milk before cereal as a tool of measurement.
no mercy for the opponent who draws two cards after being served with a draw four.
the odor of gasoline invading the home of my body, leaving me nothing but nausea and professionally shot fireworks in my brain.
30 second videos of people walking on crates as if the clouds & concrete traded places.
my empty bus seat shaking its head at me as the bus driver drives off without me in it.
my dreams barely letting me into the room one hour before I have to wake up.
the one part of the story I didn’t reread returning to haunt me as a question on a two-questioned quiz.
accidentally being a bit too heavy handed on the brows when I’m in a time crunch.
forgetting my music is on the highest volume when I press play on “Ain’t it Fun”.
my GPS rerouting on that busy road near Panda Express and Home Depot that brings me anxiety with its 50’lem lanes.
not being able to hear why Lauryn Hill gets mad frustrated when she rhymes, seven minutes into my walk to class because I’m in the country, so the service often relocates to the city.
you’ve never watched Mean Girls?
driving from here to who in who’s car?
forcing myself at gunpoint to make it to the DPS by 6 a.m. to renew my license, just to be met with the vivid image of my credit card in the purse I didn’t bring with me, hanging in my closet next to my purple high school graduation gown.
being back hand slapped by the rude awakening of me underestimating the tediousness of a project 5 hours before canvas closes its doors on me like Chick-Fil-A on a Sunday.
returning home to relax in a bowl of Raisin Bran after driving in a sauna and seeing that I accidentally bought coconut milk instead of almond.
powering through the unethical taste of sourdough bread that not even strawberry jelly & peter pan’s magical peanut butter can save.
hiking to Timbuktu without my sunglasses nor umbrella while the sun follows me like the spotlight on a theatre kid reciting a monologue from Hamlet.
Amanda Chidinma is a multidisciplinary artist and writer from Houston, Texas. Fun fact: She wrote her very first short story as an undergraduate through iMessage. When she’s not occupied with life’s responsibilities, she enjoys binge-watching TV shows, crafting witty jokes that come to mind infrequently, painting, and sitting in silence, as she considers it a luxury. You can find her on Instagram @thewritingsofamandachidinma.
Image: “No Stopping Any Time” by Alex J. Tunney
Pine Hills Review 