Cupboard of Abundance
Every time I went to the grocery store, I would pass by a bungalow that a single middle-aged lady resided. I never saw any man at her house so I just guessed she was single. The walls were covered with vines and I swear the leaves changed colours in October, although we all know the fact that in Malaysia there is no autumn. Some parts of the bungalow were all mossy. The windows were decorated with lacy white curtains and the main door had a large antique lion’s head knob.
One day while passing by, I saw that the lady waved to me and calling out to me to come to her house. I parked my car at the roadside and walked to her.
“How are you?” She asked. “I am fine, thank you. And you?” I asked her back.
“Oh, I am fine too. I am Joan, welcome to my house,” she replied. “I am Amelie,” I introduced myself while following her inside. “I often saw you looked this way, so I thought one day I invite you for coffee,” she continued.
Once inside, my jaw dropped upon seeing the interior of her house; it was contrary to the exterior! The living room looked so modern that it has the main furniture in white while the rest in shades of grey.
“Please sit down, I am going to make us coffee.”
“Let me help you,” I said while following her to the kitchen.
“I have all sorts of Arabica, what variety do you prefer? Just name it, I got it,” she smiled. “Do you have Hawaii’s Kona by any chance?” I asked.
“Sure! Hold on, I will get it from my cupboard,” she opened a door to a storeroom I reckoned, and closed it. She came out five minutes later with a pack of Kona in her hand. “Excellence!” I said astonishingly.
We had our coffee in the living room. I never tasted Kona and after a sip, my eyes rolled. It was the best coffee I ever tasted! We chatted a bit and from her story, I found out that she is an avid traveller. And while chatting, my eyes wandered around the living room. I saw a cupboard full of mini dolls from all around the world. And her furniture was not local, they were all imported. Her walls were decorated with original paintings; two of them I noticed were the works of Wassily Kandinsky and Jan Vermeer. After a while, she got up from her chair and asked me, “do you like some biscotti?”
“Italian ones!” I said jokingly.
“No problem!” she said while giggling.
She went to the storeroom again and a little later came out with a pack of authentic biscotti from Italy; Claudio Biscotti.
We continued talking and I told her about my experience in Tuscany where I worked for a free stay. Joan apparently had done it before and we laughed! Then both of us mentioned, ” Fettunta!” We laughed and Joan got up her chair again and said, “Wait here, I have something for you.” She went to the storeroom again and came back with a real Tuscan bread, some garlic cloves, a bottle of fresh-pressed olive oil, and a small bottle of table salt.
“Wow, you have everything,” I told her while helping myself to the Tuscan bread.
“The whole world is in the cupboard,” she replied with a grin. “Tell me, what is top on your bucket list?”
“Well, Ireland! When I saw the movie ‘PS I Love You’, I straight away fell in love. Been wanting to go there but no opportunity yet,” I explained.
“Ok, close your eyes and hold my hand,” Joan said. I obliged. I heard that she opened a door and closed it. She opened another door and then asked me to open my eyes.
A chill sent shivers down my spine. We were both at Wicklow Mountains, Ireland.
This is for Prompt #07: The Cupboard of Abundance, July 2020 writing prompts.