In this memory, I am four years old. We are sitting at a cheap family diner to grab a quick dinner. Other than food, I ask for my favourite drink – a glass of melon soda, green-coloured sparkling juice topped with a vanilla ice cream. When it arrives, I immediately take a sip from the straw. The moment the juice comes into my mouth, its tingly sensation fills my tongue and I close my eyes with excitement.
On the other side of the table, my baby brother is seated on a highchair, waiting for his food. He watches me closely, then makes a noise which says that he also wants to try the melon soda.
“Sweetie, are you sure you want it?” My mother asks him in surprise. “It’s not the kind of juice you normally have. It’s very bubbly.”
But my brother insists. So, my melon soda is passed to the other side of the table and my brother eagerly takes a sip from the straw.
As soon as the drink enters his mouth, however, he frowns. He then quickly sticks out his tongue and brushes it with his hand many times, as if to remove the tingly sensation from his tongue. But of course, the sensation does not go away so easily. My brother continues his funny brushing movement, and that makes everybody laugh.
“He doesn’t like sparkling juice!” My father chuckles, tossing back the glass to my side of the table.
Now, it is my turn to watch my brother curiously. How come he doesn’t like bubbly drinks? I wonder to myself. They’re the best thing in the world!
It is one of the very first preferences of my little brother that I have learned.