Laurels Literary Magazine Fall 2014 | Page 29

Rambutan Chi Tran I like to eat rambutan, I tell you, my voice full of chime and melody. Buy it for me. You return with a whole ten pound box of blood red jewels, waiting to be eaten. The spiky outside betrays the soft, chewy meat inside. No one knows this secret but me. With eyes round as saucers, you hand me the box. You expect something in return, but I have nothing to give. All I know how to do is take. That deep hunger in the pit of my stomach— or is it my heart—tells me to grab all I can. I don’t want to be empty. You try to feed me the rambutan, but it is not enough. It is never enough. 27