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There is a list of unpleasant things and a list of nice things that happen during the holidays. I only keep the most important.
The unpleasant things first.
The grownups pinching my cheek and telling me how big I’ve grown.
The grannies kissing me with their beards, piercing like needles.
My cousins breaking my nerves and my toys.
Now for the good stuff:
Grandma’s delicious pastitsio*.
The potatoes without the turkey.
The cookies with whole almonds that my other grandma bakes.
The PlayStation dad promised me.
Unfortunately, in order to get to the good things, I have to experience all the unpleasant things first —and these holidays are no exception. To eat the pastitsio and get the PlayStation, I have to sit at the family table, get pinched, kissed, play with my cousins and end up having the usual fight with them.
It’s New Year’s Eve. I’m lying in a pan of pastitsio, covered in béchamel. Grandma strokes me gently, then grates lots of cheese on top of me before baking me in the oven at 200 degrees. I made this pastitsio just for you, sweetie, she whispers in my ear.
Hallucinations caused by fever, says the doctor, and recommends antibiotics. Acute tonsillitis, he adds. I think of the cookies with whole almonds. The ones I have wolfed down.
I’ve certainly exhausted my list of unpleasant things this year. First of all, I didn’t eat my favourite pastitsio, but chicken vermicelli soup for the sick. Secondly, I was not spared the pinching, kissing and drooling, although I admit they were all more restrained. And worst of all, my cousins secretly opened my present. The adults in the dining room, as always, in their own little world. While I was flickering with fever in my room, the PlayStation screen was filling the room with a flickering light, as my cousins struggled to level up.
*Greek dish with pasta, béchamel sauce, and minced meat.
About EIRINI SKOURA
Eirini Skoura was born and raised in Athens, Greece. She studied Greek Literature at the Athens University and she obtained a bachelor degree and a Ph.D in pedagogy. She has published articles and essays in pedagogical magazines. Her stories have been distinguished in literary contests, they have been included in collective editions and have been published in literature magazines, in print or online. She writes short and very short stories, as well as scripts for short films.
