Hefea

I want to have a pet! 

Numerous moms and dads in this world have probably heard that sentence in a high, stimulating voice multiple times. Some of them get weak and buy a little dog, cat, hamster, or rabbit. I was one of those, I annoyed my parents with that wish for a long time. To be specific, I didn’t really ask for one certain pet, I only wanted to be the owner of a lovable creature. As you will hear in that story, my mom took advantage of my ambiguities. My parents were strictly against another since we already had a cat, and they knew I would get bored with a rabbit or a guinea pig after a while. They knew that they would be the ones who would have to go on walks with my dog or clean my rabbit’s cage. Indeed, I loved my cat and had a lot of fun with him. Now I don’t understand why I was so passionate about getting another pet. 

“An animal’s eyes have the power to speak a great language”.

Martin Buber

One Wednesday after school, while eating lunch with my mom, I was trying to convince her to buy me a pet for the millionth time that week: “Please mom, I will take care of it. Promise”, I told her. “I don’t even care what it is as long as it’s alive”. As I said that, my mom dropped her sandwich and looked at me with her big green eyes. My heart was running a marathon, because I thought I had finally convinced her. “I know something that you would like. I will go to a store and buy it for you”, she said in a poised voice”. I could not believe my ears. I was happy, excited, and enthusiastic. It was almost too good to be true.

When my mom came back from the store where she bought a pet for me, she opened her bag and took something out. It was a little cube. She gave it to me. “It’s yeast, darling”, she explained. “It’s a living thing that needs food, warmth, and moisture to thrive. You will have to feed it, so it can grow”. I immediately loved it. It was unique, a pet that nobody else has. At least I considered it a pet. That being said, I put my yeast in the most beautiful bowl I could find in the kitchen, a big green one with yellow dots. I added warm water and white sugar, and I kept doing that for the next few days. I felt like a mother to my yeast, a loving mother. Every Time I saw it growing, I felt delighted and happy. I tried everything to make my yeast comfortable. It even got a name: “Hefea”. I came up with that name, because it includes the German word for yeast, “Hefe”. Unfortunately, Hefea did not have the longest life. It died after one week. I woke up in the morning, and as every morning, I wanted to check how my yeast is feeling. As I looked into the big green bowl, I saw that Hefea’s body was partly dirty-blue. My mom told me that she is rotten which means that i should get rid of her. I did not understand what I did wrong. Wasn’t I caring enough? I measured the temperature in my house five times a day to make sure it is always between 100 and 110° Fahrenheit which is the perfect temperature for yeast in order to rise. I was really sad about the loss of my new pet; however, after a while, I got over it. I also got over the wish for another pet. Now, whenever I bake something with yeast, I think about that story with a smile on my face.