Just a Snack

Kaye was attempting to cut a watermelon while holding it down like it was a savage beast that needed to be subdued. Quickly losing his patience and his hunger growing by the second, he picked up the pace as he sawed through the fruit in hopes to eventually reach the sweet nectar within. The knife slipped through the husk and scraped his hand. He screamed and released everything from his grasp. He examined his hand to find a small gash that was oozing a droplet of blood. He cursed to himself as he tended to his wound. Glancing at the thick green shell, he suddenly had an idea. He snatched a meat hammer from a utensil drawer and aimed it over the melon. He drew back and smashed it with full force. In the midst of the explosion, a sizable chunk of it smacked him square in the face and he stumbled back. He shook his head and collected his prize to feast on.

Idna, though neither her nor Kaye knew of their fate, who had stuck together through thick and thin, was in the middle of reading a book. She was captivated by the story, playing visuals in her head to how everything would play out, from how the characters would interact, to confessions of love, to confrontations between the good and the evil, standing up for what they believed in. She was so embedded in reading that she didn’t notice she had a cut until she noticed a speck of red on the pages. She glimpsed at it and cursed of her book being ruined. She slipped into a bathroom to clean the cut.

Zed, who, despite giving Kaye a difficult time in school, has, in a way, helped him mature and opened his mind to how diverse the world and its people can be, was in the process of writing a song and testing the notes on his guitar, thinking to himself that it needed to be perfect for the band’s next concert at an upcoming event. A young boy runs in, aims a rubber band, and fires at Zed’s face. He flinched and darted his head at the small child, giving him a disapproving glare. The boy runs away and Zed gave chase, threatening to kill him, but not serious about it, of course.

Kaye awoke the next morning and went to the bathroom for a quick shower. After doing so, he wiped away the condensation on the mirror and paused. He realized he had a large dark bruise on his left cheek. He gently poked it and winced from the shot of pain coursing through. He got dressed and left his home for the day.

Outside, Kaye crossed paths with Idna and Zed. He thought nothing much of it, as everyone then and there lived in a small town, making it easy to run into familiar faces, but something about them caught his attention. Idna had a bandage on one of her hands, as he did, and Zed had a noticeable bruise on his left cheek, just like himself.

Everyone exchanged looks of confusion.

“What happened to you guys?” Kaye queried.

“It’s just a papercut,” Idna assured.

“My little brother shot a rubber band in my face,” Zed explained, furrowing his eyebrows.

Kaye smirked and chuckled to himself.

Zed leered at him.

“Of course you would find it funny,” he said.

Idna examined the bruises on the boys’ faces.

“Call me crazy,” she began, “but both of your bruises look the same.”

Kaye and Zed turned towards a window to see she was right: they were the same size, same hue, and same shape.

“Freaky,” Zed commented.

Kaye faced Idna.

“Mind if I see your cut?” he asked.

“Sure,” Idna responded.

The two of them undid their bandages to find that the scars were identical to each other. They were lengthened and angled the exact same way. Not only that, but the scrapes were on the same hands as well.

“How’d you get yours?” Zed asked.

“I hurt myself trying to cut a watermelon,” Kaye replied.

Zed snorted and attempted to keep his laughter in, but wasn’t succeeding.

“Haha, I’m black and I eat watermelon,” Kaye said in a monotonous tone.

Zed burst into fits of uncontrollable laughter.

Kaye said nothing as Idna shook her head.

He thought to himself if this was mere coincidence or if it was something much greater, like a play in some destiny that the three of them were cursed to be a part of. But more importantly, he questioned if everyone else was thinking the same thing.