Dreamt I was staying with a wealthy family for the night. They had so much food, it would surely spoil before they ate it all. They never ate the same thing twice in a row and always encouraged each other to eat more.
But I was not to have anything without asking. Not even water. And with the exception of water, I was always denied. Yet, they encouraged me to ask even more, which makes me think it was for the pleasure of denying me. When I stopped asking, they started policing the kitchen because they thought I was sneaking food.
I wasn’t.
I had expected this, and brought snacks of my own. One of which was a bundle of freshly picked cherry tomatoes. (You guys don’t understand my love of cherry tomatoes.) It was cheap and common, which meant that family wasn’t interested in purchasing it. But because of that, they didn’t have any of their own in their pantry.
They lost their shit when I sat down outside (the only place I was allowed to eat) and started happily munching on the cherry tomatoes.
How dare I bring food into their home, be their guest, and not share with my gracious hosts. (No, I did not accidentally a word.)
They talked shit about me the entire time I was outside. The children were crying that they wanted some and would not be soothed with the six other varieties of tomatoes in the pantry. They wanted something they didn’t have and they would not rest until they had it, or had destroyed what I had brought.
But to snatch my cherry tomatoes meant coming outside. Where it is dirty. Where there is no TV and no WiFi. Where they are not in control of their environment.
A bird came to my feet, looking for dropped scraps. I tossed one of the cherry tomatoes towards it. It snatched it up and flew away chirping happily.
“It’s not fair, Mum! She gave one to the bird! Why can’t she give us some!”
“Because some people are just greedy like that. No sense of hospitality. None!”
I heard them, turned to look at them, and laughed which made them even more angry. I finished off the cherry tomatoes and stood, dusting myself.
“For all your hoard, you are still hungry. For all your wealth, you are still poor. Eat, then. Eat all of what you have, and never be satisfied. This I speak against you, with the birds and the ground as my witness. As you have spoken ill against others, so that ill shall be visited on you. As you have hoarded from others, that hoard will never fill you. Eat, and be hungry.”
I turned and left that house, resuming my journey without any hint of guilt.