Cuties

Only occasionally do I eat citrus fruits. Something about the hassle of peeling deters me. Orange zest underneath my fingernails, a thin mist of juice covers my desk.

After I finish peeling, all that covers the orange is a thin layer of white pith. I do little to remove the stringy white substance. ‘You lose all the vitamins when you take off the white stringers’ - I think back to my grandpa who told me this several years ago.

At last, I tear apart the flesh into its eight pieces.

The thin sticky residue on my workspace and the leftover peel reminds me of the orange long ago digested. After washing my hands for a third time, I conclude: it will be awhile before I eat citrus fruits again.