Blueberry

Isn't Just One Enough?

And so we begin.

"OK, how many blueberries do you want?"

"One?"

"One? That won't fill me."

"One packet."

"Oh yes, that should do. I thought you meant—"

"I know. But you can't buy blueberries that way."

"Why not?"

"You just can't."

"Well I think that's an injustice."

"Why?"

"Because people should have a right."

She opens a packet, takes out one, and places it in his hand.

"Go to the cashier and put that on the conveyor belt and tell her you want to buy it."

He takes it and does what she says.

The conveyor belt consumes it.

The blueberry splatters in front of the cashier.

She scowls at him and wipes the counter clean, painstakingly using a toothpick to remove the blueberry flesh from the inside of the conveyor belt.

He turns blueberry blue.

He puts his hand deep into his pocket, pulls out five dollars, and places it on the counter.

He walks away, head down, noticing the blueberry stains on his shirt.

"One blueberry is more than enough," he concedes.

A story by Pemba Umoja