Strawberry Milkshake

Jennifer decided to walk to McDonalds with her dad and brother. She never leaves her house during the weekend, so it was peculiar of her to take a walk outside. She was feeling so angry, particularly this week, because her grades on overall subjects seemed to be declining.

Once she arrived at McDonalds, she ordered a strawberry milkshake, which is her favorite. In a casual manner, the waiter told her they are out of strawberries. Jennifer could not believe what she just heard, and still wanted to have it. She was unsatisfied and frustrated, but agreed to order vanilla instead.

Few days later, she was at the McDonalds again. This time, she came by herself. Again, she ordered her favorite strawberry milkshake, and saw in the little computer screen what she ordered (strawberry milkshake, of course), written in Hebrew letters that she cannot read. She excitedly waited a few seconds at the counter, trying to look calm at the same time. But then, the waiter passed her a vanilla milkshake. Shocked, Jennifer was dumbfounded and truly angry. But she still took it as if vanilla was what she wanted, because she did not want to argue with the waiter.

It was a large amount of milkshake, though. Feeling full, she decided to go on a run along the beautiful Tel Aviv beach. She felt proud of herself, since she has never volunteered to run before and this was her first time doing so. Recently, she has been constantly eating a lot of food to make herself feel better over the stress. Jennifer felt sad, because she knew that it was an unhealthy habit, and promised herself to watch her diet.

As she ran, she remembered how much she enjoyed the beautiful view of the Israeli beach from her room. When she breathed, she felt the cool breeze from the Mediterranean Sea refreshing her soul. Soon, Jennifer realized that she has never been in the water yet. She started to feel a little depressed, and began to have a feeling of doubt on how she has spent her time during past months. One hundred and sixty-five days have passed, and it only felt as she woke up from a long sleep. Little regrets crept into her mind. She should have tried to live each day as fully as she can, as if it were her last day, and make her days worthy. Looking back on the past, she has always been anxiously fretting over whether her grade would drop or not. She realized her worries would only make her more timid, and felt she has hardly invested her time and effort on her life, from a wider perspective. She should step forward from her house more often during the weekends or so, and make time for herself to have or to do something that she loves. One of the things would be having herself those strawberry milkshakes she loves.

While taking a break at a nearby bench, Jennifer overheard that Paul Walker died from a car crash, and was shocked by the actor’s unwarned death. No one knows when they will have to part from their lives. Another reason why she should appreciate her people and moments in her life, and keep wishing for strawberry milkshakes when she can.

When Jennifer came back from her long run, she was grateful that she has a warm home to arrive at and her own room. After a few moments, she felt proud of herself as she reviewed her completed chemistry project. She also redesigned her room, as a meaning of another new beginning. Jennifer called her friends, and they planned a Thanksgiving/Chanukah dinner at a restaurant and to spend time together at the beach on Friday afternoon. Suddenly, her mother knocked on her door and came in with a postcard of a beautiful Rio de Janeiro picture. Both Jennifer and her family were so surprised and amazed to receive an unexpected postcard from Jennifer’s Brazilian pen pal. Feeling special and happy, she ran to the kitchen and made herself and her mother, father, brother, and sister homemade strawberry milkshakes.