Day One

Mara was standing in front of the 7-foot standing mirror in the parlor, looking at how she has added weight beyond her control, which she tries every year to trim down as her resolution, but none of the attempts have worked.

"You're at it again." Jacinta, her younger sister, tapped on her shoulder, which got her startled.

"Jay, I'm reducing this weight this year. I wrote it as my New Year resolution, and this time, I submitted it in church as a prayer request," she said, still looking at her overloaded self in the mirror, wishing it were possible to magically shed off the weight.

"Hahahaha, stop, please! Wasn't that what you said last year?" She paused her laughter. "Wait, wait, wait, oh, you went the extra mile this year by making it a prayer request. That's good," Jacinta went and gave her a high-five.

"Anyhow you want to put it, all I know is that I'm determined to trim down, and I'm ready to do anything for it, especially with food abstinence."

"That's good. For your own interest, better join the church's 21-day prayer and fasting to boost your commitment to one meal a day; otherwise, you're still going to fall back into your gluttonous lifestyle," Jacinta waved her phone screen on her face, showing her the announcement of prayer and fasting commencing the next day.

"Look at you; I know about that already, and that's where I'm starting from. You know what?" She faced Jacinta

"No, tell me."

"You're going to comply with the fasting to keep me paced; I don't want to be tempted. Starting tomorrow, it's going to be one meal per day—no breakfast, no lunch, only dinner."

"No way! That can never be me! Hahahaha!" Jacinta screamed, mixed with laughter, as she walked out of the parlor to the room.

"You must! I'm going to lock all the food items!"

"You dare not! I'll report you to Daddy!"

That's how they bantered with each other until they fell asleep, forgetting to take dinner.

The next day, which was when the fasting was scheduled to kick off, Jacinta woke up with a dire feeling of hunger. Her sister, Mara, was dead asleep. She checked her phone for the time and saw 8:45 a.m. She got up from the bed and walked to the kitchen, where she made an egg sauce that had its aroma circulating all over the building. This aroma called Mara from her slumber. She got up, and she couldn't imagine what her sister was doing in the kitchen.

"Let it not be what I'm thinking," she said, hoping the aroma was from the neighbor's kitchen and not from her sister's. As she walked into the kitchen, she met Jacinta sitting on a small wooden stool with a plate of egg sauce on the floor and a big, sliced loaf of bread beside it.

"What are you doing? Didn't I tell you that there's not going to be breakfast or lunch for this whole month?" The surprise on her face was swallowed with anger, as Jacinta didn't show any concern when she walked into the kitchen.

"You thought I was joking when I told you yesterday that I'm not joining you on your weight loss journey. Look at me, do I have weight to lose?" She spread her hands wide to reveal her slim-fitted body. "Also, I didn't say I'm not going to fast; of course, I will, but I'll skip today's own. I'm damn hungry." She continued to load her mouth with bread stained with egg sauce.

Jacinta's words left her dumbfounded. She stood still with her hands crossed on her shoulder as she watched her sister devour the bread and egg sauce.

"Are you just going to watch? I know you're tempted and hungry as well. Come... Come... Come and have some." She laughed with food in her mouth.

Mara was still unmoved; she's still there, standing and watching the food battle her sister was conquering.

"Come and eat; we'll start this fasting tomorrow. God will understand. After all, it's not today's meal that will make you not lose the wei..." Before Jacinta could finish her words, Mara had already grabbed the bread from her and was dipping it in the egg sauce.

"Jay, this is the first day of my resolution, and I don't know if I have the grace to fight this. Just look at how I felt today. Abstaining from food to lose weight is not easy at all," Mara said with food in her mouth as she got up to the fridge to bring fruit juice.

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"You'll fight it. I'll help you tomorrow, but just pray that hunger doesn't attack me as badly tomorrow as it did this morning," Jacinta assured her as the two of them burst into laughter.

"Truth be told, I doubt I would be able to pass this test. I don't see myself skipping meals. It seems this fasting is going to be a pass for me as I look for other alternatives to reducing weight. Hahahaha!"

"What about the resolution you submitted in church? You're giving up on God?" Jacinta added, and they both burst into loud laughter; the fruit juice Mara was about to sip dropped hard on the floor and splashed everywhere.