Читать книгу Our Collective Life - JD Kennedy - Страница 8

The microwave beeped, which snapped Linda out of her reverie. She loved cooking and was strictly trying to follow a diet. They had gained a lot of weight over the last ten years, as everyone in the Collective was eating whatever they wanted. The extra weight was making life more difficult and exacerbating some physical health issues, so a couple of years ago Linda held a meeting within about it. She would be the first to admit she was surprised when the majority had agreed to try and take better care of the body. Linda had taken charge of the health regime, and she loved to spend time planning the menu and then cooking the meals.

However it wasn’t always a sure thing she would be out long enough to finish what she started. For Linda it was a good day when she was out here and could plan, prepare and cook a meal from beginning to end. And if she was really lucky, she would even get to eat it. The whole process, from start to finish gave her a tremendous amount of satisfaction and once again, she found herself thinking she could have been happy to have a career with food.

However she knew she was an altar, she wasn’t the original one born into the body. And in truth, even though she did have desires of what she would do if she was the only one in the body, she could not really imagine what life would be like if she was on her own. She was so used to hearing noise from within most of the time, and David, their doctor had said that was something non-multiples didn’t experience in the same way. What would life be like without that noise?

The microwave beeped again, and the words “Remove food” flashed up on the display. Linda tried to pull her mind back (did non-multiples do that? Get lost in their thoughts? She would have to ask David) and focus on the task at hand. Pulling the container of steamed vegetables out of the microwave, she put them aside while she focused on the meat in the air fryer. She turned it over and was pleased to see that the chicken looked well cooked and still succulent. Using the tongs, she removed it and placed it on a plate, along with the steamed vegetables. Taking the plate and cutlery to the chair, she sat down to eat, hoping it was, indeed her that was able to eat the food tonight. Lately she had been cooking and then been replaced out here with someone else, so she didn’t get to eat what she had lovingly slaved over. Mind you, she had noticed someone else often did the dishes in those instances, so that was a positive!