Personal Narrative - Renewed Love for My Sister"The essence of life is found in the frustrations of the established order." -John Gardner "God, Kris, you're so disgusting!" I made a noise like a rhino in heat as I opened my mouth to reveal the large piece of orange rubber dangling precariously from my tongue. "Thank you so much, E. You're the one who called her orange slug." We both burst out laughing and calmed down immediately. The geriatrics nearby looked at us again. Our muffled laughter was still loud enough to make passersby wonder about our sanity, and that was just the way we liked it. "Wait, wait! Do it again, but open your eyes wide; like you did the first time." I concentrated hard for a second, then, eyes as wide as I could manage, I dropped my jaw and wagged my tongue wildly in his direction. Then I closed my mouth and blinked heartily. I licked my lips and savored the sweet artificial peach flavor. The “snail” rolled around happily in my mouth as Erika and I laughed at the various wild mice screaming and laughing in opposite corners of the food court. “What a bunch of fucking losers!” Erika said as she moved the middle part of her "tri-hawk" to the right side of her head and stuck the tongue bar through the two lip rings that protruded awkwardly from her mouth. A putrid scent was carried towards us by the crowd of people passing by us. I could smell the stench in the air. "Let's get up and walk around. The Cookie Man said it would take thirty minutes or so." We had ordered a cookie for my mother who had just had knee surgery. The "Cookie Guy" in question was a nice, good-looking guy who had helped us out. It was more than a little strange to tell him that I wanted a giant cookie that said, “We love you, Mom!” I thought about telling him to write something like, "Welcome back from the state fence. Thirty-five years is a long time, Dad," or "We love you, Elvis," but in the end I decided against it. my suggestion and walked down the mall to the Deb Shop. Even from ten meters away it smelled of perfume and cheap polyester fabric. As we closed the distance between us and the store, the sheen of the mostly glittering clothing temporarily blinded us with a bright reflection of the healthy orange glow emitted by the fluorescent lights perched overhead.