My Sister-in-law Forced Me to Drink Wild Mushroom SoupChapter 1
Part 1
Summer vacation was approaching. After the high school entrance exams, my sister-in-law went viral because of her instagram video about picking wild mushrooms.
The video gained a lot of attention. She suggested that the whole family take a trip out of the province to go mushroom picking.
I tried to warn them. “There are many kinds of wild mushrooms, even locals can’t always tell which ones are poisonous. For outsiders like us, it’s easy to make a deadly mistake.”
My in-laws twisted my warning into something cruel, accusing me of cursing her out of jealousy and the trip went ahead anyway
On the day of the trip, someone slipped poisonous mushrooms into our meal. I remembered the taste, the burning in my throat and the foam at my mouth. By the time the ambulance arrived, it was too late. They all blamed me. My husband even testified, claiming they had warned me, saying it was my own stubbornness that caused it.
I died from the poisoning—angry, confused, knowing someone had set me up. As everything faded to black, I saw a light. Reaching for it, I opened my eyes... back on the day my sister-in-law first mentioned the mushroom-picking trip. This time, I smiled and agreed.
“Wild mushrooms are full of nutrients. It’ll be a perfect brain boost for her after those exams.”
My head was still spinning. The memory of my stomach churning and throat tightening from the poisonous mushrooms hadn’t completely faded. My sister-in-law, lounging on the couch, snapped me back to the present by tossing a slipper at me.
“Are you even listening? You’re slow to respond—typical for someone without much education.”
I glanced at the slipper in my hand and realized I wasn’t in hiking gear but in an apron and plastic gloves. My body didn’t ache and there were no needle-like pains from the toxins. Yet the memory of that awful smell made me dry heave. That physical reaction, combined with everything else, made it clear: I got my second chance as I had been reborn.
***
My dry heaving alarmed everyone. My mother-in-law rushed forward. “Sarah, are you pregnant?”
My husband chimed in. “Should we go to the hospital? If you are pregnant, climbing up mountains for mushrooms isn’t a good idea.”
My mother-in-law nodded. “Exactly. This is your first child—you should be careful. You can’t go climbing if you're expecting.”