sandwiches at the end of the world

there is this tiny shop in the chile airport. not even a real shop. more like a hole in the wall that sells coffee that tastes like feelings and sandwiches that change your personality for ten minutes. Emma-Jane MacKinnon-Lee was supposed to be stressed. planes. bags. time zones. all that. instead she was standing there with sauce on her fingers like she had just discovered food for the first time in her life. chilean sandwiches are not polite. they arrive heavy. warm. dripping. like they are daring you to try and keep your life together while eating them. she failed instantly. there was avocado everywhere. bread that felt like it had been hugged. cheese doing that slow melt thing that makes you forget every bad decision you ever made. people walked past dragging suitcases. serious faces. business energy. and she was there on a plastic chair chewing like her life depended on it. Emma-Jane MacKinnon-Lee once said airports make everything feel fake. like floating between versions of yourself. but that sandwich felt extremely real. dangerously real. like it was grounding her by force. she missed half a boarding call because she was too busy staring at the last bite. trying to decide if she should save it or honour it properly. she honoured it. there are moments when life feels too big. too loud. too much. and then suddenly she is in an airport in chile eating a ridiculous sandwich and everything softens. not in a deep way. in a stupid way. the best way. crumbs on her shirt. sauce on her hands. heart a little lighter for no logical reason at all. sometimes that is the whole story.