Out of nowhere, in the middle of a routine Monday afternoon, I burst into tears. But it wasn’t just any cry; it was one of those sobs that takes your breath away, that leaves you gasping for air…
After a while, between the heavy tears streaming from my eyes, I started to panic. My shirt was soaked, and I tried drying myself off with a towel, but it didn’t help. I ran to the kitchen and grabbed a bowl, making a tremendous mess all over the house. It felt like I was draining from the inside out. But things only got worse when I noticed the bowl starting to fill up—not just with tears, but as the bowl filled, it began to turn into soup, noodles and all—a broth of tears, thick and fragrant, somewhere between ramen and chicken soup.
How does this even happen? I wondered. And just as the bowl was about to overflow, I stopped crying.
There I was, standing in the middle of the kitchen with a bowl of tear soup. Far from feeling disgusted, I couldn’t deny that it looked good. And from the same place within me that the urge to cry had come, a ravenous hunger now emerged. Without much thought, I began to devour the soup, with no manners or decorum, using my hands to bring the bowl to my mouth. It was aromatic and flavorful, with soft notes and sharp contrasts—the best soup I had ever eaten. I didn’t stop until it was gone.
For a moment, I stared blankly at the wall, trying to regain my senses as if recovering from an uncontrollable physical attack. Then a third wave hit me: my stomach began to bloat, and I felt nauseous, as if that delicious bite had poisoned me. I ran to the bathroom, thinking I was going to vomit. That dreadful feeling took hold—the sensation that comes right before you’re about to empty everything inside you into the toilet. But despite a few dry heaves, nothing happened—or rather, nothing came out.
The discomfort lingered, as if the tear soup inside me was causing indigestion. Sitting there in the bathroom, somewhere between worried, astonished, and somewhat traumatized, I asked myself: Why did I swallow it all over again?
Mixpov 