Bitter In The Mouth Pdf Page
And that, she thought, might be the beginning of something new.
Linda never forgot a taste. Not the flavor itself, but the precise second it landed on her tongue—sweet, sour, salt, bitter, umami—and the memory that came with it. She had a condition, though she didn’t learn the word for it until she was thirty: lexical-gustatory synesthesia. Words tasted like something. Porch was buttered toast. Telegram was burnt coffee. Her own name, Linda, was cold milk—thin and slightly sweet, but with a chalky finish.
“To buy honey,” Linda said. “I want to taste something sweet for a change.” bitter in the mouth pdf
“Why did you wait so long?” Linda asked.
Her mother was thinner than memory allowed. She sat in a recliner under a crocheted blanket, even though it was July. Her hands were bird-bones wrapped in skin. And that, she thought, might be the beginning
“You said there was something about my father.”
“He died before you were born. Car accident. His mother—your grandmother—she didn’t want anything to do with the situation. So I never told anyone.” Her mother’s eyes were wet but her voice was dry. “I’m telling you now because I’m dying, and I’m tired of being the only one who knew.” She had a condition, though she didn’t learn
Her mother closed her eyes. “Because I was a coward,” she said. The word coward tasted like nothing. That was the strangest thing. After all these years, after all the bitterness— coward had no taste at all. Empty. Hollow. Like the space where a tooth used to be.