Vanishing Fruit

I’ve mentioned in several previous articles that my house is mysterious. I won’t say haunted, but perhaps that would be the more accurate word.

In mid-September I went to Food Lion and among other things I purchased 3 cans of fruit. One can held crushed pineapple in juice, another can held mandarin oranges in light syrup, and the third can held fruit cocktail in heavy syrup. I know because (1) I remember buying them and (2) I dug through the wastebasket and found the store receipt and all three are listed.

When I got home I put the three cans on the countertop to the right side of my stove. A couple days went by, and I opened the can of pineapple. I spooned some into a 4-ounce cup and ate it. I put the remainder into the fridge. A couple days later I ate another 4 ounce serving. Each night when I prepared supper I noticed the remaining two cans of fruit sitting side by side on the countertop.

Last night I finished the pineapple, and so tonight I decided to eat some of the fruit cocktail. I went to the kitchen to retrieve the can and open it, but the can was gone. The can of mandarin oranges was still there, but instead of the fruit cocktail sitting to the right of it, there was only empty countertop. The can of fruit cocktail was missing.

I looked everywhere. I looked carefully all around the countertops, I looked inside the kitchen cabinets. I looked on the dining table, I looked on the buffet table, I looked on the shelves under the cutting-board table. I looked inside the fridge. I looked inside the freezer. I looked in the kitchen garbage can. I looked in the cabinet under the sink. I looked and looked and looked for that can. It was gone.

How thorough was my search? Let me put it this way: I even looked inside the living room fireplace! Seriously, I thought maybe I had been sleepwalking last night and put the can inside the fireplace. I literally ran out of places to search. So, is it possible I ate it and don’t remember doing it? I do recall that I ate the last of the pineapple last night. Could I have eaten an entire can of fruit cocktail since last night and not remember doing it? Nope. Not a chance.

I’ll add this “vanishing fruit” to the other mysterious happenings I’ve witnessed in this house.