The Christmas Treat

It was my first Christmas in school

and we were getting a treat,

something special,

something nice.

Paper serviettes were handed out

and we placed them on our desks,

our mouths watering in anticipation.

And then came the cake,

a splendid fruit cake

coated with marzipan,

iced and cut

into slices,

one for each child.

What a treat!

I didn’t like marzipan,

so I ate the icing

and the cake 

and left the marzipan to be thrown away

with the paper serviette.

But this was not allowed,

the teacher said.

All of the treat must be eaten.

I didn’t want to eat it.

Well, adults aren’t made to eat food

that they don’t like, are they,

so why should children?

It wasn’t fair.

It wasn’t just.

The teacher disagreed.

I must eat the treat,

she said.

So I threw it on the floor,

and to make sure,

stamped on it.

I was made to stand on a chair

in disgrace for not eating the treat.

At four years old,

it was my first encounter

with irony.

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