. “...The Dotted Beauty: The House of Your Speckled Dreams.”

An eruption of groans and laughter came from every direction.

“Dad, you can’t possibly be serious,” Ada said, eating half of the gecko’s roof.

Thomas Cohen raised his chin confidently. “That name is an incredibly well thought out, carefully crafted masterpiece fit for this dish. I said what I said and I stand by it.”

Marjorie Cohen playfully whispered to Sydney and her mum, “And he says my ‘gecko’s hut’ is unappealing.”

Grandpa slowly shook his head from side to side.

“Why did you even shape it like a hut?” Sydney asked. “Couldn’t you have shaped it into a cat instead? That way you could name the dish Kitty. In honour of our Kitty.”

Her mum nodded her head as Grandma shook hers.

“That’s so cute,” her mum said.

“Why would I eat a cat?” Grandma asked at the same time.

“The same can be said for you, dear. Why would anyone eat a gecko’s hut?” asked Grandpa.

“But it’s delicious!” Grandma threw her hands down.

“Speaking of cats…” her mum started to say, “Where is Kitty? I haven’t seen her all day. She usually comes in around midday to play with my yarn and scissors.”

“Scissors?” Grandpa asked, appalled.

“That kitten is wild, I tell you,” her mum said. “I’ve seen her hold a knife with a perfectly calm look on her face.”

Sydney laughed. “That sounds so much like Kit�"”

Suddenly, her blood tugged. The pit of her stomach churned and her hands went cold. The world around her stilled and she felt a little dizzy. Sydney blinked a couple times before she could finally begin to focus again. By then, her mum’s hand was already on hers, and all eyes were on her face. Worry etched onto all of her family member’s faces as her mum asked, “Bunny, are you feeling alright?”

A shiver ran down her spine as she recollected herself. “Yeah, I’m fine.” What was that? Sydney asked herself. Then, she looked up at her grandma, who clearly didn’t believe her. “Just a little anxious about school, I guess.”

A moment passed. Then, her grandma started clicking her tongue. She scooped more food onto Sydney’s plate. “If it’s anxiety you’re dealing with, then you better eat up, sweetheart. My food always heals the soul.”

Sydney laughed, but something was still off.

Suddenly, a crash sounded from upstairs. Everyone froze. Grandpa almost dropped his cup of tea.

“What was that?” Grandma was on high alert now. She held her fork up like a weapon.

They waited. Seconds ticked by, then minutes. After nothing happened, everyone let out a long, kept in sigh.

“It’s probably nothing,” her mum assured everyone. They all resumed their family dinner, but there was a jitteriness in the air that wasn’t there before.

“What subject’s got you so anxious anyway, Sydney?” Her grandpa asked, slicing some meat and plopping it into his mouth. “I’m sure it’s not English. You’re great at that. But if it is, you know you can ask me. I used to be named the ‘Literary Genius’ back in the old days.”

“Oh shut it,” her grandma said, “No one called you that except the teacher.”

“And you,” her grandpa added. Grandma huffed. Ada laughed, then Thomas turned his attention back to Sydney again, and she realised she couldn’t escape her family members’ questions any longer.

“Well…” Sydney thought hard about it. There was no way she would tell them about Ruthantasis and Krale. They would think her actually crazy, and the last thing she wanted was to be sent to therapy. She didn’t need anyone spending any more money on her when she was the one who needed it the least. She scooped up some soup and held it up to her mouth.

Suddenly, her blood ran cold. Sydney dropped her spoon. Her eyes enlarged. It felt as if fire was dancing before her gaze, and something ripped apart inside of her. Cold, piercing air penetrated her as Sydney’s eyes burned. Her blood rushed to her fingertips and another crash sounded upstairs. Sydney snapped back to reality, quickly blinking away the flames that were now blurry specks of light. She tried to steady herself as the world around her spun. It was as if she had used up all her energy somehow without even getting up from the chair. She was weak in the knees and pale all over. Sydney wondered if this was how her mum felt all the time, and a pang of sympathy made her heart ache. She didn’t know when her mum’s hand was on her forehead, or how long she was feeling it for, but when her world stopped spinning, her mum was already feeling her temperature, and her grandparents were already busy searching the kitchen cabinets for medicine.

“First aid kit, first aid kit…gah! Where are you when we need you?” Her grandma shouted, exasperated. Grandpa had his eyes squinted, trying to read the instructions on the pill bottle.

“Bunny, how are you feeling? Are you hot? Cold? Dizzy?” Her mum asked, dragging Sydney’s attention back to her. Sydney gently pushed her mum’s hand away. When she touched her own forehead, she found that it wasn’t her face that was burning, but her palms.

“I�"uh�"I’m fine. Just tired, I think. Is it okay if I go upstairs and rest?” Sydney looked at all her family members, and everyone stopped what they were doing to stare worriedly into her eyes.

“Sweetie, let me brew you some black tea first. It will help with the cold,” her grandma offered, already bringing out the kettle. Grandpa fished a tea bag out from a drawer. Grandma glanced once more at Sydney and said, “No sugar, just like how you like it.”

Sugar. Sydney squinted her eyes. Why did that word seem so important to her? It was like she was forgetting something, but she couldn’t quite place what it was. Sydney shook her head. Her mum put a hand over hers, holding it tightly as she smiled. Sydney smiled back at her. She was glad her mum was here with her, holding her hand. Everything felt so weirdly light and heavy at the same time, and she thought she would’ve puked if it weren’t for all the delicious looking food before her. All of Grandma’s cooking would go to waste if her guts came spilling out.

Sugar. Her brain repeated again. Sugar. Sugar cu�"

“Oh my gosh.” Sydney suddenly stood up from her seat. Her mind was alert now that the reality of everything came rushing back to her. She was confused before, but she was 100% sure now that the crash coming from upstairs was not just any normal crash. It was coming from Ruthantasis and Krale. Sydney rushed into the kitchen area.

“Sugar cubes…sugar cubes…I need sugar cubes,” she muttered, opening and closing all the drawers, searching the counters for that one jar of sugar.

“Whatever for?” Her grandma asked.

Sydney paused. “For…” What was she supposed to say?
“Adolescence. She’s a teenager now. She’d want some privacy from time to time. Right, Sydney?” said her grandpa. Sydney could’ve sworn she saw him wink at her. She smiled, shooting him a grateful look. Best Grandpa Ever, she thought.

“Yes! Nothing serious, though. I just want to try something new, and, it’s a secret,” she told the others.

Grandma raised her eyebrows at both Sydney and her husband. “If you say so…but sweetie, I think we’ve run out of sugar cubes. The jar is nowhere to be seen.”

Sydney let out a dejected groan. “It’s…it’s okay. I’ll be fine,” she said, then quickly hopped up the stairs, skipping two steps at a time, praying to dear God that the two talking Foods haven’t already completely trashed her room.

Sydney’s nerves jumped up and down. It was like her heart was skipping two beats at a time, just like her feet. Sydney didn’t know what was happening to her. Maybe it was like her grandpa had said, adolescence. Her teacher had mentioned something about hormones or your body changing when you become thirteen, claiming that it happened to everyone, but Sydney doubted all her classmates had Food come to life when they turned thirteen, too. Maybe it was because Sydney pretended to eat her vegetables the other day but didn’t? Or…was it because she forgot about her little promise to Ruthantasis? Sydney swallowed hard, and decided to curse whoever had first discovered that sweet snack.

Damn those sugar cubes.

Author's Note

written: Nov 2024