my parents asked me what gift I would like to receive for the New Year. I don’t remember exactly how long I thought about the answer and what prompted me to such choice, but my desire was pineapple - a real one (not from a can), big and bizarre. When the parents heard this, they were a little embarrassed and answered that the pineapple would be on the festive table, and I can choose something different. But my only desire for the New Year was an exotic fruit. I remember waiting for it and imagining its taste. I was wondering what it was like. Just the appearance of pineapple inspired me. This juicy flesh of sunny color, hidden under a hard skin, resembling a tortoise shell, seemed to me to hide an unusual taste. It should have been a small burst of joy in the mouth. Juicy, sweet and sour, keeping the heat of the sun and the scent of the ocean - that’s how I imagined that taste. And then December 31st came. The last day of the year brought a festive fuss, my grandmother and the object of long expectations - a pineapple! My gift was just in the center of the table, crowning it with a cap of green thorny leaves. Before eating pineapple, I had to go through the stages of countless salads and second courses. And then came the most solemn moment: when all had eaten enough Olivier and French meat, plates and cutlery disappeared from the table, my father uncorked a bottle of champagne, mother brought candy and began to cut pineapple. At first she got rid of the leaves, and then of the peel, leaving only the flesh that beckoned me with its juicy appearance. Cutting the fruit into slices, the mother divided it between family. Finally, I found pineapple on my plate. How long I've waited for that moment! I took a small yellow cube and brought it to my nose - the smell was fresh, but not the same as I imagined it, then I bit off some. The taste was not that bad, but all my expectations instantly fell apart. Pineapple was quite harsh and sour, without exotic sweetness and aroma. I put the rest of the cube in my mouth, chewed and swallowed. That wasn’t close to what I dreamed of. I was disappointed. But that moment helped me to realize one small, important true: too big expectations give rise to disappointment.
15 Mar 2018
Expectation by Zakhar Manukhov
Once, when I was a little boy,
my parents asked me what gift I would like to receive for the New Year. I don’t remember exactly how long I thought about the answer and what prompted me to such choice, but my desire was pineapple - a real one (not from a can), big and bizarre. When the parents heard this, they were a little embarrassed and answered that the pineapple would be on the festive table, and I can choose something different. But my only desire for the New Year was an exotic fruit. I remember waiting for it and imagining its taste. I was wondering what it was like. Just the appearance of pineapple inspired me. This juicy flesh of sunny color, hidden under a hard skin, resembling a tortoise shell, seemed to me to hide an unusual taste. It should have been a small burst of joy in the mouth. Juicy, sweet and sour, keeping the heat of the sun and the scent of the ocean - that’s how I imagined that taste. And then December 31st came. The last day of the year brought a festive fuss, my grandmother and the object of long expectations - a pineapple! My gift was just in the center of the table, crowning it with a cap of green thorny leaves. Before eating pineapple, I had to go through the stages of countless salads and second courses. And then came the most solemn moment: when all had eaten enough Olivier and French meat, plates and cutlery disappeared from the table, my father uncorked a bottle of champagne, mother brought candy and began to cut pineapple. At first she got rid of the leaves, and then of the peel, leaving only the flesh that beckoned me with its juicy appearance. Cutting the fruit into slices, the mother divided it between family. Finally, I found pineapple on my plate. How long I've waited for that moment! I took a small yellow cube and brought it to my nose - the smell was fresh, but not the same as I imagined it, then I bit off some. The taste was not that bad, but all my expectations instantly fell apart. Pineapple was quite harsh and sour, without exotic sweetness and aroma. I put the rest of the cube in my mouth, chewed and swallowed. That wasn’t close to what I dreamed of. I was disappointed. But that moment helped me to realize one small, important true: too big expectations give rise to disappointment.
my parents asked me what gift I would like to receive for the New Year. I don’t remember exactly how long I thought about the answer and what prompted me to such choice, but my desire was pineapple - a real one (not from a can), big and bizarre. When the parents heard this, they were a little embarrassed and answered that the pineapple would be on the festive table, and I can choose something different. But my only desire for the New Year was an exotic fruit. I remember waiting for it and imagining its taste. I was wondering what it was like. Just the appearance of pineapple inspired me. This juicy flesh of sunny color, hidden under a hard skin, resembling a tortoise shell, seemed to me to hide an unusual taste. It should have been a small burst of joy in the mouth. Juicy, sweet and sour, keeping the heat of the sun and the scent of the ocean - that’s how I imagined that taste. And then December 31st came. The last day of the year brought a festive fuss, my grandmother and the object of long expectations - a pineapple! My gift was just in the center of the table, crowning it with a cap of green thorny leaves. Before eating pineapple, I had to go through the stages of countless salads and second courses. And then came the most solemn moment: when all had eaten enough Olivier and French meat, plates and cutlery disappeared from the table, my father uncorked a bottle of champagne, mother brought candy and began to cut pineapple. At first she got rid of the leaves, and then of the peel, leaving only the flesh that beckoned me with its juicy appearance. Cutting the fruit into slices, the mother divided it between family. Finally, I found pineapple on my plate. How long I've waited for that moment! I took a small yellow cube and brought it to my nose - the smell was fresh, but not the same as I imagined it, then I bit off some. The taste was not that bad, but all my expectations instantly fell apart. Pineapple was quite harsh and sour, without exotic sweetness and aroma. I put the rest of the cube in my mouth, chewed and swallowed. That wasn’t close to what I dreamed of. I was disappointed. But that moment helped me to realize one small, important true: too big expectations give rise to disappointment.
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