Breakfast
by Sawa

---I take a box of cereal out of the pantry, open the top, and begin to pour myself a bowl. My eyes squeeze shut as my mouth opens involuntarily, and mid-yawn, I hear a strange noise. The sort of sound one doesn’t usually hear coming out of cereal boxes. ---Looking down into my bowl, I see something that sets off a riot of childhood memories. Since when did 21st Century cereal come with toys actually inside the bag? I hadn’t even noticed the advertisement on the front when I bought it. ---I pick up the toy car and unwrap it, setting it down on the counter and testing out the plastic suspension with a little pressure. Seems sturdy enough. I push it back and forth, the mini wheels squealing with the delight of their first taste of solid ground. Cereal forgotten, I shift into drive and peel out on the slick Formica. ---Flying past the flour and sugar, the bright blue car hugs a hairpin turn past the knives at 150 mph. My tires screech and twist with a few simple turns, and I’m defying the laws of gravity for sacred, breathless moments, riding apple and pear wallpaper and leveling off on the counter again to retrace my melted rubber tracks. ---As the entire car rattles under the burden of my pressuring it on, the steering wheel shakes in my tight grip. I’m squeezing the blood out of my hands trying to keep what little control I have. My body reverberates in the leather bucket seat as I pass my starting point. Through the windshield I can see the unexplored expanse ahead of me. I feel the urge to test the limits of this speed-hungry machine, persistent and hot like the adrenaline in my arteries. ---This isn’t enough! Faster and faster, I’m pressing the pedal to the car floor and aiming for the wooden edge of the wide-open road. My teeth grinding against each other, lips pulled back into a dangerous snarl as I fling my near weightless vehicle off the edge and into the sunrise coming through the sliding glass doors. This is it! This is what I’ve been waiting to feel my entire life! ---The small car hits the floor and lands on its back, wheels still spinning like an overturned beetle kicking its heels into the air. I pick it up and set it next to my bowl, pour milk over my cereal and dig in with a satisfied smile, knowing that today work was sitting backseat and I’d be in control of the wheel.

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