[Short-Short] Donuts

"Haru-chan, are the donuts good?"
"Whatever..."
Every day when I get home from elementary school, my mother has a snack ready for me.

"Haru-chan, your hands will get dirty, so wrap the donut in a paper napkin before you eat it."
"..."
My mother, who loves cleanliness, is always fussy about the smallest things, even how I eat a donut.

"Haru-chan, did you have fun at school today?"
"Whatever..."
"I see."
My mother always asks this same question without fail.



The next afternoon, the snack was the same donut as yesterday. However, my mother's behavior was different from before.

"Haru-chan, why do you think I eat donuts every day?"
"Hmm, I don't know."
"That's because I'm a Donut Alien from the planet Donut."
"Hmm, that's weird."
My mother suddenly started saying strange things.


"Haru-chan, do you know why there are so many donut shops around here lately?"
"Hmm, isn't it because they're trendy?"
"No, it's because having a Donut Alien like me here naturally attracts donuts."
"...Hmm."
Things were getting really strange.
I had never heard my mother tell a joke before.


"Haru-chan, do you know why my skin is a toasted donut color?"
"Hmm, is it because you do a lot of gardening?"
"No, all Donut Aliens, including me, have brown, donut-colored skin."
"...Hmm."
My mother's skin isn't really that brown. It's just a little tanned.


"Haru-chan, do you know why donuts have a hole in the middle?"
"Hmm, because they're easier to hold?"
"No, it's because that's the shape of the planet Donut."
Unlike Earth, it has a big hole in the middle. When you look through the center, you can see Earth."
"Hmm..."
My mother, holding a second donut, is looking at me through the hole in the donut.
Has my mother lost her mind?
I've never looked at my mother's eyes this closely before, but when I really look, they are a brown, donut-like color, and with the black circle in the middle, they really do look like donuts.

Could it be that she really is one?


"Do you know why I'm telling you all this, Haru-chan?"
"Hmm... Because you're actually a Donut Alien from the planet Donut?"
"Hehehehe."

A magazine on the shelf behind my mother fell with a thud.
I glanced at the fallen magazine and saw it said,
"10 Selected Conversation Topics for Talking to Your Adolescent Daughter!"


I swallowed the ticklish feeling of talking to my mother for the first time in a while, along with my donut.