‘Nola Coca-Cola’

Once upon a time there lived a small Coca-Cola bottle named Nola. Happy, Nola loved cooling herself in the fridge of her family, and she dreamt of the day when someone would pick her up and drink her. But Nola Coca-Cola had one fear. Fizzy, she feared that someone would open her and leave her to go flat. And so it happened that one day the family home buzzed with people, and one of the children took Nola out of the fridge. They opened her up, but they did not drink Nola and instead left her on the kitchen bench. Left and forgotten for many hours, Nola ached as her bubbles went flat, until a woman came, sealed Nola shut and put her back in the fridge. Worried, Nola began to wonder:

Because gone is my magical bubbling

Fizz – fizz – fizz – fizz

My red and white label will never get that loving

Squiz – squiz – squiz – squiz

And who will now taste the sweet energy of my

Whizz – whizz – whizz – whizz

Next day they took Nola out of the fridge many times but as soon as someone noticed that she was not fizzy, they put her back in the fridge. Seeing other Coca Colas being drunk made Nola very sad. Nola wondered what she could do to be bubbly again when she saw the soda maker. The soda maker could help her to be fizzy again. So when the mother tipped Nola in a plastic bottle and put her in the soda maker the gas forced itself on Nola. Nola screamed as the gas mixed with her and created tiny bubbles. When everything was over, Nola was relieved, but she noticed she was not as sweet as before. The mother put her in the glass and when she took a sip of Nola, she spat Nola out cursing. Nola’s sadness made her bubbles disappear again. The mother, seeing Nola was flat again, brought Nola to the sink, and about to tip her, she said:

No child will ever taste you without your

Fizz – fizz – fizz – fizz

A flat Coca Cola is not worth a

Squiz – squiz – squiz – squiz

If it does not give you a lively, sweet and magic

Whizz – Whizz – Whizz – Whizz

But just as she was about to do that, a grandmother came into the kitchen and told her daughter to put Nola Coca Cola down. The daughter did as she was told, and Nola was relieved. Her magical brown water could not be wasted and poured down into the drain. With a smile on her face, the grandmother picked Nola. First, she poured some Nola in a glass and drank it to relieve her nausea. Then, grandma used some of Nola to marinate pork. Next, the grandmother mixed a bit of Nola with baking soda and made a paste which she used to clean rusted pans and pots. The last bit of Nola Coca Cola the grandmother poured at the compost pile to help speed up the composition. And Nola Cola felt that her life was not in vain. She was so happy that the grandmother had given her a beautiful purpose. And the grandmother looked at the empty bottle of Nola and she said:

I gave you but one, curious old and loving

Squiz – squiz – squiz – squiz

And I saw that even without your famous bubbling

Fizz – fizz – fizz – fizz

Our garden, food and house needed your magic

Whizz – whizz – whizz – whizz