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It was probably the storm that drove everyone out of their homes. The pounding of the rain on roof tops proved to be trying on their part, for they have all been stuck within the confines of their walls for at least the whole day; and the wind, of course strong and uninviting, came more welcomed than could be expected. For as long as anyone could remember, heat had been growing more incessant day by day and even days that came after, so who would have complained of those winds that may have seemed to prove fatal? It chased away the heat after all.
Whenever the rain let up, it was an opportunity. One that may have made everyone hungry; everyone wanted a bite to eat all of a sudden; thinking back, I really could not conclude as to why everyone else wanted to go out and eat. Maybe it was the wind, or the boredom, or maybe it even was the lighting of the sky, the darkness made every brightly lit fast food restaurant appear as a haven. But it would be useless to try to make ends of the reason for everyone else’s actions. All it mattered to me was that the storm had let up, for who knows how much longer, and me as well as my friends were hungry.
We all decided to meet that night just a few blocks away from the nearest Mcdonalds. Seeing how that the streets were so closely intertwined with each other I guess it would not make a difference if I mentioned that we met right across the street, only a few establishments away. The night was at its prime; the clouds, illuminated by something else other than the stars or the moon, and the street lamps were all we had to be able to distinguish ourselves from each other. The yellowish lights that revealed more shadows than real contours of features were just enough to show you which one of your friends was already standing next to you, waiting for the rest so you could all come inside and grab something to eat. I was not aware how long it was taking for the rest to arrive, my cigarette kept me busy; I watched the smoke appear only to disappear when it broke free of the light. Usually, whenever I find the need to feed myself while smoking a cigarette the common thing that gave evidence to my hunger was the cigarette itself; whenever I inhaled a puff of smoke I could feel the hollowness of my stomach as smoke traveled within the depths of me; to feel it appear inside only to feel it disappear, and watch it exit from my airways. But at that time I could not feel anything hollow inside me, in fact I was not even sure if I was hungry; still I paid the matter no attention.
When there were finally five of us, and after teasing the one who came the latest, we started to make our way to the place. Like I pictured it to have been, our walk did not take very long. The lights from the place that distinguished themselves from the street lights as well as the darkened street was within our eye’s reach in no time. I decided to walk a little faster than everyone else for just the reason of walking faster; I still could not feel my hunger. I reached the threshold of the parking lot when my friends were just about to cross the street to head where I already was; and to my surprise and disgust the place was packed. It would not be an exaggeration to say that every inch of the small space that place offered was occupied, not one person was sitting and the seats and tables were all missing. From where I was standing I could already see through the large windows that the way all those nameless people stood, it seemed that they could not even avoid poking elbows at each other whenever one reached for their pockets; they were all facing towards the counter, and not one moved forward, even those who stood in line stood as still as everyone else. The only space that was between them was when the shapes of their bodies curved only to reveal another part of someone standing next to it and another one standing next to the other one. I know this all was not out of the ordinary, for if a place serves really good food then it is quite understandable that it will attract a really good amount of people; that would have made it all appear as normal except that not one of them had at least a morsel of food at their possession, nor did anyone appear to have been chewing something, not even a piece of gum.
Before I was to turn around and inform my friends that the place would not be able to accommodate not even one of us, and start my ranting that I was not prepared to wait in such a long line as well as let them know of my disgust for I was never in favor of such crowded places wherever or whatever it may be, my attention was called upon by a woman who appeared to be an employee of that place. She was in full uniform standing all alone in the wet parking lot holding a fair sized plastic bag of boxes that carried the logo of the place. Her presence at that time made sense, seeing the place could not offer anymore space, the staff resorted to taking orders outside. Just like when a line towards the register would be too long, a staff member would navigate through the line taking the orders of the one who were placed in the middle; it was more effective this way in order to save time in serving the people. “Good evening sir” as she welcomed me with a trained smile to the permanent extension of the place. Before I was able to think of what I wanted to order she hands me the plastic bag that she had been carrying. “It’s a free sample” she says while still keeping that smile of hers, by this time my friends were already where I was, and all of them reflected the same shock and disgust as I had at first. In a way it pleased me to have received this bag full of free samples but unfortunately by looking at the boxes I knew already what was inside them before even opening them. They were most likely filled with the common things that were usually ordered by most people; sadly this was not what I had in mind, by this time I had already made my decision as to what I wanted to have. My friends looked quizzically at the bag I had in my hand and were asking me exactly what it was. I paid them no mind at the moment for I was already ready to order, I told the staff member that I wanted a quarter-pounder with cheese before she even asked me for what I wanted; suddenly her face shifted to that of regret, and indeed it still looked as if she had been trained in doing so. “umm..I’m sorry sir it would have to cost you 1,500 pesos”; I do not know if it was because of my friends who were all starting to annoy me with their questions about the plastic bag, or if it was the insanely high price that she gave me for a burger, or both that made me want to hear what she told me again. “Im sorry due to supply and demand we had to raise our prices”; the moment she finished her statement my friends and I were in a state of non belief, not knowing what to make of it at the least. I knew there was no use in haggling for a decent price, so I simply tried to choose a different item from the menu, and to my greater surprise it was all out of stock. I was starting to become annoyed at the ridiculousness of what was happening, I even considered purchasing a quarter-pounder with cheese despite of its price, thinking that it may just be the most delicious burger I shall ever taste, but to my regret I did not even have enough money to pay for a fraction of it. So I turned around in order to head back home and tried to please myself with the thought of having at least a free sample in my hand. When I walked towards my friends they all gathered around me like vultures, all four of them swarming around, enveloping me from all sides, grabbing what they can from the bag. The plastic rustled loudly with the chaos of it all, hands were flinging around as if they were fighting; of course, the owners of these hands were no strangers to me, however seeing them flail and move in such a violent way that I could barely make out the sight that beheld itself before me made it seem that they had a life of their own. When finally they each had their share I saw that there was just one box left inside the now almost hollow bag; I did not let myself grow angry, for I was willing to share the contents with them in the first place, all they needed to do was ask. I held what was left and threw away the bag, letting the wind catch it and carry it away to some place I can no longer see. In an almost simultaneous manner we all opened the boxes that each of us held, and just the same as we opened the boxes, all our faces held on to an expression of shock. It did not contain what I expected it to have, and seeing the looks on my friend’s faces, which was all almost comical even at the time, they did not find much either. Corn chips were all that were inside. Plain and simple: yellow, salted, crumby, bite sized, un- flavored. I counted how many my box contained, there were exactly eight; I do not know if my friends counted theirs as well. We all stood there in the wet and windy parking lot with the promise of the storm coming back that hovered over our heads, almost in a perfect circle holding our boxes for a while before deciding to devour every single piece as fast as we could; seeing every piece appear between our finger tips only to watch it disappear into our mouths and into the depths of our bowels.
The next morning I could see through the window that the storm had already passed, it was not able to keep its promise after all; now its probably somewhere else, bothering a different set of people, or maybe it just eventually evaporated, back to the winds and the atmosphere from where it came; it lingers there waiting for another opportunity to return; to make me hungry once more.