Stale Bread and Jam
Robert’s family always had plenty of money. His father was a
driven businessman and mother a strict taskmaster, which seemed to be the ideal
household if you wanted children who grew up to be important. He grew up on the
edge of a poor neighborhood, and so his house was known in the area as "The Big House”. 15-year old Robert was as equally driven as his father, but softer. He had accepted that his life was planned out for him: he would finish high school, attend a good
college, and expand the family business. The weekends consisted of nice family
parties with good food and music, the best in town. Every day, to keep up
appearances of being a nice family, Robert, his mother, father, and two sisters
had dinner every night. Each member’s clothing had to be spotless, the plates perfectly
set, and planned menu. There were fresh vegetables, meat, potatoes, items most
of the neighborhood would probably never see on their tables. Whatever the
family wanted, the cook would bring to them. Every dinner, however, was
unbearable. Robert was grilled endlessly about grades from school, success in
his sports, plans for the future. No mention of his friends or happiness. His
siblings suffered a bit less since he was considered the most promising of the
three children. Robert ate very little of the feast they prepared every night,
and opted to leave the table early every day to escape the accusations and
eventual lecture that would befall him. His excuse was that he must pick up
bread from the panaderia. His parents allowed this, since nobody else wanted to
make the walk to the poorer part of the street.
This happened to be the bakery
where Maria worked. Her family had eleven children, so she had to work each day
to support them even though she was only Robert's age. She knew Robert would come at the same time each night, right
when the bakery was about to close, so every day she set aside a regalo each
for them to share, along with the day’s leftover bread. They shared their
little meal, laughing and talking about funny things that happened that day, or
people they saw. Robert inevitably tried to get Maria to steal an additional
cuernito for him, but she playfully refused. Robert always thought this was
what normal family dinners might be like, but he never knew. As he brought the
loaf back to his family, he thought how sometimes having the greatest feast in
the world wasn’t near as good as jam and
stale bread with Maria.
A/N This is based on the story The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse. In the tale, there's a mouse who lives in the country and invites his cousin, a mouse from a bigger town, to visit him in the country. The city mouse is not impressed by the cheese and bread they have for dinner, since he is used to fancier meals. He convinces the country mouse to come to the city and eat the better food there. However, as they are eating the remains of a great feast, two giant dogs come in and chase the mice out. The country mouse leaves, telling his cousin that he would rather eat his humble food in peace than that feast in fear.
Bibliography. "The Town Mouse & The Country Mouse" from The Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacobs.
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