Mama Boa looked at the bakery window as if it was the gate to paradise – a place for others. She lowered her head and walked home, muttering to herself. “I’m not fat. I’m not fat. I may be curvy. It’s just an aspect of femininity.”
She opened the freezer, gazed at the hazelnut ice cream, and shut it forcefully. The ice cream was for Snakey and Papa Boa.
She sat in front of the tv to watch and tried to enjoy the show, but her mind was elsewhere. Mama Boa picked a carrot and a radish. But all she could think of was the ice cream in the fridge, whispering, “Eat me, eat me.”
“Mama Boa, I’m home!” called Snakey as he rushed in and hugged her.
“Snakey! I love you so much.” She clung to him as if he was the ice cream. He was better than that. He was her son.
He said, “The teacher told us that sugar was poison. Is that true?”
“Well, I don’t know if it’s that bad, but we should be careful with sweets.” She said, shuffling his hair quickly and making him giggle.
“And I was counting on digging into that ice cream in the freezer.” He said with longing.
“I know what you mean, Snakey. Maybe it’s a matter of proportion. If we don’t overeat, we can have anything!” She smiled.
Snakey was already on the way to the freezer with two little bowls to follow his mother’s guidelines. She followed Snakey, her heart racing with desire.
“Just a little,” Mama Boa whispered a prayer.
When Papa Boa came home, he saw his family sitting around an empty container of ice cream and a wide grin on their faces.
They failed big time, but it was such a sweet failure.
