The thing about Chinese restaurants is you never really know what you are getting until the food just lands on your table, And that day? We were both hungry and curious.
Amarachi had just finished her last paper, and I had not seen her in weeks, so when she called and said, “Let’s eat jollof rice or something,” I replied, “Let’s switch it up today, try that new Chinese spot by the junction.”
We got there around 3 PM. The place looked quiet glass doors, two sleepy waiters, and this huge fish tank with a fish that looked like it was tired of swimming. The menu was so confusing, We just closed our eyes and pointed to whatever our fingers landed on. Eeeeeiiii…
We laughed through lunch, gisting about everything and nothing, Then came the fortune cookies after the whole meal, I almost didn’t open mine, but Amarachi was already reading hers aloud,
“You will soon be kissed by luck.”
She giggled. “Maybe that guy I like will finally text me.”
I cracked mine open, ready to make fun of it.
“You will lose something important very soon.”
I paused.
“Which kind yeye message is this one?” I hissed. “They couldn’t just say something like ‘you will find money tomorrow ehn... Human beings?’”
We just laughed it off, But somewhere right in the corner of my chest, that small paper burned into my thoughts.
The next morning came… i woke up late and in a hurry for class, I could not find my phone, ahhhh……
Not under the pillow, not on the table, not in my bag. I even checked the fridge (don’t ask why). Nothing. It was like it vanished.
I called the line with Amarachi’s phone. Switched off.
“You dey see am?” I said to her, holding up the fortune message. “This cookie warned me.”
She rolled her eyes. “Babe, abeg. That thing is just paper.”
But deep down, I wasn’t convinced.
A week later, Amarachi dragged me back there. “Maybe this time my fortune will say ‘wedding bells’.”
We went again, ordered something random. This time, her cookie read,
“You will be embarrassed in front of someone you admire.”
“God forbid!” she said, tearing the paper and throwing it into her leftover rice.
Not even up to three days later, she mistakenly sent a voice note meant for me gossiping about one of our classmates straight into her class group chat. Including the guy she had a crush on.
You can imagine the drama.
“Okay now I believe you,” she whispered into my ear that evening, defeated. “Those cookies are cursed.”
We decided to investigate,
Went back there a third time, pretending to be food bloggers. We asked the waiter where the cookies came from. He looked confused and said, “They just arrive every Thursday in a red box. Nobody knows the sender, We just hand them out.”
Amarachi and I exchanged glances.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” I asked.
“That we should stop eating here? Yes.”
We left, laughing but low-key disturbed. I mean… what kind of cookies predict your Life? Ehhhn… And why was nobody else talking about it?
Some Weeks later, I found my phone inside a shoebox in my wardrobe. I must have e
been sleep-decluttering.
But even now, I still have that tiny strip of paper from my first cookie.
It is folded neatly and tucked in my journal, like a strange souvenir or a warning.
And any time I see fortune cookies again, even in movies, I just smile small and say,
“You don’t know what you are cracking into.”
This is my entry to The inkwell fiction prompt
Image is Generated with Meta AI
