New & Improved

These itsu noodles are actually OK. You have nothing to fear. What does not kill you makes you strong. This is no mean parody.It's what I told myself as I opened the tub.The noodles looked harmless. They had the usual appearance of something that had travelled a long way, been doctored and had seen things. I put the boiling water in and waited.Outside, the rain was coming down. Real slow. It was September and the summer had gone without saying goodbye.The noodles were ready.I ate them.They were good.Not great. Not bad. They did not change my life. But they were noodles and they had done their job.There are worse things. There are always worse things.We don't speak of these things.I finished the tub and sat quietly for a while. Nothing happened.This was reassuring.Perhaps strength comes from surviving small things. Bad noodles. Bad weather. Bad decisions. The slow news and the quick news. Advertisements. The internet. The endless enigma.You eat the noodles.You wait.You carry…