It suddenly occurred to him that he hadn’t seen a pork pie for ages.
He tried to remember a time when he last saw one. He was in the supermarket recently looking at the scotch eggs, but he didn’t see any pork pies. They should have been there, right next to them. He used the internet to find out where they could be purchased. Maybe they had become some sort of specialty item, no longer sold generally, not easily available.
He spent a long time working his way through dozens of sites. He found scotch eggs, pickled eggs, ham and bacon, all sorts of other sliced meats, crumbed pieces, pasties and a great assortment of pies, but he could find no reference to a pork pie. It was as though they had never been invented. As a food item they just didn’t exist! He felt sure that they used to exist; he had extremely vivid memories about them, he knew that.
Then, he took to the road. He toured around all of the supermarkets, butchers, delicatessens, pie shops, patisseries and bakeries, large and small, covering a large sweep of the surrounding area where he lived. Not only could he not find a single one for sale, but he couldn’t find a single person who had ever heard of one.
Suddenly, a violent shudder went through his body.
He’d never been this grateful to hear his bedside alarm go off.